nearnormal in mostof theRegion. Ma- jorhe seasonlow-pressure couldbestsystems bedescribedcame along as Atlantic Provinces aboutevery three weeks, dosely following the PolarJet Su:eam, which was locked into place formost of the winter. Storms typically moved up theeast coast off Nova Scotia, then curved northover Newfoundland, along the coast of St. Pierre Labrador,and then out overthe Labrador Sea towardGreenland. The resultwas generally above-normalamounts of snow in coastaland mal in most of New Brunswick,normal in et Miquelon PrinceeasternEdward NovaScotia,Island withand snowfall Newfoundland, below nor-and abovenormal in coastalLabrador and northern Newfoundland. di,Killinek I. Temperatureswere a bit abovenormal until LABRADOR late Decemberand early January, after which .•,•TorngatMtns.N.P. extremelybitterconditions setin, as usual, ß SEA eliminatingmost half-hardy lingerers. During theperiod 12-16 January, record-low tempera- CapeHarrison turesnot seen in many years were experienced in southernNew Brunswickand Nova Scotia, • N•in•pedale•Car•.j•rig•tannetlslan d e.g.,-25 ø C at GrandMarian Island, NB on 13 • . • • EcologicalReserve January.Temperatures forthe remainder ofthe period,while cold, were slightly above normal. Q) • •al• • •StraitofBelle Isle It was an excellentwinter for most finches, :Eskere •Cape Breton Island, NS), C.S.I.(Cape • .• • Bas•. Sai•t•Pie,••a•aCe •-• •- C•[•n otte- - ...... otStrait etMiquelon St. Mary• P SableIsland, NS), G.M.I. (Grand Manan Is- • -I - • J East•ape ure•n•gn•nos land, NB),H.R.M. (Halifax Regional Munici- pality),NF (the actualisland of Newfound- , • ' • •apeBreton I. land), EE.1.(Prince Edward Island), SPM (St. , MOn•on••i•t •B •' •anso Lettered•va Pierre& Miquelon,France). • • •- u• •alif•-Dartmou• APictou TUBENOSESTHROUGH VULTURES • • - un•lberg e• • BAm•rst Rarelynoted after Nov, 4-5 Cory'sShearwaters .Br•[•[eYar•uth • ...... CD TruroWolMIle and20-25 SootyShearwaters were off Canso, Se• a•I. • CapeSab• I. EDigby NS followinga storm8 Dec(TK). An imm. BrownPelican was found 27 Decwandering a roadin s. Yarmouth,NS (Carla Allen); only the 2ndwinter record for the province,the bird AnnapolisRoyal, NS, a firstC.B.C. record for Brian Dalzell waseventually flown to a rehabilitationcenter Canada.Single Black Vultures were present in Florida.It hadbeen banded as a hatch-year 5-15 Decnear North Sydney, NS (DM et al.); individual in North Carolina in the summer of DempseyCorner, Kings, NS 9-10 Dec(AM); FundyBird Observatory 2003. Double-crested Cormorants now winter andRocky Brook, York, NB 4 Jan(B. Norrad). 62 BancroftPoint Road in smallnumbers on the A.P of Newfoundland, Bestcounts of TurkeyVulture, as usual, came with at least10 birds there throughout the pe- [romsw. Nova Scotia, with up to 9 at BrierI. GrandManan, New Brunswick ESG 3C9 riod (fideBMt). Six werefound on the St. (JuneSwift) and 7 at C.S.I.30Jan (MN). Pierre C.B.C. 27 Dec, while 22 in Pictou Har- bour,NS 1Jan were gone days later (fide KM). WATERFOWLTHROUGH PTARMIGAN C.B.C.14 Dec.The onlyRedhead was a drake AnAmerican Bittern lingered until 25 Dec at Latein the period,Brant numbers began to at BrierI., NS,returning for its 2ndwinter 16 Tryon,P.E.I. (M. Lord).A healthyGreat Blue buildat theonly two known wintering sites in Dec+ (EM et al.). SevenCanvasbacks on the Heronwas notably far n. at Campbellton,NB 5 the Region,with about600 at C.S.L11 Feb AnnapolisRoyal, NS C.B.C. 14 Decmade for Jan(Margaret Doyle). A GreatEgret at BigIs- (MN) and 420 at White Head, G.M.I. 17 Feb theRegion's largest flock in manyyears. land,Pictou, NS 1-2 Decjust made it intothe (DwayneSabine). Up to 7 EurasianWigeons SevenTufted Ducks at St. John'swas the period(Everette Baudoux). Remarkable for the werepresent throughout at St. John's,NL highcount for theRegion (BMt), while 2 at seasonwas an imm. Yellow-crownedNight- (BMt),while the highcount for American theTrenton, NS power plant 12Jan (KM) pro- HeronNov-14 Dec (Susan& HarryJost) at Wigeonwas 93 onthe Halifax-Dartmouth, NS videdthe highcount elsewhere. A drakeat

