Date: 3/13/26 9:11 am From: Harry LeGrand (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Reminder: A call for Winter Reports for the Briefs for the Files
Fellow birders,
Now that the Winter Season is over (December - February), as *The Chat'*s Briefs for the Files editor, I would like to hear from *any of you who have not posted important records for the season already on eBird. * The great majority of the Briefs over the past decade have come from the editor perusing the eBird database, species by species, and picking out the most signficant reports. This is tedious (looking at over 400 Species Maps!), but I need to wait for a few more days to start so that any and all rarity sightings (as seen on the Carolina Bird Club Sightings page) have hopefully been approved as valid. But, *a few of you might have some important records that were not on eBird, so please let me know what notable birds you saw*.
We had a VERY cold winter -- a record cold season of three months for some places -- with many snow and ice events. Thus, we had a much better influx of waterfowl onto inland lakes this season, as bodies of water farther northward froze over. And the very cold condition did provide some exciting seabirds along and off the coast, especially later in January and in February. So, you might want to comment on such winter trends of waterbirds and other species.
What I also want to hear from folks is their observations, or more likely their LACK of observations/records, of "winter finches". It was a very disappointing winter for semi-recurring winter finches -- Pine Siskins, Evening Grosbeaks, and Red Crossbills (away from the mountains), as well as Red-breasted Nuthatches. [We did have a fairly good flight into the Carolinas for Purple Finches.]. Note that I did not see or even hear any of these four species in NC this winter, and few folks that I know did either, at least in the Triangle area of NC.
I'd like to hear from folks by* March 25*, if possible. Again, *almost all of you submit eBird reports, so those data are already available to me on the website, and thus a big "Thank You" for posting results.*
Harry LeGrand, Brief for the Files editor (for *The Chat*) Raleigh
PS -- One person has already reported to me a species that was squelched (for secrecy purposes) by the eBird program, so that exciting report will appear in The Chat Briefs (Spring 2026 issue).
