Fall Migration Watch

Cadillac Mountain Hawkwatch, Acadia National Park FederalMarquee site

Granite summit ridge at 1,530 feet above Frenchman Bay, on the Atlantic flyway

Maine

Broad-winged hawkSharp-shinned hawk

The park describes a drop-in hawk watch 200 yards down the Cadillac North Ridge Trail from the summit parking lot, staffed by rangers and Schoodic Institute volunteers 9 to 2, seven days a week, weather permitting, from late August with counts typically ending by mid-October. Its Birding Cadillac page names broad-winged hawk, American kestrel and sharp-shinned hawk as the common fall species and its 2023 report puts the peak in mid-September. A vehicle reservation is required to drive the Cadillac Summit Road from mid-May to mid-October; no reservation is needed to hike up. The trail to the site is rocky and uneven.

Run by National Park Service, Acadia National Park, with Schoodic Institute

Montezuma Wetlands Complex FederalMarquee site

Fifty thousand acres of marsh, mudflat and impoundment at the north end of Cayuga Lake

New York

Snow goose

DEC calls this one of the busiest bird migration routes on the Atlantic flyway, lists Canada geese and snow geese among the wildlife to watch, and points to an observation tower and ground-level observation decks across the complex. The refuge's own seasonal calendar says geese and waterfowl come back through from mid September to freeze-up and that waterfowl numbers peak to the tens of thousands in mid November. The one-way wildlife drive along the Main Pool is open April 1 to November 30 and the visitor center at 3395 US Route 20 East in Seneca Falls keeps the same dates. The Esker Brook and South Spring Pool trails close from November 1.

Run by New York State DEC with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge FederalMarquee site

Tidal salt marsh and freshwater impoundments on the west shore of Delaware Bay

Delaware

Snow goose

The refuge's own seasonal calendar puts large numbers of Canada and snow geese arriving in October and calls November the peak of the fall waterfowl migration, with snow geese in both blue and white phases among the birds named. A 12 mile wildlife drive runs the impoundment edge with three observation towers, at Raymond, Bear Swamp and Shearness pools, and five walking trails. The visitor center at 2591 Whitehall Neck Road in Smyrna is open Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. year round. Dutch Neck Road and the area around the Allee house are closed to all entry from September 1 to February 1.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge FederalMarquee site

Tidal marsh, loblolly pine and freshwater impoundments on the Eastern Shore

Maryland

Tundra swan

The refuge's seasonal calendar says tundra swans from Northwest Canada usually arrive in early November and several hundred remain through the winter, and that duck and goose numbers build gradually depending on temperatures further north. A 3.6 mile wildlife drive is described as popular with photographers and birders alike, with the Marsh Edge, Woods, Key Wallace and Tubman Road trails alongside it. The visitor center at 2145 Key Wallace Drive in Cambridge is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The wildlife drive is closed on a handful of dates in late October and early December.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge FederalMarquee site

An island at the mouth of the Chester River where it meets Chesapeake Bay

Maryland

Tundra swan

The refuge's seasonal calendar says that by mid to late November, and sometimes earlier, tundra swans begin to arrive, that large staging groups sometimes come in at once and smaller groups sometimes more gradually, and that waterfowl numbers build as birds move south from northern breeding grounds. The island has seven trails and boardwalks, among them the Tundra Swan Boardwalk, and a visitor contact station in a historic lodge at 1730 Eastern Neck Road in Rock Hall, open Friday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with the grounds open dawn to dusk. The refuge closes to the public on several dates in October.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Pungo Unit (Duck Pen Wildlife Trail and North Lake viewing area) FederalMarquee site

Pungo Lake, moist-soil impoundments and farm fields on the Albemarle-Pamlico peninsula, off Highway 45 south of Plymouth

North Carolina

Snow gooseTundra swan

The refuge calls the Pungo Unit its most popular area for wildlife observation and names swans, snow geese and other waterfowl among what is watched there; it says more than a hundred thousand ducks, geese and swans congregate on the refuge in winter. The Duck Pen Wildlife Trail (0.55 miles, gravel, no dogs) ends at a photography blind over Pungo Lake, and the 0.15 mile North Lake Field Road Trail reaches a viewing area at the lake's north end. The unit's 44 miles of roads are dirt; some are closed to vehicles from November through February to reduce disturbance to waterfowl, the western part of the North Pungo Lake Access Road Trail is closed to all entry November to February, and the unit may be closed on certain Fridays and Saturdays in September and October for permit-only hunts. The Walter B. Jones Sr. Center for the Sounds at 205 South Ludington Drive, Columbia, is the visitor center.

