weatherin Februaryabetted sporadic and localizedredpoll deathsfrom salmonella infection in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia,leading to broadcastpromotion of qu&bec region dismantlingof feeders;most saw no signsof the problem. Observers(subregioual compilers iu bold- face): David Christie,Brian Dalzell, Fred Dobson, Roger Etcheberry, Bernard James•'• ßRadisson Forsythe,Sylvia Fullerton, Carl Haycock, Andrew Horn, Paul Linegar, Bruce Macravish(BMt), BlakeMa•oank (BMy), Dan McA.ddll•David McCorquodale, Eric •)':E•e,n•)QUEBEC• • Havre-St.-Pierre aa•c-S_ab• Mills, Murray Newall, John Nickorson, PeterPearce, Richard Stern, Stuart TingIcy, ß ßMataõamißCh,bougamau V [ O• •----'•costt' t•' Eva Urban, Rob Walker. Lorneau •. • Gasp& Ouffof P ßAmos • L, • ,/J/ *RimOUSKi'a•"Matane Perc6 &Lawrence lan McLaren, BiologyDepartment, Dalhousie *Rouyn V•rL• Ch•c•timi•'--"•/ e Made/e•ne/s. University,Halifax, NS B3H 4J1 '• - QuebecCity•/f/e :. ff "; • • WARBLERS APPEARING OR REMAINING AFTER DECEMBER I 4,' T" _ff- ATt.A~TtC Species Province*Number Latest Tennessee NF I Dec. 3 Orange-crowned NF 4 Dec.26 :.-t:.l. oc~ Orange-crowned NB 3 Feb.22 Orange-crowned NS 6+ March Nashvfile NS I March PIERRE BANNON shortterm impactaffecting the survivalof N. Parula NS I Dec. 5 and NORMAND DAVID residentspecies. The generalimpression, Yellow NF 3 Dec. 13 however,was that sucha negativeimpact Townsend's NF I Dec. 18 wasprobably minimal. Some feeder owners Yellow-throated NS 2 'an. 12 usual.he1997-1998 Precipitation winterwas wasabove milder normal than noticed that birds were more numerous at Pine NS _+16 March for Decemberand January,but February their feedersin the daysand weeks follow- Pine NB 8 March Palm SPM I 'an.6 turnedout verydry, except for the eastern ingthe storm.An unpublishedstudy made Palm NB I Dec. 30 part of the province.Although true, this by EnvironmentCanada revealed a higher Palm NS 4 March laconicclimatological report overlooks one seedconsumption at feedersnewly set up Blackpoll NS I Dec.20 of the mostdreadful weather systems to hit within the affectedarea after the storm, as Black-and-white NS 3 'an. 28 the Regionin livingmemory. The shocking comparedto controls. Black-and-white NF 4 March aftermathsof the early Januaryice storm Intermediateand long term effectswill N. Waterthrush NF 1 Dec. 8 certainlytake more time to assess.What will Com. Yellowthroat SPM I Dec. 12 werestill being felt by the southernQuebec be the effects of the destruction of the Com. Yellowthroat NS 3+ 'an. 27 populationthree months later. To appreci- Wilson's NF I Dec. 1 ate the impact of this storm on human canopyfor nestingraptors and other cano- Wilson's NS 2 Dec. 14 activities,nothing has more suggestive py nestingspecies? What will be the effects Yellow-breasted Chat NB 1 Dec. 5 powerthan the followinghard facts: Up to of themass of brokenbranches lying on the Yellow-breasted Chat SPM 1 Dec. 24 four inchesof iceaccumulating over a peri- forestfloor for groundnesting species? In Yellow-breasted Chat NF 3 [an. 10 the lattercase, very long term effects can be Yellow-breasted Chat NS 12+ [an. 26 od of five days,25 storm-relatedfatalities, * SPMis, ofcourse, French territory. All records 3.5 million personswithout electricityat expectedas these branches may take up to from Newfound]and are for the Avalon Pen., the peakof the