THE BIRDS OF CHRISTMAS 1990 by Dan McAskill

After counters were in the field for the first several hours of this year's National Park count, many probably wished it was cancelled. As Bruce Pigot put it "Not Fit. A prime example of what a driving southeast rain storm can do to a bird count". However, the count was carried out and Park's Canada staff hosted those that braved the roads to a hot lunch cooked at the Dalvay shelter. All those who made it expressed a heartfelt thanks to the chefs. Bruce's closing comments on his count report "It was a correct decision to proceed with the count" held true for 36 species were seen.

Well, the Montague counters have clearly established a new record number of species for the P.E.I. Christmas bird counts. 52 species were seen on the count day and an additional 5 species were seen during the count period. The record of 48 count day species and 2 additional species in the period set in the Hillsborough Count only 3 days previously was quickly surpassed!

The count summaries were as follows: (CP = Count Period)

Species Number in the Count Area National Park Hillsborough Montague

Common Loon 3 Northern Gannet 1 Great Cormorant CP 2 1 Double-crested Cormorant 7 Great Blue Heron 1 1

Canada Geese 217 1565 315 Mallard 4 2 21 Black Duck 1122 852 652 Green-winged Teal 1

Northern Pintail 20 CP 1 American Nidgeon 1

Scaup sp. 22 38

Common Goldeneye 195 98 191 Barrow's Goldeneye 3 Bufflehead 1 Oldsquaw 8 62 182 Black Scoter ' 20 Scoter sp. 1 Common Merganser 237 14 110 Red-breasted Merganser 4 18 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 3

Red-tailed Hawk 1 1 Rough-legged Hawk 5 1 Bald Eagle 2 CP 1 8 Northern Harrier 4

Osprey 3 Ruffed Grouse 1 3 3 Ring-necked Pheasant 1 1 Gray Partridge 5 CP 10 11 Iceland Gull 9 1 Ring-billed Gull 2 10

Great Black-backed Gull 85 149 106 Herring Gull 204 421 517 Ivory Gull 1

Dovekie 1 CP 1 ' -11-