The Norway pine, also called the red pine because of its reddish brown bark, stands 60 to 100 feet tall, with a trunk 3 - 5 feet wide. Its needles are 4 - 6 inches long and grow in pairs. The tallest Norway pine in Minnesota is in Itasca State Park. It is over 300 years old and stands 120 feet high. Approximately 12,000 make their homes in Minnesota.
Loons are large black and white birds with long black bills.
Clumsy on land, they are excellent divers, underwater swimmers, and high-speed flyers. Their eyes are sensitive to light, so they go to deep dark waters during the day and move to shallow lake areas at night. The record walleye in Minnesota weighed 17 pounds 8 ounces. The pink and white lady slipper is one of Minnesota's rarest wildflowers. Thriving in swamps, bogs, and damp woods, they grow slowly, taking 4 to 16 years to produce their first flower.