Loons to Falcons No loonswere reported,and the only Prairie grebeswere the three Red-necked and five Westerngrebes on the WabamunL., AB CBC. Latestragglers included an injured Provinces Am. White Pelicanat Gardiner Dam, SK, until about Christmas(TH, BL), a Dou- ble-crested Cormorant at Round L., Qu'AppelleValley, SK Dec.7 (JP),and a Region Great Blue Heron well into December at LaRivi•re, MB (fideAS). TwoTundra Swans survived at Katepwa L., SK, until at leastmid-February (BL, RUDOLF F. KOES AND PETER TAYLOR fide TR). Snow-coveredstubble fields Northern Hawk Owl was considered the bird of It wasanother long, cold, snowy prairie forced >2000 Mallards at Gardiner Dam the winter in the Prairie Provinces,with a major winter.Only southernAlberta had any Jan.8 to dabblefor a living (m.ob.).As incursion,especially in Manitoba.This one was real respite,with a mild Februarythat usual,the greatest diversity of lingering(or near Elma, Manitoba, December 15, 1996. Photograph/DennisFast. broughtback some of the usualearly earlyreturning) waterfowl was in s.Alber- migrantsat the end of Calgary'sthird ta, includinga Green-wingedTeal near coldest and second snowiest winter TaberFeb. 3 (LB),and the following Cal- There were five Sharp-shinnedHawk on record. In Saskatchewan, Robert garyhighlights: an Am. WigeonFeb. 25 sightingsin the Calgary area (fideTK; SM), Krebagave the 1995-1996winter the edge (FK), three N. Pintails Feb. 1 (BW), a and one near Craven, SK Dec. 21 (RKr, for misery,but by the narrowestof mar- Canvasbackto Jan.31 (m.ob.),and eight RM). SingleCoopers Hawks were noted at gins.Manitoba escaped the prolonged Buffieheadsand two HoodedMergansers Weyburn,SK Dec.21 (RB) andCalgary extremecold of lastwinter, yet still set Jan.29 (J&RD). A HoodedMerganser Jan. 14 & 16 (IH, RW). Northern a recordwith 108 daysof continuous wasat CrookedL., SK Dec. 21 (JP,BMz). Goshawknumbers ranged from very low in sub-freezing temperatures between Rarelyreported in winter were one s. Manitoba to fair in both Saskatchewan Novemberand February.Only western TurkeyVulture near Yorkton, SK Jan.3 and s. Alberta.A winteringRed-tailed and northern Manitoba recorded near- or (KW), and two in MedicineHat, AB Dec. Hawk was noted at Taber P.P.,Dec. 19 and below-averagesnowfall. 15 (BV). Nineteened. Bald Eagles congre- Jan. 3 (LB), and a "Harlan's"Red-railed As a consequence,most birders spent gatedat a Whitemouth,MB, chickenfarm Hawk wasin CalgaryJan. 29 (JR, RW, Januaryin a stateof near-hibernation,and Dec. 15 (DF, RKo, PT), but hadleft by LV). Rough-leggedHawks were scarce reportsafter the ChristmasBird Counts mid-January.At leasteight Bald Eagles Regionwide,no doubt becauseof deep weresparse. Winter-induced lack of moti- were at GardinerDam Jan. 8 (DV, PSa, snowcover.Feeding like the Bald Eagles vationaside, it wasa ratheruninteresting BL), and several were reported in (above)on groundsquirrels were 30 Gold- season,with the exceptionof somefine Saskatchewan'sQu'Appelle Valley (fide en Eaglesin 50 km betweenMilk R. and numbers of northern owls. With a few RKr). In the Magrath-Cardstonarea of s. Aden, AB Feb. 19 (AC), and 16 more in exceptions,winter finches did not leave Alberta,24 BaldEagles within 100 km the Del Bonito-Cardston area Feb. 23 the boreal forest in numbers, and half- werefeeding on early-emergingRichard- (T&DD). TwelvePrairie Falcon reports in hardystragglers fared poodle sonsGround Squirrels Feb. 23 (T&DD). Albertaincluded three at TaberJan. 2 (LB). About23 Gyrfalconreports in Albertawere consideredbelow normal; as usual, there weremuch fewer in theother 2 provinces.