storm,some of themwith- 20 yearsto decompose.Obviously, very mostfrom St. John's, andfideBMt. out powerfor a month,320 hydrotowers informative studiescan be worked out, but and over30,000 poles knocked down, mil- in this difficult economicperiod, will the lionsof treesseverely damaged, and so on. financial and human resources be sufficient Althoughone can imaginethe conse- to completesuch long term studies? quencesof sucha storm on human and economicactivities, it is yet impossible, GREBES TO INILD TURKEY threemonths later, to identifywith certain- A Red-neckedGrebe at Les EscouminsJan. ty any impact--negativeor positive---on 3 providedthe Regionwith a rare winter bird life. In any cataclysm,two typesof record (CA, CG). A N. Gannet at Laval Dec. impactscan be anticipated, including first a 14 wasthe only one wanderingupstream VOLUME5Z (lggB), ISSUEZ 167 intothe upperSt. Lawrence R. in December thisspecies (JL). Finally, single Corn. Snipes Saucier), and another one was at Pointe- (fide JP Pratte). Two cormorantsseen in overwinteredat Beauportand La Pocati&e Lebeluntil Jan. 13 (C. Martin),both repre- flight overMontreal Feb. 17 couldnot be (fideLM). sentingnew northernmostwinter records, identified(GL), but whateverthe species, A first-winterMew Gull (apparently onlyone year after last winter's report from both the Great and the Double-crest•ed brach?rh?nchus)was seen from both sides the L. Saint-Jeanarea. cormorantare exceptionalat this date in of the Lachine rapids at C6te Sainte- A Yellow-throated Warbler made a one- s w. Quebec. Catherine and LaSalle Dec. 14-28, estab- day appearanceat Saint-Timoth•eDec 1 A Mute Swanat AylmerDec. 10-11 was lishinga newrecord departure date (PB, B. (B. Derome), and the one that wasdiscov- apparentlyof captiveorigin (DT et al.),but Barnhurst, m.ob.). Several reports of ered in fall in Rimouski was last seen Dec an immature at Ile de la Visitation Jan. Thayer'sGull werereceived, but onlyone 18 (D. C6t•, Y. Bonlanger),a new record- 26-30 was of undeterminedorigin (Y. first-yearbird studied at Matane Jan. 1 latedate. A PineWarbler lingered at Cap- Desmarais,GL). A Wood Duck at Sainte- includedsome details on theplumage (LM, aux-Osuntil Dec. 22 (A. Bourassa,E Vdle- BlandineDec. 21 (R. Saint-Laurent)and a A. Gagnon,J. Goulet). An impressivecount neuve),and anotherone visited a Chandler Green-wingedTeal at La BaieDec. 1-14 (H. of 1750 Iceland Gulls was recorded at Les feederDec. 7-Feb. 6 (JRL et al.'),with the Slmard,S. Tremblay) were locally very late. EscouminsDec. 27 (cA, CG).An ad.Lesser resultthat 5 of the 10 Regionalrecords for Althoughnot unprecedented,a Ring- Black-backedGull appearingto be of the Januaryand February come from the Gaspd neckedDuck overwinteringat Dorion (J. intermediusrace was reported from 3 dif- Pen.Five differentoverwintering N. Car- Atkinson),and single Lesser Scaup at Alma ferent localitiesin the Montrealregion: dinalsin the Lower St. Lawrence(Rivlere- for the 2nd consecutivewinter (S. Boivin et BeaconsfieldDec. 7 (P. Tarassof),LaSalle du-Loup,Rimouski, Amqui) are an indica- al ) and at Dorval Jan. 31 onwards(PB), Dec.22 ( D. Daigneault,R. Lavoie),and ile tion that the speciescontinues to progress wereof interest.A femaleHarlequin Duck de la VisitationJan. 2-4 (PB). A Glaucous eastward on the s. shore of St. Lawrence R also overwintered at Saint-Jean-sur- Gull at Sainte-GertrudeJan. 