The Sageville Marsh

The Sageville Marsh, close to Heritage Trail Pond parking lot, is filled with hidden beauty if one takes time to stop and look. A viewing deck allows users to scan the area and realize what a unique treasure a marsh can be. This 2-1/2 acre marsh can swell to 15 acres at times. This provides a rich habitat for supporting an interconnected food web, offering nesting habitat, and buffering flood waters from the Little Maquoketa River, according to Dubuque County Conservation Outreach Director Kaytlan Moeller. While fish may enter during high water events, the depth of the marsh isn’t sufficient to support fish. Daily however, the marsh does support “lots of fun benthic macro invertebrates, such as dragonflies,” in addition to worms, snails, and beetles, says Moeller. Migratory ducks, such as mallards, wood ducks, teals, shovelers, and buffleheads, can be seen regularly. Larger majestic birds can be seen and heard as well, such as sandhill cranes. Moeller noted that a nesting pair of trumpeter swans lived there a couple of years ago. The marsh also is a “great place to hear spring pepper frogs.” The richness of this marsh is evident with this list of animals that make the Sageville Marsh home. In addition, the shallow open water spaces and wetland vegetation are rare in hilly Dubuque County. The seasonal flooding absorption creates a rich ecosystem that adds to the beauty we see. So while on a Heritage Trail visit, stop and observe what treasures are to be found in the scenery or animal life