VOLUME 58 (2004) NUMBER 2 195 C.S.I.18 Jan (MN, JN). Sanderlings were most '•enai•ly:•..e.sensa'•:oftheseasoo:,•a•th•ad', 'Slaty'backedI •!l founcl:andplmtographed ndowntownGlace common at Portl'Hebert, Shelburne, NS, with •Bay• C:B.I., NS26 • c•idprat ifitoi•arl•( Feb •n the nead•y•har•r .(ALan& 'Cathy Muttant eta )• Comm•da by, 319 foundon the C.B.C.21 Dec,but downto th•di's•Overe•ph:81/6tjrap•h•bi•d bnd:quid•l•'sent in/•gesfbexper• for•Onfinnat• beforeannouncing thePresence 200+ 3 Jan (AD). re, rea:i ithoth wateø, iose Veryrare anywhere in theRegion at thissea- is90W:;the,eastem[•O•t:recorLh)f th•, • berianspe•es for:North America. • sonwas an imm. LaughingGull at BackOler Farm Marsh,near Lunenberg, NS 13 Feb (ShirleyCohrs). The only Little Gull reported SaintJohn, NB 11 Dec+was likely returning been "hunted hard." As an indication of how wasan ad.among kittiwakes off BlueRocks, for its 8th winter(Jim Wilson). Largest con- quicklythey can w•thdraw back n. towardtheir Lunenbe•g,NS 3 Jan(FL et al.).An ad.Yellow- centrationsof GreaterScaup were all in Nova breedinghaunts, only 3 werefound a weeklat- leggedGull presentin St.Johng, NF 25 Dec+ Scotia,with about4000 in PictouHarbour late er on the same route! waslikely the same individual present the pre- in theperiod (KM), an estimated500 at Cres- viouswinter (m. ob.). The ad. Ihayerg Gull re- centBeach, Lunenberg 12 Jan (JamesHirtle), SHOREBIRDSTHROUGH ALCIDS turnedfor yetanother winter to the harborat and 486 at GlaceBay, C.B.I. 31 Jan (Sara Twohardy Greater Yellowlegs were still present Halifax,NS, being seen off and on throughout McLean).Late in theperiod, pack ice became 2 Jan at Melbourne,Yarmouth, NS (PG). A Jan and Feb (v. o.). An imm. wasalso there at a problemfor the CapeBreton scaup, and at tardySpotted Sandpiper at BearPt., Shelburne, Pier9 on 1Jan (FL), and another ad. was pho- leastone fell prey to raven(DM). Thespecies NS20 Decwas a goodfind (Grant Milroy). A tographedat GlaceBay, C.B.I. 2 Jan(A&CM). numbersappearstoin beNewfoundland, winteringin with "ever-increasing" 350 found at hudsonicus Whimbrel at WhiteHead, Guysbor- At least 11 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were ough,NS 29 Dec was carefully checked to elim- found in Nova Scotia,while 10 were found on Irinity Baynear Clarenville on thewest coast inateother possibilities (Randy Lauff, Stephen the St.Johng CB.C. 26 Dec. 17 Feb and 250 at ShoalHarbour, A.P 22 Feb Bushell).The largestgroup of RuddyTurn- Bythe end of theperiod, Black-legged Kitti- (fideTB). stonesin the Regionwas 5 at PointLa Haye, wakeshad begun to return to breeding areas in Anapparent hybrid male King Eider x Com- NF 8 Feb(fide IB). Up to 9 Semipalmated Newfoundland,with 12,000+reported in one monEider, probably the individual seen in two Sandpiperswere present at C.S.I.20-31 Dec hourpassing n. pastCape Spear, A.P. 22 Feb previouswinters, was noted at St.Andrews, NB (MN, JN). White-rumpedSandpiper was not (fideTB). The only Ivory Gull reported was an 17 Dec (TraceyDean), and likelya few km imm.photographed at Glace Bay, NS 26 Jan awayat DeerI. 