As was the case with Salamonie Lake, Mississinewa Lake resides in two counties. Birding sites in Miami County (west) include the Miami State Recreation Area, Mississinewa Dam, Peoria Outlet Fishing Site, most of Frances Slocum State Forest and the Observation Pavilion (next to the Dam). At the Miami State Recreation Area, the beach and everything east of, is in Wabash County. The part of Mississinewa Lake which resides in Wabash County (eastern half) includes the following sites; all of the Resource Management Units, Mississinewa Spillway, Frances Slocum S.R.A., Red Bridge S.R.A. and Pearson Mill S.R.A.  You will find Mississinewa Lake birding sites under both the Wabash and Miami county web pages. Click on East-Central from the Home Page. Then left click on the county you want on the left side of the page. Ornithological record keeping by individuals and organizations, is separated by county. For this reason, I keep each site in it's respective county.  Mississinewa Lake is the largest of the three reservoirs in the Upper Wabash Basin. It consists of 15,072 Acres, which includes a 3180 acre lake. The Salamonie Lake Area is 12,486 acres large with a 2665 acre lake.  There are seven major Resource Management Units which allow hunting, fishing, birdwatching and general recreational use. Like Salamonie, I break birding down into four areas; 1. The Mississinewa Spillway   2. Frances Slocum State Forest  3. State Recreation Areas  4. Resource Management Units.   The Mississinewa Spillway provides the most rare and critical habitat. The spillway consists mostly of short, lush green grasses. Four foot tall cattails make up a small percentage of the spillway, which can attract hiding waders and sparrows. With normal rainfall, the spillway is almost always wet in spring. The water can be 2 to 4 inches deep. In isolated areas (usually where you find cattails), the water can be two feet deep. The spillway can also be productive in fall, if rainfall is adequate. In late April, May, late August and September, birders slip into their hip boots to wade the spillways. Birding is far more productive when done in a group. Form a line across the spillway and walk forward, forcing the birds to flush straight ahead of you. When confronted by a lone birder, rails can scatter in any direction, escaping detection. The Holy Grail of the spillways is the Yellow Rail. It is the primary motivation here. Yellow Rail has been found in both spring and fall in the upper Wabash Basin. Other species which can be found in the spillway include; Virginia Rail, Wilson's Snipe, American Bittern, Sora, many other species of shorebirds, Marsh Wren, Sedge Wren, Savannah Sparrow, Leconte's Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, Rusty and Red-winged Blackbirds. Black Rail has never been found in the spillways, but I think it is possible during peak rail migration periods. Playing rail tapes every night during a spring or fall migratory period might be interesting.  Frances Slocum State Forest is a good site for migrating warblers and other songbirds of the mature forest. The Resource Management Units also have forested areas where migrating passerines can be found. The Resource Units provide the widest variety of habitats; grasslands, open brush grasslands, forested areas, marshes, ponds and creeks. The State Recreation Areas provide strategic overlooks of Mississinewa Lake.  These sites are used to find waterfowl, seabirds and shorebirds. In addition to the lake, the State Recreation Areas provide mowed grass recreation areas, wildlife grassland areas, open brush grasslands and long stands of pines. Wintering owls might be found in the long stands of pines. Look for wintering sparrows and Northern Shrike in the grasslands and brushy areas.  

For the past 3 or 4 years, the Mississinewa Dam has been undergoing repair. To repair the Dam, water levels had to be drawn down drastically. I would guess that water levels were drawn down by 1/2 to 2/3 of normal levels. It resulted in the closing of the Miami State Recreation Area Beach while the Dam is being repaired. This created islands and mudflats which were not previously there. Shorebirds have been attracted to the muddy shoreline. Gulls, waders and other seabirds use the islands during migration. I have been told that repairs to the Dam will be completed sometime in 2005. As Mississinewa Lake fills back up, the islands and much of the muddy shoreline will disappear. The photos in this gallery were taken in October of 2004, while the lake was still at "Dam repair" water levels.

DIRECTIONS TO MISSISSINEWA LAKE, FROM THE CENTRAL AND WEST SIDE OF THE STATE: From Indianapolis, drive north on S.R. 31 (Meridian Street in Indianapolis) to the city of Peru. Drive north roughly 1 1/2 miles past the Grissom Aeroplex (the old Grissom Air Force Base). Turn right (east) on C.R. 500 S. (a large green "Mississinewa Reservoir" arrow sign will signal this turn).    Watch for stop signs along C.R. 500 S.   Drive roughly 8 miles east to the 2-way stop. This is the intersection of C.R. 550 E. and C.R. 500 S.    From this intersection, driving straight (east) on C.R. 500 S. will lead you to the Miami State Recreation Area. It will also lead you to Old Frances Slocum Trail. Driving southeast on Old Frances Slocum Trail will take you by the Resource Management Units on the south side of Mississinewa Lake.   If you turn left (north) on C.R. 550 E., this will lead you to the Dam, Peoria Outlet Fishing Site, the Spillway, Frances Slocum State Forest and the Frances Slocum S.R.A.  

 

 

References: Indiana DNR State Map and Text for Mississinewa Lake.