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Fergus Falls began in 1857 when Joe Whitford was sent by his employer, James Fergus, to find a site for a new community. Along the way he encountered an Indian family who told him where there was a big falls. After finding the rapids, Whitford staked out a town site and named it Fergus Falls in honor of his employer.

Today, Fergus Falls has grown into a thriving multi-ethnic community. 13,471 now call Fergus Falls home. More than 40 percent of those in Fergus Falls trace their heritage to Norway. German, Swedish, Irish, English and Polish round out the ancestries.

Fergus Falls has received many honors, including Tree City USA. The city has 22 parks covering 550 acres. There is a five-block walking path along the Otter Tail River near downtown Fergus Falls. Five lakes lie within the city limits and over 1,000 lakes are less than one hour away.

Besides the parks, Fergus Falls has many amenities to entice even the most jaded Twin Citian, but one of the most fantastic of the city's pleasures is bird watching.

More than 275 species of bird enjoy the area's collection of habitats. Pine forests, deciduous woodlands, native tallgrass prairie, aspen parkland, sand dunes, calcareous fens, bogs, marshes, large and small lakes and rivers make up the transition zone.

Most of the sites are on public land or private reserves open to the public.

Some of the unique birds you can find include the Northern Goshawk, Ruffed Grouse, Greater Prairie-Chicken, Yellow Rail, American Woodcock, Snowy Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, Great Gray Owl, Three-toed and Black-backed Woodpeckers, Boreal Chickadee, Bay-breasted, Connecticut and Mourning Warblers; Red and White-winged Crossbills and Pine and Evening Grosbeaks.

The Pine to Prairie Birding Trail is more than 200 miles long with 45 sites to view birds. Although spring, summer and fall offer an abundance of birds, winter is also an exciting time to see winter specialties. Check with tourism officials in area cities for more information on bird sightings.

The Pine to Prairie Birding Trail is a partnership between Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, Pelican Rapids, Roseau, Thief River Falls and Warroad; participating agencies including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Non-game Wildlife Program, Explore Minnesota Tourism; the birding entities of the Minnesota Ornithologist's Union, Audubon Minnesota, Lakes Area Birding Club and the Agassiz Chapter of the National Audubon Society.

But the birding trail isn't the only trail available to those in Fergus Falls.

The Central Lakes Trail is built on the abandoned Burlington Northern  Railroad corridor. It begins in Osakis and travels northwest Ashby, then west to Fergus Falls. It then passes through Nelson, Alexandria, Garfield, Brandon, Melby, and Evansville.

The Central Lakes Trail project was completed in the summer of 2004. The asphalt surfacing is continuous from Osakis to Fergus Falls. There is more information about the Central Lakes Trail at www.MnBikeTrails.com including an active trail log, community information and links to the towns on the trail. A map will be available at the MNBikeTrails web site when it is completed.

Contributed by John Fitzgerald. John is a freelance writer based out of Buffalo Hills, MN.