CLIMATE AND LANDBIRDS BERKSHIRE COUNTY, MA: E PHOEBE, WE HAVE HAD AN EASTERN PHOEBE HANGING AROUND BERKSHIRE COMMUNITY COLLEGE ALL WINTER UP TO AT LEAST 2/27. IT SEEMED TO BE IN FINE SHAPE AND WAS ABLE TO CATCH INSECTS AROUND THE OUTER CEMENT WALLS OF THE BUILDINGS. IT IS PROBABLY STILL AROUND, ALTHOUGH WE DID HAVE A COLD SNAP NEAR THE END OF LAST WEEK. THIS RECORD EXCEEDS ANY DATE FOR LINGERING IN BERKSHIRE COUNTY BY THIS SPECIES, THE LATEST PREVIOUS DATE BEING DEC 1 ACCORDING TO BART HENDRICKS' BOOK AND MCNAIR'S UNPUB MS. THIS LOCATION IS AT 1000 FT ALTITUDE, WHERE IT IS CONSIDERABLY LESS MILD THAN MOST OTHER MA LOCATIONS. I ALSO HEARD ABOUT TWO OTHER PHOEBES IN EASTERN NY, PERHAPS NEAR ALBANY. ALSO, IN RHODE ISLAND, WHERE I AM THE AUTHOR OF A STILL UNPUB 800 PP MANUSCRIPT ON THE STATE'S BIRDS, A CASUAL COMMENT BY DR DOUGLAS KRAUS, URI PROF EMERITUS OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY AND DEAN OF RI'S BIRDERS (HE BEGAN BIRDING THERE IN 1924): "THIS IS THE MILDEST WINTER [IN RI] THAT I CAN REMEMBER." NOT A QUANTITATIVE DATA POINT!, BUT IT HAS WEIGHT NEVERTHELESS. IN RI, WE ALWAYS HELD UP THE WINTERS OF 1952-53 AND EARLY WINTER 1953-54 AS THE MILDEST THAT HAD EVER BEEN NOTED IN RI UNTIL THE 1970S OR LATER. THE CAROLINA WREN IS ONE OF THE BEST GAUGES OF WINTER MILDNESS. "--Richard Ferren <dickferren@aol.com