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While Rowe Sanctuary is widely recognized for the Sandhill Crane migration and the bird life that draws in visitors from around the world, the landscape here supports far more than what most people see during daylight hours. Beyond the river and visitor trails, an active network of wildlife continues moving through the wetlands, prairie, and wooded corridors long after the last programs of the day have ended.
The sign at Rowe Sanctuary says the trails are open from dawn until dusk, but that schedule exists only for the humans. The deer that travel, feed, and rest in the Sanctuary keep a timetable all their own. The local otters would rather play at 1:00 a.m. than follow a human’s arbitrary idea of operating hours.
Spotting a Rose-breasted Grosbeak in the trees, hearing the call of a Northern Flicker, or catching a Belted Kingfisher along the river is enough to make a visit memorable for many birders. These 3000 acres of Rowe Sanctuary are alive 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 364 days a year. When most of us are settling into bed, the Sanctuary is still wide awake.
During crane season, much of the nighttime focus belongs to the river itself. Through the Crane Cam, people around the world can witness part of that spectacle from their homes, but the camera captures only a fraction of what unfolds overnight. The river remains filled with movement and sound until morning light returns to the sandbars. Cranes call back and forth through the darkness, creating a constant backdrop that can carry for miles across the prairie.
But eventually, the migration moves north, and the constant flow of humans slows to a trickle. The Sanctuary settles back into its familiar rhythm, and the wildlife that kept its distance during the busiest weeks of the year begins to filter back into the areas closer to trails, buildings, and river access points.
Many of these animals that call Rowe Sanctuary home are not the easiest to observe directly, but evidence of their activity can be found the following morning. Evidence of paths traveled is left in the muddy and sandy channels of the river and on patches of dirt along the well-worn game trails through the trees. Tracks from Great Blue Herons, turkeys, raccoons, and coyotes can be found if you take the time to look.
Raccoons and deer are among the most common nighttime visitors around the trails, wetlands, and buildings. Curious and highly adaptable, they investigate almost anything that smells interesting or out of place – even our trail cameras. Opossums also make regular appearances after dark, slowly working their way through brush and along fallen logs in search of ticks, insects, and other food sources.
Even late into the night, human scent and the day’s activity can still linger across the landscape, something the keen noses of nocturnal wildlife are able to detect. That lingering human presence can influence how animals move through the ecosystem. Species such as deer and coyotes may temporarily avoid areas with recent activity before gradually returning once disturbance levels decrease. While opportunities to observe wildlife are important, and just as we take precautions during crane season, maintaining a balance between public access and education and protecting the ecosystem remains a priority.
With that in mind, trail cameras and thermal imaging equipment have become valuable tools for monitoring wildlife activity at the Sanctuary, especially at night when direct observation is limited. Motion-activated trail cameras placed in potentially active locations through the wetland, the prairie, and the margins help document which species move through when they are most active. These cameras can capture repeated behavioral patterns over days or weeks, including travel routes, feeding activity, and seasonal shifts in movement. They are particularly useful for species that avoid humans during daylight hours.
Thermal imaging devices add another layer of observation by detecting heat signatures rather than relying on visible light. This allows staff and volunteers to locate animals in complete darkness, tall grass, or along the river without using spotlights or creating as much disturbance. Thermal equipment is especially effective for detecting movement at long distances, sometimes up to a mile away, and can help differentiate between larger mammals based on body size, posture, and movement patterns. While thermal imaging does not always allow for precise species identification on its own, it is a valuable tool for documenting nighttime activity and understanding when and how wildlife move through the Sanctuary.
Many of the mammals that move through Rowe Sanctuary cover large areas. North American river otters, for example, may travel between 3 and 15 miles through connected waterways, while coyotes can patrol territories spanning several miles across prairie and agricultural land. Wolves, where present in North America, may range across territories covering dozens or even hundreds of square miles. Because of these large ranges, dated trail camera images and thermal observations can provide valuable information about movement patterns, habitat use, seasonal activity, and how frequently wildlife returns to specific areas of the Sanctuary.
At the same time, the cameras sometimes raise as many questions as they answer. Over the course of several nights, multiple cameras captured images of a large canine moving through the area. Large tracks found in mud and sandy areas nearby appeared consistent with the animal seen on camera, suggesting it was repeatedly using the same portion of the Sanctuary. Was it a wolf dispersing in search of new territory, a wolf-dog hybrid, or simply a domestic dog far from home? The last explanation may be the least likely, as no nearby farms are known to have a husky-like dog matching its appearance. In cases like this, the cameras provide valuable evidence, but not always definitive answers, reminding us how much there is still to learn about the wildlife moving through the Platte River corridor.