29 Feb(Stuart Tingley). The (A&CM). Two Forste•'sTerns were at C.S.I. un- largestflock of CommonEiders found in the til at least10 Dec (MN). Dovekieswere said to Regionwas 7000+ reported at WestBaccaro, be abundantaround S.EM. in late Dec (RE). A Shdburne,NS 10Jan (MN). An impressiveas- massiveflight in earlyDec brought many thou- semblageof about4000 Black Scoters at West sands into the mouth of the St. Lawrence R. in Baccaro11 Feb (MN) mayrepresent alate-win- Quebecand lesser numbers into Chaleur Bay, ter stagingarea, as only 450 werefound there suchas 132 in the Pointe-Verte,NB area2 Dec 22 Jan(IN). Buflleheadis a scarcespecies in (RogerGuitard). Following the strong easterly Newfoundland,soa maximumof 23 at Tray- galesof 6-7 Dec,dozens were reported wrecked townduring the periodwas significant (fide within 25 km of the Northumberland Strait TB).A niceflock of 16Barrows Goldeneyes at (fideNelson Poirier), with oneas far inlandas the head of tidewater on the St. Croix R. at St. Oromocto,NB 8 Dec(fide Don Gibson). Stephen,NB 3 Jan(Tom Muffat) is thelargest numberever found in a systemdraining into OWLSTHROUGH WOODPECKERS theBay of Fundy. It representsa previously un- It wasnot a SnowyOw] winter. The on]y mul- knownwintering location. tiple reportswere of 2 at C.S.I.3 Feb (MN) Reportsof imm.Broad-winged Hawks, all and 2 at Stanhope,EE.I. in Dec (D. Clark). lackingphotographic documentation, came Short-earedOwls were in goodsupply, mostly from Port Clyde, Shelburne12 Jan-13 Feb in a bandacross s. New Brunswick,n. Nova (SandyHiltz et al.); Kentville,Kings 12 Jan Scotia,and PrinceEdward I. Good countsin- (AM);Portuguese Cove, H.R.M. 21 Dec--4Jan dude 9 over the saltmarshes at Moncton,NB (HansToom et al.); Donaghnear Charlotte- 11 Dec (Jean-SebastienGu•nette); 7 at Fal- town, EE.I. 17 Dec (DM); and Ebenezer,EE.I. mouth,Kings, NS in earlyJan (fide Bob Ban- in Jan(A. Page). Subregional editor Ulli HOger croft);6 in theMemramcook R. Valley,NB 22 encouragesall observersof Broad-wingedsto Thisjuvenile dark-morph Gyrfalcon, here 30 January Dec (RogerLeBlanc); 5 at PinkneysPt., submitboth photographs and written docu- 2004,was present inthe Memramcook River Valley, New Yarmouth,NS 11 Jan (PG); and at least 10 Brunswickthroughout the period, the first long-staying mentationon the species.Even rarer than the birdin the south of the province formany years. throughoutthe period in onesand twos across precedingspecies, a light-morph imm. Swain- PhotogrophbyAlain Clavetie. EE.I. (m. oh.). One at Memramcook,NB 22 softsHawk was well described by a carefuland Dec was attackedin the air by a Common experiencedobserver at BarringtonPassage, reportedfrom C.S.I. this winter, breaking a six- Raven,releasing a sizeable"puff' of feathers Shelburne6 Dec (Joan Czapaly). yearstreak. The onlyWhite-rumpeds of the (Alain Clavette). Another at St. Shotts, NF 8 GordonParsons, a long-timehunter in w. periodwere 2 at BiscayBay, NF on the Cape Feb was considered uncommon in winter on Labrador,considered the past winters Willow RaceC.B.C 14 Dec, whereconsidered late mi- theisland (fide TB). Ptarmiganflight there to be a "six"on a scaleof grants(BMt). A Dunlinat PointLa Haye, NF 8 Red-belliedWoodpecker staged its best 1-10 (withthe winter of 1999-2000being the Feb was said to a first winter record for the flightever into the Region in Nov,with most (if most recent "10"). On a 240-km drive from province(fide TB). Up to 10 werepresent at not all) eventuallysettling in at feeders.No LabradorCity to ChurchillFalls 27 Feb,he saw Grand Barachois,SPM until at least 11 Jan fewer than 10 were found in New Brunswick, 150+.The birds were flighty and had probably (RE).High coun! for the Regionwas 250 at including one as far n. as Pokemouche,