Run by US Fish and Wildlife Service

Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge, Wildlife Drive and Highway 94 causeway FederalMarquee site

Lake Mattamuskeet, North Carolina's largest natural lake, with managed wetland impoundments along the entrance road at New Holland

North Carolina

Snow gooseTundra swan

The refuge writes that it attracts more than 200,000 ducks, geese and swans from November through February and that most of North Carolina's wintering tundra swans can be found at and near the refuge; its species page lists the blue goose, the dark form of the snow goose, among its highlighted birds. Viewing is described as particularly good along the Highway 94 causeway across the lake and along the entrance road and the Wildlife Drive, a 3-mile loop off the main entrance road with several observation platforms over the largest impoundment. Some areas are closed to the public in winter and boating is closed from November 1 to February 28. The refuge office is at 85 Mattamuskeet Road, Swan Quarter.

Run by US Fish and Wildlife Service

Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge Wildlife Observation Building, Decatur FederalMarquee site

Impounded pond and crop fields beside the Tennessee River, watched from an enclosed building at the end of a short trail

Alabama

Sandhill craneSnow gooseWhooping crane

The refuge trails page describes a 200 yard trail that begins behind the visitor center and ends at the observation building, and says that in winter hundreds of ducks and geese and thousands of sandhill cranes use the area in front of it. The refuge calendar has the cranes arriving in late November and peaking in early January, waterfowl and crane numbers at their highest in the latter part of December, and whooping cranes wintering here every year since 2006. The visitor center is at 3121 Visitor Center Road, Decatur, and from November through February it opens seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Oak Harbor FederalMarquee site

More than 8,000 acres of wetland, grassland and forest on the south shore of western Lake Erie

Ohio

Sandhill craneSnow gooseTundra swan

The refuge's own season by season account puts the fall peak in October, calls fall migration more drawn out and extended than spring, and describes sandhill cranes feeding in larger flocks in the marshes once the family groups break up. Tundra swan numbers climb from that October arrival to a winter peak, when the refuge describes thousands of swans moving between its marshes and farm fields to the south. The refuge was established in 1961 and keeps a visitor centre, a boardwalk loop and a seasonal wildlife drive.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, Necedah FederalMarquee site

The exposed bed of Glacial Lake Wisconsin: shallow wetland, oak savanna and sand prairie in the Great Wisconsin Swamp

Wisconsin

Sandhill craneWhooping crane

Necedah is the refuge the eastern whooping crane reintroduction was built around, and its own seasonal calendar tracks the birds right through the year: pairs defending territories and building in spring, flightless colts foraging with their parents in summer, waterfowl migration peaking in the autumn, and the last few cranes, ducks and swans gone by the middle of November. The refuge was established in 1939, keeps an observation tower and hiking trails, and its lands are open sunrise to sunset.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, Zimmerman FederalMarquee site

Wetland, oak savanna and big woods on the St. Francis River, with the Prairie's Edge Wildlife Drive running through them

Minnesota

Sandhill crane

The refuge's own month by month account has cranes gathering in October to feed in upland fields by day, more than 14,000 of them at the peak at the end of October or in early November, then moving on through November as ice takes the wetlands. The Prairie's Edge Wildlife Drive is the way most visitors see it.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge, Holt Collier Boardwalk and Observation Tower and the Wildlife Drive FederalMarquee site

Delta lakes, cypress brakes and moist soil impoundments five air miles east of the Mississippi River

Mississippi

Snow goose

The refuge describes itself as one of the links in a chain of refuges that provide for the wintering needs of ducks and geese in the Mississippi Flyway, puts its wintering total at over 50,000 geese and 100,000 ducks, and names snow geese and Canada geese among the birds that rest and feed here from late fall to early spring. Visitors are pointed to two dedicated wildlife observation areas, one of them the quarter mile Holt Collier Boardwalk out to an observation platform on Lizard Lake, and to the Wildlife Drive. The refuge, its roads, parking areas and boat ramps close from an hour and a half after sunset until 4 am. Street address 595 Yazoo Refuge Road, Hollandale.