" WoodBuffalo Nat.Park '' ß.U•r•aniur•Oily Partridges to Woodpeckers L.Athabasca • Gray Partridgesshowed some increases; r Churchillß the2 consecutiveharsh winters may have hinderedtheir recovery from the cool, wet " Ft McMurrayß / summersof a fewyears ago. Forty-eight ßGrande Prairie / SpruceGrouse provided an excellent ALBERTA/ • ß • .Thompso. counton thelong drive from Thompson, / LaRonge MANITOBA MB, to WinnipegDec. 7 (BC); the same dayeight were seen e. of Seddon'sCorner, _'5,. Edmontonß'Beave•hillL. ß MB (PT). A Blue Grouse fed in a win- :•!•JasperNat.Park /SASKATCHEWAN dow-box at Waterton Lakes N.P., AB Dec. 28-Jan. 5 (T&DD). Willow Ptarmigan ß.• BanffNat. Park ThePas•. . ' movedS to the La Ronge,SK, areain good numbers(fide RKr). Sharp-tailed • LastMountain L Riding Grousenumbers were notably low in s. .'::.•:-Calgary Alberta and s.e. Manitoba; how far do =11ii:' Lethebridg e SwiftC•rent (ili?•)Rress Hills • -Regina ßOak thesestrong fliers go in adversewinters? OldWives L.•Weyburn Brandon Wi•3nipeg Earlymigrants in Albertaincluded two Am. Cootsat FrankL., Feb. 17 (LV,JR), a Killdeerin CalgaryFeb. 17 (RL,VH), and

VOLUME5l, NUMBER3 FIELDNOTES 76I a Com. Snipeat CalgaryFeb. 23 (KB).A Glaucous Gull was at Gardiner Dam Dec. 3 (fideRJ), and Calgary's first-ever January gullwas a probableGlaucous Jan. 10 (JS). A first-winterBlack-legged Kittiwake gracedGardiner Dam Dec. 7 (DV, PSa) for Saskatchewan's3rd record. An E. Screech-Owlwas heard again at Medidne Hat from Feb.8 (DBa). Snowy Owl numberswere above average in s.e. Manitoba,and near average elsewhere, with no largeconcentrations. Northern Hawk Owlsirrupted in s.e.Manitoba, where one- daycounts of >20 birdswere recorded in Februaryin the regionbetween Elma and Ft. Alexander. Fair numbers occurred also in Saskatchewanand Alberta, including about 15December reports in theEdmonton area (fideRD) and twowell s. at Calgary(MP, RW eta/.).A N. Pygmy-Owlspent much of the periodin a Calgarypark (MM et al.). GreatGray Owls were locally concentrated in all 3 provinces,with an amazing123 bandedin the Opal-Rochesterarea, AB, Robins were locally numerous in The most surreptitiousof the winter-invading fromNov. 21 (RC),and high counts of 24 Saskatchewan,including 33 nearRound L., owls,this BorealOWl was at Kleefeld,Manitoba, in the Libau-Lac du Bonnet-Silver Falls Dec.21 (JP)and 114 on theSaskatoon CBC January11, 1997. Photograph/Den.isFast. area,MB Feb.9 (RN et al.), andeight near Jan.4 (fideGWp),but scarce elsewhere; two Choiceland,SK Jan.28 (fideCD). A rare survivedto Feb. 16 at Minnedosa,MB, and and few were noted elsewhere. Common wintersighting was a Long-earedOwl near one to Feb. 28 at Kenton, MB (all DBr), Redpollswere widespreadin Alberta, Marquette,MB Feb.22 (GWn). Boreal whileseveral overwintered in Winnipeg. mainlyin thenorth and the foothills; their Owlsevidently left the Manitobaforest in The largestpost-Christmas count of numbersincreased in the Albertaprairies substantialnumbers, with > 10 reported, BohemianWaxwings was 3000 in Calgary andthe forests of s.e.Manitoba in January. including_>sixdead birds turned in (fideJD, Jan.21 (MP). CedarWaxwings were gen- Pine Siskins were much scarcer than of late DH). Smaller numbers were noted in erallyscarce, but 120 werecounted with in Manitoba,and very few Evening