The highlight of Wednesday's Woodstock Christmas Bird Count had to be an 
adult male Rose-breasted Grosbeak that Spencer Hardy and I discovered at 
3:45 pm at a feeder just off Rt. 100A in Plymouth.  Despite harsh 
weather that including strong winds, driving snow squalls, and 
plummeting temperatures, the bird seemed to be in good condition.  It 
alternated between active feeding and preening during the 15 minutes we 
observed it at close range.  Spencer digiscoped several iPhone images, 
that, while not exactly North American Birds cover-worthy, are 
diagnostic.  One can be seen at 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61161297@N08/6598138469/in/photostream.

According to eBird and Records of Vermont Birds (RVB), this is the the 
3rd December record of the species for Vermont.  Kent McFarland pulled 
together the following:

    eBird December records for the northeastern U.S. and Canada:
    1982 - one in NYC at Bronx Zoo
    1982 - one in Chautauqua, NY (far western)
    1987 - one in Vergennes (18-25th; RVB)
    1998 - one in Stockbridge (13-16th; RVB)
    2003 - one in Barnstable, MA (Cape Cod)
    2005 - one way up in Quebec (3 sightings)
    2005 - one in Presque Isle on 31st
    2009 - one in Ontario north of Lake Ontario (2 sightings)
    2010 - one in Arlington, MA on 2 dates
    2011 - one in Ontario on the 2nd
    2011 - one in coastal NJ on the 3rd


Full results of the Woodstock CBC should soon be available from Sally 
Laughlin.  In general, numbers of individual birds were low - this was 
definitely the first CBC in which I've personally recorded more juncos 
(105) than chickadees (79)!

Chris

-- 
Chris Rimmer
Vermont Center for Ecostudies
P.O. Box 420
Norwich, VT 05055
802-649-1431 ext. 1
http://www.vtecostudies.org