Amidst raucous partying among 66 to 92 year olds, I managed to find time on New Year's Eve to search for a 2 point (see Big Jan rules) CT Bird Atlas block I could visit this morning. Much to my delight I found orphaned block 65E, tucked in next to Waterbury blocks I already cover and just a few miles from my house. I wasn't expecting much in an area filled with condos, industrial tracts and suburbia, but that's the beauty of the Atlas. It makes you visit areas that no birder is likely to visit. Within the first half of a 1-hour survey I found a Fox Sparrow in a spot where an assisted-living facility dumps its leaves and trimmings. (Knowing its chip note helped). Then a few minutes later I drove into a big empty parking lot at Bridgeport U.'s Waterbury facility and found a flock of 22 Common Redpolls in a group of Gray Birch lining the pavement. I managed to work 2 surveys into the block and was home eating a bagel with cream cheese and lox by 10:15 a.m. I totaled 23 species in the 2 surveys with no water, including Common Raven and Eastern Bluebird. Here's hoping the effort to add to the Atlas this January is as successful as efforts to chase birds found by other people in past Big Januarys:) Greg Hanisek Waterbury