Greetings! The 57th Minden CBC was held on Saturday, Dec 16th in near perfect conditions. The morning was spectacular, with blue skies, very little wind, and temperatures slightly above 0C. By 1:00pm, clouds began rolling in and the wind picked up a bit but counting was still easy. The warm early winter temps kept the large lakes open, and the snow cover was minimal (0-5cm). A total of 31 field counters participated in the count, with a total effort of just over 96 hrs. Another 12 feeder counters assisted. Although some feeder watcher data is still trickling in, preliminary results show a diversity of 48 species (slightly above the 20 yr. avg. of 45.9), and 4727 individuals (above the 20 yr. avg. of 4287). One additional count week species was observed, Red-bellied Woodpecker. Highlights: Greater Scaup - 14 (3rd count record) Bufflehead - 8 Red-breasted Merganser - 5 Cooper's Hawk - 1 (9th count record) Golden Eagle - 2 (5th count record) Bohemian Waxwing - 25  Northern Cardinal - 4 Common Grackle - 1  Snow Bunting - 698 (just shy of the 711 count record back in 1982)   Count Highs: Trumpeter Swan - 19 (prev high 12) Greater Scaup - 14 (prev high 2) Cooper's Hawk - 1 (ties prev high) Golden Eagle - 2 (ties prev high) Barred Owl - 8 (ties prev high) Belted Kingfisher - 4 (ties prev high) Brown Creeper - 17 (prev high 16)   Winter Finches: Purple Finch - 134 Red Crossbill - 57 (the highest count since 1967, when 65 birds were counted) White-winged Crossbill - 4 Common Redpoll - 44 Pine Siskin - 344 American Goldfinch - 640   Best of the holiday season to everyone and good birding! Cheers, Ed Poropat