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:[log in to unmask] 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