I have mentioned before Laura Erickson's birding blog.  Yesterday she 
commented on the Christmas Bird Count in Duluth, MN.  (Yes, this is out of our 
area but a fascinating commentary on nature.)  She was very excited that her 
group had found an "unprecendented 9 Cardinals."  She went on to say that 
last year's Duluth CBC totaled 27 Cardinals, the most ever.  This year, the 
total was 59.  Of course, there could be many other reasons for the 
northward movement of Cardinals, but global warming could be one.

Jim Wilson
Queenstown

ps:  She also noted that the Red-breasted Nuthatch total was 560.