Sandpiper Prairie SNA

561 Acres Located from Twin Valley, 6.5 mi W on Co Rd 27, past the airport; then take the gravel road S for 1.5 mi. Park at end of TWP road, on E side. Norman County Twp 144N Rng 45W Sec 33 Type: Prairie Grasslands ECS Subsection: Red River Prairie

Description:

The gravel beach ridges, loamy lake bottom, and floodplain soils of the ancient Lake Agassiz made the Red River Valley attractive for farming and gravel-mining operations. Sandpiper Prairie preserves samples of these dry, wet, and dry mesic prairie communities. Look in the dry prairie for little bluestem, side oats grama, needle and thread grass, puccoon, and painted cup. Along the sandy, gravely upper slopes of the beach ridges, note the native mesic prairie plants such as lead plant, asters, and purple prairie clover; this is prime habitat for prairie chickens, short-eared owls, and marsh hawks. In wet prairie areas along the lower slopes, salty, alkaline soils support halophytic plant species, including the rare bunch speargrass and alkali cordgrass. Prairie plants provide a season-long banquet for butterflies, birds, and animals as well as an endless variety of color.

Bird List

Plant List