Today, Bill Stauffer and I birded around the area and found quite a few interesting birds. First, the RED-THROATED LOONS are still present in Garrison Bay. We watched them for quite a while as they swam from within the bay in Crow Wing County and then further out into the lake into Aitkin County. Other birds of interest include: 2 BLACK-BILLED MAGPIES, 2 SHARP-TAILED GROUSE, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS and a MERLIN on County Road 1. And on County Road 18: NORTHERN SHRIKE, 5 GRAY JAYS, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS, SNOW BUNTINGS, COMMON REDPOLLS, and maybe as many as 100 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS. The crossbills seemed to everywhere along the road, feeding on the cones, pecking gravel on the road and drinking water in the ditches. Warren Nelson