196 NORTH AMERICAN BIRD Gloucester,while at least 20 were tallied in fromblunt force trauma (likely hitting a win- local media (fide BMt). A femaleSummer NovaScotia, mostly in thesw. but asfar e. as dow) and that it was a female. Bohemian Tanagerwas present at a feederin Greenwich, Sydney,C.B.I. Newfoundland gotonly its 2nd Waxwingwas we[[ distributed in the Region, Kings,NS until 12 Dec (Terry& Heather recordever, with one foundon the e. coastat evenin w. Labrador,where good numbers re- Hennigar).Clay-colored Sparrow feeder re- RockyHarbour surviving until early Dec (fide mainedthroughout the period (GP). Peak portsincluded 3 at Canso,NS throughoutthe TB).We seldomhave Yellow-bellied Sapsucker numbersdid not occur elsewhere in theRegion period(TK); 2 at GrandPr•, Kings,NS 26 to reporthere, but 3 werefound in NovaSco- until lateJan and early Feb, such as 1000+at Dec-18 Feb (fideJim Wolford);one 19-23 tia, noneof whichlikely survived the winter: St. John's9 Feb (fideTB); severalflocks of Decat Lewisporte,NF (JaredClark); and an- 19 Dec on the AmherstC.B.C., 22 Dec on the 200-500were noted along the s. shore o[Nova other at St. John's26 Dec (BMt). Northern SydneysC.B.C., and 11Jan at MiddleRiver, Scotia24 Jan-8 Feb (v. 03, and 1000+were in Cardinalappears to be firmlyentrenched in Victoria(fide Chuck Thompson). A female Wolfville,NS 8 Feb(Jim Wolforal). Although sw.Nova Scotia, where Murray Newell was Northern Flicker at a Sackville,NB feederwas therewere good numbers in NewBrunswick as able to identify 25+ attendingfeeders in killedby 2 EuropeanStarlings 12 Dec(Kathy well, the NovaScotia birds appear to havear- Yarmouth. An imm. male Rose-breasted Popma). rivedmostly via New[oundiand,with reports Grosbeakappeared sporadically at a feederat comingfirst from C.B.I., then later from the McLeod Hill near Fredericton, NB 4 Dec•8 VIREOSTHROUGH WAXWINGS eastern mainland of Nova Scotia. Cedar Jan (JeannieMichaud). An IndigoBunting at A Blue-headed Vireo survived until 14 Dec at Waxwingwas outnumbered about 10:1 by its a feedernear Bathurst,NB survivedsome in- St.John's, NF (j. Selno).Two Fish Crows were largercousin, with 50 in Pictou,NS 18Jan be- crediblybitlet weather 11-22 Jan (Marco Sci- apparentlyblown to sw.Nova Scotia by the ingthe most reported from one location in the chiloneet al.), while anotherrecord-late indi- blizzardof 19 Feb,with the first turning up at Region(KM). vidual "lookedparticularly robust" at a Shelburne24 Feb (Peter McLeod) and the Renews,NF feeder3 Jan (BM0. olher at C.S.I.29 Feb (JN). White-breasted Smallflocks of winteringEastern Mead- Nuthatchesflooded into the Region from the owlarksincluded 4 at Hartlen Pt., H.R.M., w. duringthe fall and were very common at NS 16 Dec-18 Jan (m. ob.) and 6 at Canso, feedersthroughout the Marltimes. Carolina NS 13 Jan+ (TK). Fartheste. was an indi- Wrenslook a big hit lastwinter and were vidual at Maine-a-Dieu, C.B.I. 3-14 Feb justabout wiped out in theRegion. The only (DM). Farthestn. was one at Le Goulet, reportwas of oneat Fredericton,NB until 7 Gloucester,NB 12 Jan (RogerDumaresq). Jan (Don Gibson).House Wrens were re- New Brunswick's 2nd Bullock's Oriole in as portedfrom Nova Scotia at Spryfield,H.R.M. manywinlers was an imm.male at a Saint 14 Dec(FL) andat DoctorsBrook, Antigo- Johnfeeder 8-15 Dec (DaveSmith et al.). It nish15-29 Dec (fideAH). Onebrave indi- wasan exceptionalwinter for finches,with vidualroughed it out at the St.John's, NF Bruce Mactavish's summation for New- dumpuntil at least26 Dec(BMt). The only foundlandapplying to just aboutthe entire Region:"Purple Finches, Common Red- reportof Blue-gray Gnalcatcher was an indi- Thisapparent adult Thayer's Gull showed up for its fourth winter in vidualinto early Dec at