Brown Thrasher, Dovekie, a Long-eared Owl, Short-cared Owl, a Hermit Thrush, a Northern Mockingbird, and Red-winged Blackbirds. With the exception of the American Goldfinch and Common Redpoll and Pine Siskin, very few finches were present in any of the four count areas. Parks Canada staff hosted the pot~luck held at lunch at the Dalvay Shelter during the P.E.I. National Park Count and an evening potluck was hosted at Diane and Kevin Griffin’s home in Stratford after the Hillsborough

Count.

The Montague count began calm with blue skies but as the morning passed the sky filled with clouds. Some snow was predicted for that evening and there did seem to be a quietness to the day that is often felt before a storm. When the Montague count was started, in the early 1980's, it was unusual to see a Bald Eagle. This year nine were sighted on the Montague count day. One Great Blue Heron was sighted, as were Bohemian and Cedar Waxwings. The most exciting sighting was the Northern Mockingbird that has been a visitor at a feeder in Montague most of the fall. It has not been seen since the extremely cold weather in mid-January.

Most Montague counters commented that the numbers were down this year, especially members of the sparrow and finch families including Evening Grosbeak, Purple Finch, Song Sparrow and White-throated Sparrow. This is the second year in a row that these bird species seem to be down in numbers. Once again the actual number of species and birds sighted was not down. The most numerous species on the Montague count was the European Starling, which was the second most numerous in 2002 when 887 starlings were counted. The second most numerous was the Common Goldeneye at 654 and the third most numerous was the Common Redpoll with 604. All in all 60 species were recorded, compared to 51 for the 2002 count. 6,937 birds were counted this year compared to 6,458 birds in 2002. The number of teams out and the number of counters were down from the past couple of years. If the full complement was out, numbers would be even higher.

The reports for each area are provided below.

OBSERVATIONS NUMBERS OBSERVED East Point National Park HillsborougL Montague Total Dec. 14, 2003 Dec. 21, 2003 Dec.27, 2003 Jan. 3, 2004 Dec. 21 -Jan. 3

Red-throated Loon Recorded 1 1 2 Common Loon Recorded Recorded Northern Gannet Recorded 3 3 Double-crested Cormorant Recorded CW CW Great Cormorant Recorded 4 4 Great Blue Heron Recorded 1 1 Snow Goose CW CW Canada Geese Recorded 1245 1,620 303 3,168 Gadwell Recorded Recorded Eurasian Mgeon 1 1 American Black Duck Recorded 872 2,023 444 3,339 Mallard 12 66 14 92 Northern Pintail 1 4 5 American Green-winged Teal 5 12 17 UlD Duck 56

Greater Scaup Recorded 304 1 305 Lesser Scaup Recorded Recorded Common Eider 640 640 Surf Scoter Recorded 4 4 White-winged Scoter Recorded 3 1 4