Willmar area birders spot a newcomer, while a staple of the count almost goes missing

Willmar area birders spot a newcomer, while a staple of the count almost goes missing

WILLMAR — The 2025 Willmar Area Christmas Bird Count will go down in the record books for both what was seen, and what almost wasn’t. One new species was added to the annual count when Joel Schmidt, a veteran birder and co-organizer of the local count, observed two common ravens while in the field on Dec. 20. It marks the first time this species has been seen during the local count. This was the 64th anniversary of the Willmar area bird count an…