The DNR is planting some areas in prairie grasses to encourage prairie succession, but for the most part, the plant community is allowed to develop naturally. Small ridges and bluffs are dominated by shrubs and tree line vegetation. A small woodlot NE of the refuge is private property, but provides nesting habitat for a colony of Great Blue Herons. Walk across the county road to the bluffs overlooking the northern part of the wetlands. A scope is useful in scanning open water for cormorants, waterfowl, grebes, etc.
Shorebirds often congregate on exposed mudflats along the edges of the wetlands.
If properly outfitted with boots, walk down from the bluffs and along the edge of the wetland to the east and north. The far NE corner of the northern wetlands is often a spot where migrating shorebirds are found. Immediately south of the parking lot is a small clump of trees and shrubs that often hold migrants. Follow the mowed paths along the former drainage ditches to the dam that forms the southernmost wetland. This is usually a good spot to scan that wetland for shorebirds and ducks.