wood—nymph, Atlantic fritillary, silver—bordered fritillary, Harris' Checkerspot, painted lady, Laurential (common branded) skipper, and white admiral.

1998 BAIN BIRD COUNT: by J. Dan McAskill

This Bain Count started about 2:30 am in heavy rain and continued through until 8:30 pm when the last counters left the field. All in all, it was a good count day with teams recording from 70 to 110 species. Fog at East Point prevented a higher individual count for one team but the sighting of a female Merlin sitting on an upturned stump helped to compensate for the fog and cold. Later in the day, the second team was thrilled by the sighting of a pair of Shovelers.

The day's sightings were as follows: Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Double- crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, American Bittern, Canada Goose, Mallard, American Black Duck, Gadwell, Green—winged Teal, Blue—winged Teal, American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Wood Duck, Ring—necked Duck, Common Eider, Red-breasted Merganser, Northern Goshawk, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Osprey, Merlin, American Kestrel, Ruffed Grouse, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Sora, Piping Plover, Black-bellied Plover, Common Snipe, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Willet, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull, Great Black—backed Gull, Herring Gull, Ring—billed Gull, Bonaparte's Gull, Common Tern, Caspian Tern, Rock Dove, Mourning Dove, Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Ruby— throated Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, Alder Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, Tree Swallow, Bank Swallow, Barn Swallow, Gray Jay, Blue Jay, Common Raven, American Crow, Black-backed Chickadee, Boreal Chickadee, Red—breasted Nuthatch, Gray Catbird, American Robin, Hermit Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, Veery, Golden—crowned Kinglet, Ruby—crowned Kinglet, Cedar Waxwing, European Starling, Blue-headed (Solitary) Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Black-and-White Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Norther Parula, Yellow Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black—throated Blue Warbler, Black—throated Green Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Chestnut—sided Warbler, Bay—breasted Warbler, Blackpoll, Palm Warbler, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson's Warbler, Canada Warbler, American Redstart, House Sparrow, Bobolink, Red—winged Blackbird, Rusty Blackbird, Common Grackle, Rose—breasted Grosbeak, Purple Finch, American Goldfinch, Savannah Sparrow, Sharp—tailed Sparrow, Northern Junco, Chipping Sparrow, White—throated Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, and Song Sparrow.

Thanks to the counters, namely, Ray Cooke, Meike Keunecke, Gerald MacDonald, Dan McAskill, Paul & Arlene McGuigan, Roberta Palmer, Linda Thomas, and Jean Watts.

ENCOUNTER IN THE MOONLIGHT by Glenn K. Roberts

It was a clear, crisp February night. A light breeze whispered softly across the fields. The full moon hung above the southeast horizon like a huge, shimmering jewel, its light slanting through the leafless branches and casting long finger-like shadows across the snow. It was about 10:30 p.m., and I had decided it would be a perfect night to walk through my woods and try to locate the great horned owl I had heard calling earlier in the evening. I live in Emyvale, where I have 45 acres of woods, streams and fields. I had heard the great horned calling for the past several nights, and I was anxious to get a closeup look at it, if possible. I have a number of large spruce trees in my woods, and I was sure that it was roosting somewhere in one of them.