Sunday afternoon news digest: lake edition

The lake was beautiful and breezy, which kept the skeeters at bay.  Despite the wind, birding was terrific. We spotted species ranging from hummingbirds to American White Pelicans. Watching a Krider's Red-tailed Hawk coax its fledged off-spring to practice flight was the biggest treat.

Our friend Eric snapped the picture of the lake. The tiny white speckled riding the waves is a pelican.

The Mankato Free Press reports that 400 National Guard members were sched uled to return the United States early today:

The 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry conducted peacekeeping operations in Kosovo as part of Task Force Bayonet. The Balkan country was a province of Serbia when the troops deployed there in September, but declared its independence in February.

The troops served in a hazardous duty zone, but none were seriously injured or killed during the deployment, said Lt. Randy Belden, a national guard public affairs officer.

They provided security at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo and went on various other support missions, he said.

The unit is slated to land at Volk Field in Wisconsin at 6:50 a.m. on Sunday. Their first task is demobilization, which takes about five days.

Welcome home--we hope the soldiers have chance to get out to the lake. The article mentions the fight Congressman Walz led to make sure that the soldiers received hazardous duty pay:

This deployment was at the center of controversy last summer, when the unit’s hazardous duty classification was temporarily rescinded.

That move would have denied the troops $225 per month in pay, and would have made all their income taxable, but it was reversed after an outcry.

Mankato is the company headquarters for the 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry, but most of the 400 troops are from elsewhere in the state.