Run by US Fish and Wildlife Service

Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge, Lacassine Pool auto tour FederalMarquee site

Freshwater marsh impoundment in the rice country of the Chenier Plain, Cameron Parish

Louisiana

Snow gooseRoss's gooseGreater white-fronted goose

Established in 1937 to provide wintering habitat for waterfowl, the refuge says large wintering concentrations of white-fronted and snow geese can be found here, with smaller numbers of Ross's and Canada geese and a heavy showing of puddle ducks, and that Lacassine Pool serves as a sanctuary where a large concentration of birds feeds and rests. It names fall and winter as the best times for waterfowl observation and photography and points visitors to the three mile auto tour with interpretive signs at the Pool, asking them to stay in their vehicles to limit disturbance. Refuge office at 209 Nature Road, Lake Arthur.

Run by US Fish and Wildlife Service

Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge, refuge roads and visitor center FederalMarquee site

Farmed and flooded Delta bottomland near Bald Knob

Arkansas

Snow gooseGreater white-fronted goose

The refuge calls itself a winter home for large concentrations of many species of ducks and geese and says that during the late fall and through winter large concentrations of blue, snow, Canada and white fronted geese can be seen feeding in the stubble left from farming; it is also the largest staging area in Arkansas for northern pintails, with more than 200,000 once recorded in a single day. The visitor center at 1439 Coal Chute Road, Bald Knob, opens weekdays, and refuge roads are open to vehicles subject to closure. The Waterfowl Sanctuary marked on the refuge map is closed to all entry and public use from November 15 through February 28, and the Core Waterfowl Area closes to all entry after 1 pm each day in the same window.

Run by US Fish and Wildlife Service

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, observation towers, Heron Flats Trail and the auto tour loop FederalMarquee site

Salt marsh, tidal flats and live oak savanna on San Antonio Bay near Austwell

Texas

Whooping crane

The refuge describes itself as the wintering home of the last wild flock of endangered whooping cranes and says they typically arrive in late October and depart by mid April. Public viewing is from the refuge's own structures: two observation towers, 20 and 40 feet, with a panoramic view of San Antonio Bay and Mustang Lake, the 1.22 mile Heron Flats Trail with two observation platforms equipped with spotting scopes, and a 16 mile paved auto tour loop that becomes one way at the observation tower. The visitor center at 1 Wildlife Circle, Austwell, opens Tuesday to Saturday, 9 am to 4 pm. The state agency reported the first pair of the 2023 season flying toward the refuge on November 1 and expected numbers near the estimated 540 cranes that wintered on the coast the previous year.

Run by US Fish and Wildlife Service

Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge FederalMarquee site

A shallow salt lake and open salt flats on the Central Flyway in northern Oklahoma, with wheat fields on the refuge edge

Oklahoma

Sandhill craneWhooping crane

The refuge describes sandhill cranes foraging in the wheat fields through the fall days, with whooping cranes among them in some years, and puts combined duck, goose and crane numbers near 400,000 at the peak of migration.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge, 10 mile auto tour, entrance observation deck and Eagle Overlook tower FederalMarquee site

Missouri River floodplain marshes below the loess hills, northwest Missouri

Missouri

Snow gooseGreater white-fronted goose

The refuge, formerly Squaw Creek, lists lesser snow geese and bald eagles among its key species and publishes a weekly waterfowl and eagle survey from fall through spring migration; the sheet dated November 25, 2025 recorded 14,300 snow geese, 2,740 greater white-fronted geese, Ross's geese present, 730 trumpeter swans and 43,305 mallards, with 11,500 white-fronted geese the week before. The one way 10 mile auto tour is open daily from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset, six trails run 0.2 to 1.2 miles, and there is an observation deck by the main entrance and a viewing tower on the Eagle Overlook Trail; the visitor center at 25542 Highway 159, Forest City, opens Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 3 pm. The refuge gives mid March as the spring snow goose peak; the state agency puts the fall show between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Run by US Fish and Wildlife Service

DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, visitor center, Bob Starr Wildlife Overlook and the auto tour FederalMarquee site

DeSoto Lake, an oxbow of the Missouri River, with bottomland forest and wetlands on the Iowa and Nebraska line

