The beautiful weather had us back at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge over the weekend. With 11,012 acres to explore, we expect to spend a lot of time there in the months to come. I was surprised to learn that this is one of only four American national wildlife refuges in an urban area. It’s also the largest, with eight protected areas over 34 miles along the Minnesota River. It’s amazing to have spaces like this only 10 minutes from our house in Minneapolis.
This raised footbridge takes you to a viewing platform on the Minnesota River:
We saw our first Cedar Waxwings while we were out. And this little bird seemed to have an entire stretch of the river to himself. We guessed that it was an Eastern Phoebe. Can anyone confirm?
And I couldn’t resist the cattails:
The national wildlife refuge is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the state recreation area by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
