Birding on the Edge: Western Lyon County by Doug Harr (2004)

The Nelson tract is a wonderful place to view raptors in fall migration each September and October. Some of the raptors observed personally here include Bald and Golden Eagles, Cooper’s Hawk, Northern Goshawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Swainson’s Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, and Prairie Falcon, along with more common species. 

This is an area of mixed oak-cedar woodlands, oak savanna, remnant prairies and agricultural fields, a deeply cutting stream, and a 3-acre impoundment, thus providing a variety of habitats for birds. No trail system exists, so birders again are on their own to explore the 337 acres of public land. Turkeys abound, and this area formerly was home to a number of Northern Bobwhite, at the northwestern limits of their Iowa range before the national population decline of recent years. Other unusual species (assumed nesting) for northwestern Iowa are American Woodcock and Whip-poor-will.