Upper Midwest ( MN, WI & UP MI)

The bogs and lakes have always intrigued me as to the wildlife residents that come to inhabit those environments during the long and cold winter months. You just can’t find these type of species very easily unless you travel to northern parts of Canada. But in certain spots in the Upper Midwest, some of these northern inhabitants migrate to spend the winter season there.

The mighty Mississippi forms at the sump of Lake Superior. Raptors use the western edge of that lake to migrate along the thermal ridges created at the edge of land/water masses. An abundance of bald eagles use this ‘highway’ to travel along. Several wildlife refuges are devoted to the eagles and waterfowl layover locations along the Mississippi.

The Great Lakes themselves are the largest lakes found in North America as well as fresh water resource and create an ocean-like environment. Dunes of sand are found on the eastern edges and waves pound the shoreline with fierceness much like the Atlantic and Pacific oceans do the same to their respective coastlines. Layers of clouds are formed and deliver many squalls and storms particularly to the east.

The climate of this region has extreme variation between the long cold winters and the short hot summers. With more temperature recordings over the 90 degree F mark and lower then 10 degree F recorded then anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere. The growing season is much shorter with these kinds of  temperature extremes but yet the soil is very conducive to agriculture with the abundance of water sources. The bogs and marshes are even more productive as a natural resource. This is what supports a myriad of wildlife species. The diversity of fish and wildlife transcend the Canadian/U.S. border. Other then the bogs and coastal wetlands; boreal forests, prairie hardwood and riparian ecosystems comprise the landscape of this region.

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