Hooded Mergansers in full breeding plumage at Long Pond. Magnificent looking birds. Shortly after this, two juvenile and an adult male Northern Harrier as well as a Peregrine Falcon were seen hunting the Covehead marshes.

The day’s outing concluded with a drive through Stanhope and back to Charlottetown. An American Kestrel and Gray Partridge were spotted by Ray as we traveled the roads against a brilliant crimson sunset. A great days outing for all the birders who, along with their generous sponsors, raised over $1,048 for the Island Nature Trust’s natural areas conservation initiatives! At count’s end, we had matched the previous count record for 93 species. I

Besides the birds noted above, we seen the following species during the day. Red-throated Loon, Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Northern Gannet, Great Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose, Green-winged Teal, American Black Duck, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, Common Eider, Oldsquaw, Black Scoter, Surf Scoter, White- winged Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Bad Eagle (12), Northern Harrier (6), Sharp-shinned Hawk (2), Merlin (5), Peregrine Falcon (3), Black-bellied Plover, American Golden Plover, Semi-palmated Plover, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Ruddy Tumstone, Red Knot, Sanderlings, Semipalmated Sandpiper,, Least Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Dunlin, Bonaparte’s Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Iceland Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Black-legged Kirtiwake, Caspian Tern, Common Tern, Rock Dove, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-shafted Flicker, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Common Raven, Boreal Chickadee, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Swainson’s Thrush, American Robin, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Vesper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White- throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Snow Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Purple Finch, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, and House Sparrow.

AMERICAN KESTREL BANDING PROGRAM:

Jim Jenkins reported that 44 American Kestrel chicks had been fledged from 11 nests in 2000. Dave Johnston and Jim have established 40 nesting boxes in the areas in and between York Point, Dunstaffnage, Stratford, and Covehead. Seven new nest boxes erected this year failed to attract kestrels. Unfortunately, the lack of a banding permit prevented the banding of the chicks and the collection of valuable data from band recoveries.

PROVINCIAL FORESTS PROCLAIMED:

First proposed almost 20 years ago, the Hon. Mitch Murphy announced the designation of the Provincial Forests across the Island in August, 2000. This designation means that 18,600 hectares (47,000 acres) of forest land owned by the government will be managed for long tern forest conservation. The Natural History Society was one of many groups who supported the designation which was also recommended by the Round Table on Resource Land Use. The Provincial Forest Section of the Department of Agriculture and Forestry's Natural Resources Division contracted with P. Jon Burden to design a logo that reflected all the values of the forest.