Yesterday we traveled to Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge (near Detroit Lakes, MN). We left home at 2:30am and arrived there around 6:15am.  It was a long trip, but well worth it in the end.

According to the weathermen, it was supposed to be in the upper 70s, so naturally we thought it would be warm.  When we arrived it was freezing cold.  I had to wear 2 jackets and was still cold.  It was only in the lower 40s.  And of course it rained as well, but that didn't last long thank goodness. 

We thought the entire day was going to be a bust for photos since it was so overcast and windy, however, turns out that it wasn't so bad after all.  As soon as we arrived we started seeing wildlife.  We saw tons of bald eagles, palm warblers, osprey, deer, chipmunks, wood ducks, mallards, blue-winged teals, hooded mergansers, ring-necked ducks, yellowbellied sap suckers, trumpeter swans, veery, brown creeper, Canadian geese, yellow warblers, sandhill cranes, ruffed grouse, common garter snake, painted turtles, turkey, and a porcupine.

Later in the day the sun came out and it became very hot, so of course out came the ticks. 

The most amazing experience of my life happened on this trip.  We were walking out on this service road and the wind was blowing so hard.  Overhead there were two bald eagles circling us.  At first we thought they wanted our dog (a mini doxie), but we walked a bit farther when we realized we were near a huge nest.  They were just protecting their babies.  Although we did not see the babies, we saw one of the eagles land in the nest.  The wind was blowing so hard that the eagles were just hovering over us.  We could even hear them "talking" to each other.  I have never heard eagles chatter like that.  It was a truly amazing experience.

Question of the trip: Is there a reason why all the signs are listed as GAS FOOD and not FOOD GAS? Just wondering.