COMlNG EVENTS

DECEMBER MEETING. The Tuesday, December 7th meeting will feature as guest speaker Dan McAskill of the provincial Dept. of Forestry. His talk will be about Trees, in particular the trees of the Island, including special species like ironwood which are only rarely found in the province today. For an opportunity to learn about

the kind of forest that once covered P.E.I. and how it has changed into today's woodlands, come to the December meeting.

JANUARY MEETING. The annual meeting of the Natural HistOry Society will be held

on Tuesday, January 4th. David Cairns, a graduate student at Carleton University in Ottawa will show slides of western Hudson Strait, focussing on two bird research projects. One study involves foraging activities of Black Guillemots nesting under boulders on the tiny slab of rock known as Pitsulak City. The other centres on

the hundreds of thousands of Thick-billed Murres nesting on the sheer 700 foot cliffs of Digges Island. For an inside glimpse into a spectacular part of Canada's north, circle the date on your calendar.

FEBRUARY MEETING. The February lst meeting of the NHS will be devoted to a launching of the 1983 programme of the Mushroom Club. Katherine Clou h will give a talk on

The Wonderful World of Fungi. There will be displays of books and mushroom trivia. Anyone with material to contribute to the evening please call Katherine at 894-8390. She is looking for books, paintings, photographs, models, newspaper clippings and mushroom anecdotes. Plans for 1983 field trips and identification sessions will

be discussed.

CLUB FORMS 4’? if

On Wednesday October 13th, a small, enthusiastic group of people met to discuss the possibility of forming a club to promote the study and enjoyment of fungi on P.E.I. Most of those present had been students in the recent UPEI extension course on Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms, and all expressed an interest in continuing their studies. The group met again the following Sunday for a field trip at Brackley Beach. Besides a large collection of Slippery Jacks (Suillus luteus) which everyone took home for supper, we found a number of un- knowns which were later pondered over in Susanne Manovill's kitchen - along with tea and cookies. These activities have launched the Mushroom Club, and during the winter we will plan field trips and other activities for 1983. Some interest was expressed in edible plants in general and also in another course on the more technical aspects of the biology and identification of fungi. /

The NHS has kindly agreed to allow the club to use space in this newsletter for announcements of their activities, and for the time being membership of the NHS ensures membership of the Mushroom Club. One of the monthly meetings of the Natural History Society this winter will be devoted to matters mycological. Watch the next newsletter for details.

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