Iowa

Snow gooseGreater white-fronted goose

The refuge says peak populations of 50,000 or more ducks, mostly mallards, are common during the fall migration, that late October through early December are typically the months of peak waterfowl use, and that Canada, white-fronted and snow geese along with trumpeter swans can be seen in late fall and winter resting on open portions of DeSoto Lake; bald eagle numbers peak in December. The visitor center at 1434 316th Lane, Missouri Valley, opens Tuesday to Saturday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, the auto tour route is open from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset, and the Bob Starr Wildlife Overlook viewing blind and the Missouri River Overlook are listed; the south gate near Wilson Island and the Green Heron Trail close from October 15 to April 14 for the migration season. The state agency says the largest snow goose concentrations in Iowa have historically been here, and that western Iowa numbers have dwindled substantially in the past decade.

Run by US Fish and Wildlife Service

Quivira National Wildlife Refuge FederalMarquee site

Inland salt marsh, sand prairie and the Big Salt Marsh in the Rattlesnake Creek basin of south central Kansas

Kansas

Sandhill craneWhooping crane

The refuge names migration as the reason birders come, with flocks of geese and sandhill cranes moving through and whooping cranes among them. An auto tour road circles the Big Salt Marsh, open from an hour and a half before sunrise to an hour and a half after sunset.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge FederalMarquee site

Shallow lakes, marsh and grass covered dunes in the Nebraska Sandhills, north of Oshkosh

Nebraska

Sandhill crane

The refuge names sandhill cranes among the birds moving through and gives the fall movement its own numbers, averaging around 15,000 birds a day from late September into October before waterfowl peak in November. A self guided auto tour route runs the refuge, open sunrise to sunset.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge FederalMarquee site

Two shallow impoundments on the James River in northeastern South Dakota, ringed by marsh and cropland

South Dakota

Snow goose

The refuge gives its snow goose concentration a number rather than a description, putting the fall peak at up to 500,000 birds. The Wildlife Drive and the interior roads and gates are open to the public from April 1 through mid October, so a late season visit is worked from the perimeter.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge FederalMarquee site

A long shallow alkali lake and surrounding native prairie in south central North Dakota, near Moffit

North Dakota

Sandhill craneWhooping crane

The refuge writes autumn as its own season, with sandhill cranes, shorebirds, ducks, geese and swans overhead, and notes that whooping cranes occasionally stop in the area to feed and rest on the way south. Late fall usually ends it.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge FederalMarquee site

A shallow alkali lake and surrounding prairie wetlands on the Hi-Line east of Malta, with a 15 mile auto tour route

Montana

Tundra swan

The refuge dates its tundra swans to the day rather than the season, putting their return from the Alaskan breeding grounds late in September and their departure in mid to late November. Most visitors work the 15 mile auto tour route.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, Wildlife Drive and Highway 15 pullouts FederalMarquee site

Managed wetlands and barley fields on the floor of the San Luis Valley, 6 miles south of Monte Vista

Colorado

Sandhill crane

The refuge puts the fall peak of cranes around the second week of October and says the best time to view migratory water birds along the Wildlife Drive runs from the beginning of March through November, when water is available to flood the wetlands. Facilities are a 2.5 mile Wildlife Drive open year round to vehicles, foot, horse and bicycle, the quarter mile Meadowlark Trail, pullouts on Highway 15 and County Road 8S, and a volunteer-run visitor contact station at the start of the drive that is not open on a regular schedule. Hours are one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset. The refuge posts dated viewing updates with crane estimates by pullout on its home page.

Run by US Fish and Wildlife Service

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, auto tour loop FederalMarquee site

Flooded fields and managed wetlands along the Rio Grande south of San Antonio, New Mexico

New Mexico

Sandhill craneSnow gooseRoss's goose

The refuge says the first cranes and geese typically show up at the end of October and that from mid-November through late January thousands of snow geese, Ross's geese and sandhill cranes spend the night in water, leaving near dawn to feed in fields across the Middle Rio Grande Valley. The roughly 12 mile scenic drive is open every day from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset year round, with stops including the Dabbler and Diver Deck, a boardwalk and the Rio Viejo Trail. The visitor center is open Thursday through Tuesday, 9 am to 4 pm, and the refuge asks visitors to stop there for the most recent roosting and feeding sites, which change through the winter. A $5 daily vehicle fee applies.