Gros- Saskatchewan and Alberta. Bohemiansat Yorkton, SK Jan. 3 (JP). beaks were found outside the southern A BeltedKingfisher at Mt. Lorette,AB NorthernShrikes, always sparsely distrib- boreal forest of Manitoba. Feb.13+ (PSh)had likely overwintered. A uted,were especially hard to find in most Red-belliedWoodpecker visited a feeder of the Region.The usualhalf-hardy spar- Observers(subregional compilers in near Altona, MB until mid-January rowspecies lingered in low numbers,and boldface):Dennis Baresco(DBa), Ray (K&JS,m.ob.). Out of placewere a Three- manyapparently perished in January;scat- Belanger,Lloyd Bennett, Kyle Briton, toedWoodpecker in Medicine Hat Feb.15 tered small flocksof Dark-eyedJuncos Dick Brugger(DBr), BonnieChartier, (CM) anda Black-backedWoodpecker in faredmuch better. Overwintering success- Arlene Contarto, Ray Cromie, Calvin Calgaryfor muchof theperiod (BE, BMy es included an Am. Tree Sparrow at Cuthbert,Ross Dickson, Carmen Dodge, etal.). Above-average numbers of N. Flick- Minnedosa(CC) andtwo FoxSparrows at Theresa& Doug Dolman,Jim Duncan, ersin Winnipegin Decemberhad dwin- Jasper,AB (fidePSh). Blackbirds were like- Jean& RodgerDunn, Brian Elder, Dennis dled to a few by February,while seven wise scarce,especially after December. Fast,Ken Gardner,lan Halladay,Valerie migrantsreached Taber by Feb.18 (LB). Oxygen-starvedminnows in a Regina Hanas,David Hatch,Trevor Herriot, Roy spillwayfurnished emergency rations for John,Hal & Fay Kathol,Fran Kitching- Passerines fourRusty Blackbirds, among other birds, ham, RudolfKoes (RKo), TerryKorolyk, BlueJay numbers continued to increasein until lateJanuary (RKr). Alsoin Regina, Robert Kreba (RKr), Ross Lein, Bob Alberta and s. Saskatchewan. Two Mt. sevenCorn. Gracklesfrequented a feeder Luterbach,Blake Maybank (BMy), Joan Chickadees,present since November, were for much of the winter (H&FK). & Malcolm McDonald, Shonna McLeod, still in CypressHills RE, SK Jan.2 (fide Beyondtheir normal winter range were BoydMetzler (BMz), Molly Mills, Cyn- RKr). Three Chestnut-backedChickadees at leastone Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch near thia Mutch, Ron Myers, RobertNero, mobbeda N. Pygmy-OwlatWaterton Lakes SaskatoonJan. 25-26 (fideRJ), and anoth- JohnPollock, Mike Preston,John Riddell, N.P., Feb. 10 (LB). AmericanDippers er at Ft. McMurrayin lateDecember (fide Tom Riffel, Pat Sargent(PSa), K. & J. showeda significantdip in numberson PSh).Pine Grosbeaks were widely reported Sawatzky,AI Schritt,Peter Sherrington Albertamountain rivers. A Ruby-crowned in highnumbers in Alberta,but were thin- (PSh), WayneSmith, John Steeves, Ben Kingletwas extremely late in CalgaryDec. 6 ly scatteredin Saskatchewan,and few left Velner,Dan Vetter,Lynn Vogt, Glen Wal- (J&MM). There were 3 reports of the forestedregions in Manitoba.A few leyn (GWn), Guy Wapple(GWp), Ray Townsend's Solitaires in both Alberta and small flocks of Red Crossbills were noted Wershler,Bill Wilson, Ken Woods Saskatchewan,plus one on the Winnipeg in s.Alberta and at RidingMountain N.P., RudolfF. Koes,135 RossmereCres., CBC.The onlyVaried Thrush report was at MB. White-wingedCrossbill numbers Winnipeg,MB R2KOG1 and Peter •ylor, N. Battleford,SK Dec. 1 (fideRJ). American graduallythinned out in s.e. Manitoba, Box 597, Pinawa, MB ROE 1LO.

FIELD NOTES SUMMERi997