Though staff and volunteers love seeing the cute moments of deer, raccoons, herons, and cranes all sharing the same space, these cameras also allow the staff to see the other sides of the creatures that move through the property. Nighttime activity at the Sanctuary is not limited to the quieter moments people often imagine. Much of what happens after dark is part of the constant balance between predator and prey that keeps an ecosystem functioning. On one occasion, we witnessed a male bobcat successfully hunting a muskrat in our wetland. Life and death moments like that are difficult to watch, but they are also a natural and necessary part of the environment. Most visitors only experience the peaceful side of the Sanctuary during daylight hours, rarely seeing the survival pressures, competition, and hunting behavior that continue throughout the night.
The information gathered through trail cameras and thermal imaging can also help answer larger questions about how wildlife responds to changing conditions across the Sanctuary. Staff and volunteers can compare activity levels before and after events such as school programs, periods of heavy visitor traffic, prescribed burns, flooding, or seasonal habitat changes. Does wildlife activity decrease in an area after a large school group visits the wetland? Do prescribed burns alter how animals move through a section of prairie? Over time, documenting these patterns helps build a better understanding of how different species interact with both the environment and human activity within the Sanctuary.
Not every animal captured on camera remains anonymous. Some become familiar faces. A lanky raccoon, nick-named "Stiltz", can often be identified by the distinctive banding pattern on its tail and long legs, allowing us to recognize it as it moves through different parts of the Sanctuary. Repeated sightings of recognizable individuals like Stiltz help us better understand how specific animals use the property, how far they are willing to travel, and can add another layer to the Sanctuary's natural history record.
At the same time, the cameras sometimes raise as many questions as they answer. Over the course of several nights, multiple cameras captured images of a large canine moving through the area. Large tracks found in mud and sandy areas nearby appeared consistent with the animal seen on camera, suggesting it was repeatedly using the same portion of the Sanctuary. Was it a wolf dispersing in search of new territory, a wolf-dog hybrid, or simply a domestic dog far from home? The last explanation may be the least likely, as no nearby farms are known to have a husky-like dog matching its appearance. In cases like this, the cameras provide valuable evidence, but not always definitive answers, reminding us how much there is still to learn about the wildlife moving through the Platte River corridor.
Though staff and volunteers love seeing the cute moments of deer, raccoons, herons, and cranes all sharing the same space, these cameras also allow the staff to see the other sides of the creatures that move through the property. Nighttime activity at the Sanctuary is not limited to the quieter moments people often imagine. Much of what happens after dark is part of the constant balance between predator and prey that keeps an ecosystem functioning. On one occasion, we witnessed a male bobcat successfully hunting a muskrat in our wetland. Life and death moments like that are difficult to watch, but they are also a natural and necessary part of the environment. Most visitors only experience the peaceful side of the Sanctuary during daylight hours, rarely seeing the survival pressures, competition, and hunting behavior that continue throughout the night.
Beyond individual wildlife encounters, the information gathered by these cameras contributes to the growing natural history record of the Sanctuary. Observing behavior like a raccoon stealing a rabbit carcass (most likely cached by a bobcat), helps build a better understanding of the species that use the property, their relationship to the habitats found here, and behaviors that staff and volunteers may have otherwise never witnessed.
At its core, Rowe Sanctuary is about protecting the Platte River ecosystem for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity. That means caring for the habitats that support not only the cranes, but also deer, otters, reptiles, pollinators, and countless other species that make this landscape what it is. Sometimes, though, the demands of daily operations dominate the staff’s time and energy. By having the ability to remotely observe the day-to-day and night-to-night activities of our wetland and hidden trails throughout the sanctuary, not only adds vital information to the natural history of the area but also helps us personally to slow down and bring us back to the big picture of the necessity of doing what we do – saving and learning more about the habitats that have disappeared along the Platte River corridor.
Rowe after dark is not a different Sanctuary. It is the same living landscape, simply changing shifts. The daytime belongs to photographers, birders, and school groups. The nighttime belongs to glowing eyes at the edge of the trail, hidden movement in the reeds, and the lives most visitors never have the privilege to see.
Written by Meggan Sommerville. All photos/videos courtesy Meggan Sommerville.
Meggan is a volunteer, educator, writer, and natural history/wildlife photographer whose work is rooted in observation, patience, and a deep curiosity and respect for the natural world. California-born, she grew up and raised her family in the Western Suburbs of Chicago. She first cut her teeth in wildlife photography over 30 years ago by spending hours in the field documenting wild snakes, frogs, and other herps across northern Illinois.
Meggan has had a varied career, which includes being a paid-on-call firefighter, paramedic, and veterinary technician, to more than 24 years in retail as a custom framer. She has spent her life in service to others. That experience carries through into her present volunteer work with multiple fire museums from Illinois to Arizona, where she helps preserve and share the history of the fire service and fire prevention through education and public outreach.