"Land of 10,000 lakes" Minnesota by no1birdlady

Minnesota is called the Land of 10,000 lakes. The central hill and lake region covers over half of Minnesota. We spent a lot of time in this area. We stayed in a resort at Breezy Point near the town of Pequot Lakes and drove east, west and north from there to bird in different areas. Most of this area is rather flat. I was counting the lakes but lost count around 2,057 so don't know how many we did actually see of the 10,000. The lake in the photo is near Breezy Point and is in Lowell Wildlife Management Area. We saw Trumpeter Swans on this lake.
I was expecting it to be cool and crisp here in late May and early June but the first 2 days here it was hot and humid with a high temperature of 97F just like in Georgia in the summer but with a lot more bugs. Then it rained and a cool front came in making the rest of the trip cool and pleasant.(except the bugs were still here in great numbers). We spent 6 days birding here and were able to find 131 different species of birds. It was an interesting trip.

A typical Minnesota farm.

In driving through much of Minnesota, we saw miles and miles of farm land with barns, farm houses and fields. Glaciers once covered the state. Once they retreated the whole area was shallow lake or bog with lots of mosses then much of that dried up leaving a topsoil of dark rich peat in many places and many lakes. Many of the farms are dairy farms but we also saw Christmas tree farms, and large turkey farms with long houses crowded with white turkeys who stood shoulder to shoulder looking out. Other farms here had small corn, wheat and soybean plants just starting to come up in early June. Other farms were still just plowed land.

Herd of buffalo grazing on a hillside.

Some of the names here are quite picturesque. We crossed the Otter Tail River and one town we visited was called Crow Wing and of course there's the Mississippi River which we crossed many times. We even went to the state park where this great river begins. Other interesting names were: Crow Wing Drive, Eagle Wing Drive, Call of the Wild Drive and my personal favorite--Oink Joint Rd. We also drove along Leech Lake, which is huge. That name really makes you want to swim there! Another unique thing was that we saw 2 different herds of buffalo on the hills here. I don't think that they are wild. We also saw a Black Bear crossing a road in front of us. He ran across at full speed, then went up the hill on the roadside, turned and stared at us. We were amazed. Minnesota is a very interesting state.

• Pros:Minnesota is a good place to see a lot of interesting birds.
• Cons:There are a LOT of biting bugs here.