Saturday March 21 we set out for a hike at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Rapids Lake Unit near Carver, MN. It was a very cool morning, down right chilly in fact, but beautiful none the less. I sure wish I could figure out how to dress in spring in Minnesota. The key is layers, but just how many is the question. Inevitably you'll be freezing one moment and sweating the next.

We were looking for birds this trip, much like almost every other trip. Specifically tailored and waterfowl. It didn't take long and we were seeing birds all over the place. Some of which included American Eagles, Black-capped Chickadees, Ring-billed Gulls, Trumpeter Swans, Downy Woodpeckers, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-breasted Nuthatches, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Common Mergansers (a first for us yay!!), Song Sparrows, Turkeys, and Canadian Geese. 

I even had a pretty amazing experience with a pair of Trumpeter Swans. We had just reached our ending point and were walking back along the same trail. Suddenly six Trumpeter Swans did a flyby with two of them landing in the pond right next to us. Wow were they loud, constantly honking at one another. I crept through the brush to get as close to them as I could without disturbing them. They could clearly see me, but showed no sign of being bothered by my presence. I don't believe in harassing wildlife and would not have moved in so close if they would have been uncomfortable with me there. I was able to get some great shots and observe them for several minutes before I retreated and left them happily swimming about. To have such an interaction with wildlife was incredible and an experience that I'll never forget. It's experiences like this that reaffirm my believe in habitat restoration.