Run by US Fish and Wildlife Service

Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Wildlife Drive FederalMarquee site

Pecos River wetlands, springs and moist soil units where the Chihuahuan Desert meets the Southern Plains, east of Roswell

New Mexico

Sandhill craneSnow goose

The refuge says its sandhill cranes start showing up in October and continue through December, with the peak around Thanksgiving, and describes more than 26,000 cranes and more than 50,000 snow geese and ducks during fall migration. The 6.5 mile Wildlife Drive and the trails are open daily from sunrise to sunset, the visitor center with its viewing deck over the wetlands and Comanche Bluff is open Monday through Saturday, 9 am to 4 pm, from September through June, and the Pajaro bird blind sits off the drive. There is no charge to visit.

Run by US Fish and Wildlife Service

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, River S Unit auto tour route FederalMarquee site

Columbia River floodplain lakes, marsh and pasture between the river and the town of Ridgefield, north of Vancouver

Washington

Sandhill crane

The refuge was established in 1965 for wintering dusky Canada geese and names sandhill cranes among its wildlife; the state agency's status review says the entire Pacific Flyway population of perhaps 4,500 Canadian sandhill cranes uses the lower Columbia bottomlands as a staging area and that cranes move through the state in late September and October. The River S Unit auto tour route at 1071 S Hillhurst Road is open daily, 7 am to 7:30 pm, with vehicles serving as viewing blinds from October through April, when walking the route is not permitted; walking is allowed May through September only. The Carty Unit's Oaks to Wetlands Trail stays open year round. This is a fee site.

Run by US Fish and Wildlife Service

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge FederalMarquee site

High desert marsh, ponds and grain fields in the Blitzen Valley of southeastern Oregon

Oregon

Sandhill craneTundra swan

The refuge writes the arrival of lesser and greater sandhill cranes onto the grain fields as the thing that breaks the quiet of summer, and names Knox, Benson and Marshall ponds for tundra swans in October and November. Early morning and late evening are its own advice.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, auto tour route FederalMarquee site

Managed seasonal wetlands and uplands in the Sacramento Valley, south of Willows off Interstate 5

California

Snow gooseRoss's gooseGreater white-fronted goose

The refuge says waterfowl are present September through April and regularly peak at over 500,000 ducks and 250,000 geese; pintails arrive from mid-August, white-fronted geese follow in September, white geese appear in October, and duck and goose numbers peak on the complex in November and December. The 6 mile auto tour is open one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset year round, with two observation decks and park-and-stretch areas; pedestrians may not walk the route elsewhere. A $6 daily or $12 annual pass applies, and the visitor center at 752 County Road 99W keeps limited hours, posted on its page.

Run by US Fish and Wildlife Service

Merced National Wildlife Refuge, auto tour route FederalMarquee site

Wetlands, grassland and cropland in the Grasslands Ecological Area of the San Joaquin Valley, south of Merced

California

Sandhill craneSnow gooseRoss's gooseGreater white-fronted goose

The refuge describes the largest wintering populations of lesser sandhill cranes and Ross's geese on the Pacific Flyway, with as many as 20,000 cranes and some 60,000 Arctic-nesting geese, cranes arriving from mid-September, snow geese from late October into November and Ross's and white-fronted geese in November. A 5 mile self-guided auto tour route and four nature trails are open daily year round with no fee.

Run by US Fish and Wildlife Service

Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge FederalMarquee site

A large shallow bulrush marsh in a high mountain basin of southeastern Idaho, ringed by county roads

Idaho

Sandhill crane

Peak months as the agency page describes them.

The refuge is known for its sandhill cranes, which use the marsh as a migration stopover as well as breeding ground, but its seasonal writing gives the fall to elk and changing aspen rather than to a crane month. Wildlife is viewed from the county road that encircles the marsh, open sunrise to sunset.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge FederalMarquee site

Freshwater marsh units where the Bear River meets the Great Salt Lake, west of Brigham City

Utah

Tundra swan

The refuge dates the swans precisely, putting over 30,000 tundra swans on the marsh from mid October through December, with up to half a million ducks and geese on the units at the same time. The 12 mile auto tour route is a 36 mile round trip from the interstate, open sunrise to sunset.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service