Salt Lake is a natural

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

lying between

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

and

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

in the United States. Salt Lake received its name due to the naturally occurring salt at the lake shore, a by-product of the alkaline soils which surround the lake. It is the only alkaline lake in Minnesota and its water is approximately one-third the salinity of sea water. Salt grasses grow along the shore and in the lake's water. The site is one of the most popular

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

sites in Minnesota. One hundred and forty one different species of birds have been identified by birders in the vicinity of the lake.

Sago pondweed ''Stuckenia pectinata'' ( syn. ''Potamogeton pectinatus''), commonly called sago pondweed or fennel pondweed, and sometimes called ribbon weed, is a cosmopolitan water plant species that grows in fresh and brackish water on all continents except ...

and

brine shrimp ''Artemia'' is a genus of aquatic crustaceans also known as brine shrimp or ''Sea-Monkeys, sea monkeys''. It is the only genus in the Family (biology), family Artemiidae. The first historical record of the existence of ''Artemia'' dates back to t ...

in the lake attract large flocks of waterfowl and shorebirds. Frequently seen birds at Salt Lake include

avocet The four species of avocets are a genus, ''Recurvirostra'', of waders in the same avian family as the stilts. The genus name comes from Latin , 'curved backwards' and , 'bill'. The common name is thought to derive from the Italian ( Ferrarese) ...

willet The willet (''Tringa semipalmata'') is a large shorebird in the family Scolopacidae. It is a relatively large and robust sandpiper and is the largest of the species called "shanks" in the genus ''Tringa''. Its closest relative is the lesser yell ...

s and ducks such as the

canvasback The canvasback (''Aythya valisineria'') is a species of diving duck, the largest found in North America. Taxonomy Scottish-American naturalist Alexander Wilson described the canvasback in 1814. The genus name is derived from Greek ''aithuia'', ...

gadwall The gadwall (''Mareca strepera'') is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae. Taxonomy The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. DNA studies have shown th ...

, and

shoveler The shovelers or shovellers are four species of dabbling ducks with long, broad spatula-shaped beaks: * Red shoveler, ''Anas platalea'' * Cape shoveler, ''Anas smithii'' * Australasian shoveler, ''Anas rhynchotis'' * Northern shoveler, ''Ana ...

. Like other prairie basin lakes, Salt Lake has dry and wet cycles in which the lake will periodically dry out completely. During dry years, exposed wetland mud flats are streaked in white layers of salt.

References

Lakes of Minnesota Lakes of Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota Lakes of South Dakota Lakes of Deuel County, South Dakota {{SouthDakota-geo-stub

See also

References