THANKS TO THE BOARD AND VOLUNTEERS!

On January 4"‘, 2005, the Natural History Society held its annual general meeting. David Seeler, the Past President presented the Nominating Committee report. Dwaine Oakley (President), Fiep de Bie (Secretary), and Sharon Clark re-offered their services to the Society and were re-elected. Bonnie McOrmand was elected as Program Director and Dan Kennedy was elected to the position of Vice-President. Fiep deBie will be the Society’s representative on the Island Nature Trust. The Executive is still seeking a person to take over as the Treasurer.

The members expressed their thanks to outgoing members of the Society’s Executive namely: Eric Marcum for his five years service as Director as well as his considerable contributions on bird records for the Society; Arja Page who served as Treasurer for the past 2 1/2 years; and to Ron Arvidson who served as Vice- President for the past year. In addition, members expressed their sincere thanks to the new Board members and to

those who agreed to continue their service for their significant contributions to the Society’s members and the Island public.

A YEAR FOR RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS: By Brian Dalzell

Oddly enough, I do not believe Red-bellied Woodpeckers will ever breed here. The Red-headed Woodpecker has been seen here in winter for a century or more, yet it has never bred in the Maritimes. About five years back we had three Red-bellied Woodpeckers here in one spot on Grand Manan Island, and I figured they would breed (2 females and a male). However, they all drifted away by the end of May, and likely returned to the place whence they were born. Despite having been invading Maine since the mid-19803 in larger numbers than here, there has never been any indication of breeding in that state. Despite not being sure what kind of habitat they prefer, I have a feeling we just don't have enough of whatever they prefer. By the way, this is likely the last year

anyone will be keeping track of sightings of Red-bellied Woodpeckers in New Brunswick with ~100 so far in New Brunswick.

LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR’S GREENWING CONSERVATION AWARD ANNOUNCED: ’

A new award will recognize individuals and groups who aim and work to conserve and protect Prince Edward Island’s wetland habitats. The creation of the Lieutenant-Govemor’s Greenwing Conservation Award was recently announced by The Honourable J. Le’once Bernard, Lieutenant-Governor of Prince Edward Island, and Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) president John R. Messer.

The award, which will be given out annually, is sponsored by Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC). It recognizes individuals or groups who have demonstrated leadership in a project or activity that has contributed to the public awareness of wetland conservation in Prince Edward Island, and/or individuals and groups demonstrating outstanding volunteer service in assisting organizations that benefit wetland conservation.

Editor 's Note: The inaugural award nomination deadline was for January 5'”, 2005

NEWS FROM ABOUT:

In November, Dan Kennedy participated as the Society’s representative at the Atlantic Nature Network meeting in Tatamagouche. This meeting looked at ways to improve networking of naturalists across Canada including: the development of young naturalist clubs; children’s programming materials; renaming of provincial naturalist organizations on the Nature Canada name model; and the development and utilization of a naturalists web tool to overcome the challenge faced by small organizations to develop web based services which are

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