3-7 represent- A Dickcisselon the MagdalenIs. Dec 20 Pachelieufor the 2nd year (G. Zenaitis), ed a first winter record for the Abitibi (fideDGG) wasnoteworthy. while four more individualswere widely region(J. Tessier). The EasternTowbee that showedup at scatteredthroughout the Region.Barrow's Two ad. Ivory Gullscaused a sensation ObaskaNov. 3-4 (C. Bddard,E Martel) fur- Golden-eyespeaked at an impressive700 •t at Les EscouminsDec. 15, one remaining nished a first record for the Abitibi area A Baie-desRochers Dec. 19 (CM, M. Robert). until Dec. 21 to the pleasureof dozens SpottedTowbee at Saint-GodefroiJan A Commonx Barrow'sGoldeneye hybrid of observerswho madethe trip there(CA, 2-15 (E.Arsenault) provided a 9thRegional was reported from the latter locality CG). Anotheradult briefly landedon a record and a first in the GaspdPen An Dec. 16 (CM). kayak off Forillon Park Jan. 18, to the overwinteringChipping Sparrow at Pmnte- Gyrfalconstotaled a loweight individu- amazement of the oarsman (fide S. Claire (M. Mcintosh)is no longera sur- als.At Cap d'Espoir,two Gyrfalconswere Marchand). prise,but the Clay-coloredSparrow that seengiving chase to an unfortunateSnowy remained at a Chandler feeder from Dec 8 Owl that finallysank in the coldwater of OWLS THROUGH MEADOWLARKS into March (JKL)represented a first winter the Gulf of St.Lawrence (PP). Wild Turkeys All irruptiveowl specieswere reported in recordfor the Region.A SavannahSparrow at Dorion Jan.24 (C. Dagenais)was a rare apparentlyremained unaffected by the ice verylow or belowaverage numbers. One of winter occurrence. A Yellow-headed Black- storm. Six of them were seen for the first the casualtiesof the Januaryice stormwas bird was at Saint-UlricDec. 1-Jan.29 (J time at Dundee Feb.21 (L. Simard). perhapsa BarnOwl, found dead in Dorval C6te,D. Desjardins),and an E. Meadowlark in March,but that had beenseen lying on was at Mont-Laurier Nov. 15-Jan. 25 (C RAILS TO GULLS the groundby the farm ownersometime in Villemaire). A Sorawas picked up aliveat Sainte-Anne- winter (fidePB); the taxidermistwho pre- de-SorelDec. 29 (E Messier).The bird was paredthe specimenfound 3 leadpellets in ADDENDUM keptin captivitythroughout the winter and the bird'splumage, but thereis no indica- Seven Sandhill Cranes at Saint-Germame- will be releasedby spring.Our previous tion that a gunshotcaused its death.Previ- record-late date was Nov. 26. ACom. ousoccurrences (about 50) wereall record- Bonld,Abitibi, Oct. 22 providedthe Region Moorhen lingered in the Boucherville edApril through December. with a new recorddeparture date (SG) Is until Dec. 28 (Y. Gauthier,S. Morand). A Red-headedWoodpecker remained at Four speciesof shorebirdswere reported a Becancour feeder from Dec. 24 into Subregionaleditors (boldface) and initialed throughoutthe winter. A Killdeer was March (J. Gaillardetz),and a Red-bellied observers:C. Auchu,C. Cormier,G. C•r, notablylate at BoischatelDec. 24 (JL, C. Woodpeckeroverwintered at Carignan(C. P. Fradette, S. Gagnon,D. G. Gaudet, P•pin) and onewas early at NoyanFeb. 28 Adam).A Yellow-belliedSapsucker in the C. Girard, G. Lachaine,J. Lachance,J R (S Denault,PB). Four Sanderlings were tal- Montreal Botanical Gardens until at least Lepage,C. Marcotte,L Messely,E. Milot, P. Po-11% J.-E Rousseau,G. Savard, D. lied on the MagdalenIs.