and of course no time or darkness made it impossible to take notes or mark my field guide for future reference; it did have too many species per session - I don’t like that you didn’t name the bird at first - good to repeat the name a number of times; slides too fast! Also hard to hear some of the commentary! Why not combine sounds for those of us who like to connect the two; because I am not familiar with a lot of birds, it would be helpful if you repeated that name many times so I & others would remember the name of the bird they are looking at; I would like more information as to where the species are found on P.E.I.; showing the different colours; unable to attend all evenings; and too much - too fast.

In response to “How could the course be improved?”, the following responses were received: none (3); state name of birds more clearly when the slides comes on; I think slides for a full hour is too much but I don’t have an alternative; spread it out longer (3); for the beginner, outline and give information for the most common birds we might see; would be great to have sounds - calls - included to aid in identification, esp. Warblers; would like to see fewer slides per night but more discussion & possibly handouts i.e. some slides, bird calls related to slides, I’d like more in-depth information; its just fine; add a bit more information on backyard birds and what can be done to attract them to feeding stations; specimens; bit more organization might be helpful e. g. go through the slide sequence before the presentation; perhaps a combination of slides and other methods. Perhaps less slides & more time on commentary by instructors & questions - handouts to summarize each evening would be really helpful, also more talk on how to attract birds to feeders & more emphasis on where to go on RBI. to find various species; a smaller number of birds each night with more observations on behaviour and habitat; more detail on each type of bird - instead of just flashing it on the screen, play the call, discuss the habitats, etc.; more identification of birds; a second course could spend more time on calls; add pictures from birder’s feeders and show how and why that particular setup works for them; leave a little light on so people can take notes or mark things in the guides; don’t show as many birds on one night; a few handouts, I would pay more for a handout, perhaps give us a list of birds to look up for the next class related to the slides that we will see; talk more about the group i.e. warblers, show the ones we would most commonly see and where - make this an emphasis rather than the rare ones; and more field trips.

35% felt there was too much content for the time allocated while 52% felt it was just enough and 13% felt there was too little information on one or more areas. 73% felt other courses should be hosted by the Natural History Society. These were: more bird courses (6); wildflowers (4); attracting backyard birds (3) (i.e. trees & shrubs to plant also bird house construction/feeder construction); trees (2); plant identification (2); birding sites; types of feeders; local urban feeder birds; butterflies; bugs; small animals; amphibians; field trips on banding; sessions on environment; specialize in certain families of birds, plants, animals; habitat studies, marshes, & beaches; bird nesting habits and bird’s location/or feeding care.

[Editor's Note.- Thanks to everyone who provided feedback. The Society's Executive reviewed the comments and

adjusted this year's program to respond to the feedback (see the Environmental Calendar at the end of this and future Newsletters]

SUPERWATCH ON THE ISLAND: Compiled by Dan McAskill

Orange

White-winged Scoter

Surf Scoter

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’1' i m '1 “Common Scoter

SuperWatch is a coastal bird watch initiative to record spring migration movements of seabirds. It started in Eastern Canada along the Bay of Fundy and expanded to include Prince Edward Island two years ago. This year it