While birding Isanti County today, Carolyn Walkin and I found 3 Whooping Cranes in the extreme NW part of the county in the Dalbo State Wildlife Management Area. The parking area we observed the birds from is on 421st Avenue NW (the gravel road that is the county line between Isanti and Kanebec Counties), 2.1 miles west of State Highway 47. After talking to Kim Eckert, who had talked to the Fish and Wildlife Service after I left him a message, it is felt that these are the three birds that the FWS lost track of from the Wisconsin flock. We observed the birds for about 40 minutes, and during a period that we weren't actively looking at the birds, they disappeared. As we were leaving the area to try to relocate them, we talked to a farmer who has a permit to farm in the WMA. He said he had just seen three "big white birds" flying to the east as he drove up. He thinks he has seen them in this area for almost two weeks. We never did find the birds again.
Ned Winters St. Paul, MN