Canso,Guysborough the harbor at Halifax,Nova Scotia (here 19 December 2003), where polls,and Pine Siskinswere abundant at (f•e BM). it waspresent through the end of February 2004. There was some feeders.White-winged Crossbills were fair- Surprisingin sucha harshseason, good concernthat this bird's mantle was too pale for Thayer's, but most ly common in the woods (even in counts of Hermit Thrushes were noted in the expertsfelt it waswell within the range of Thayer's seen Labrador).Evening Grosbeak and Pine Regionon several C.B.C.s: 5 at Halifax-Dart- inthe West. Photograph byRichard Stern. Grosbeakwere present in moderatenum- mouth, NS 14 Dec; 2 at Miscou L, NB 14 bers."The latterspecies was reported espe- Dec;and singles at Tracadie-Sheila,NB 20 Dec WARBLERSTHROUGH FINCHES dally commonin n. New Brunswick(Mike and EastPt., P.E.I.14 Dec. Five werefound on Only the mostoutstanding warbler rarities Lushinglon)and is increasinglytaking to feed- theA.E, includingone to 25 Febat St.John's will be mentionedhere, as reportsare now ers throughout the Region. American (BMt), and 2 were at Fredericton,NB 4 Jan. commonplaceof many half-hardy species lin- Goldfinchesseem to be intimidatedby red- Someprobably survived the period in NS,such geringinlo Decin NovaScotia and the Aval- pollsand were present only in fair numbers, asone at PortJoli, Queens 29Jan (AD), anoth- on Peninsula.For the 2nd year in a row,a exceptthe A.P, wheresaid to be common er at C.S.I. 14 Feb (MN), and one at BearRiv- MagnoliaWarbler was found on Ihe C.S.I. (BM0.Hoary Redpoll was well reporled every- er,Digby, NS 24 Feb(Maggie Rice). American C.B.C. 20 Dec. A CapeMay Warblerwas wherethere were Common Redpolls, even in Robinswere generally scaltered throughout the found at Petit Rivikre,Lunenberg 2-3 Dec sw. Nova Scotia, but were outnumbered at Regionuntil early Jan, when they began a mass (fideJH). Four reportsof Yellow-throated least1000:1 by Commons,with the largest exodus(out of NewBrunswick, for example). Warbler included one at Canso, NS 1 Dec numberreported being only 8 atLabrador City By earlyFeb, most had moved into NovaSco- (TK), a white-loredindividual at Yarmouth, i Feb (GP), the only locationwhere redpoll tia,and 2200+ were noted feeding on Multiflo- NS 14 Dec (fideKM), onein St.John's 7-14 numberswere generally depressed. ra Rosehips at Canning,Kings 8 Feb(Merritt Dec (MarshallIliff), and anotherat Gander, Gibson). One came to a suet feeder at Goose NF 17-19 Dec(K. Butler).Outstanding was a Contributors(subregional editors in bold- Bay,Labrador 14 Feb (fide TB). The only report CanadaWarbler well seen at CapeMiquelon, face):Todd Boland,David Christie,Andy of Townsend'sSolitaire came from Alma, NB 11 S.EM.20-21 Dec(Jacky & ChristineH•bert). Dean, RogerEtcheberry, Sylvia FullerIon, Dec (Doreen Rossiter). Newfoundland's 10th Townsend's Warbler PaulGould, Ulli HOger,Andy Horn, TomKa• A NorthernMockingbird at a feederin was in St. John's12-30 Dec (BMt et al.). A vanaugh,Fulton Lavender, Blake Maybank LabradorCity lasteduntil earlyJan, when it Yellow-breasledChat survivedat a St.John's (BM), BruceMacravish (BM0, Dan McAskill, wasfound dead of unknowncauses (fide GP). feederuntil 15 Jan (m. ob.). David McCorquodale,Ken McKenna,Ian Another that died there in late Feb 2002 was An imm.male Summer Tanager at a feeder McLaren,Angus McLean, Eric Mills, Alan& deposiledwith the New BrunswickMuseum, in St.John's 2-9 Jan, the 4th recordfor the CathyMurrant, Murray Newell, Johnny Nick- wherean autopsyrevealed that it had died provincebut firstfor winter,appeared in the arson,Terry Paquet, Gordon Parsons. ge

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