Feb. 4.

it doesn't deserve".

motion for the Island.

Instead of dark, dirty, ‘;we saw a lot of wonderful underwater shots of cormorants "swimming and feeding, and the birds in flight with great shots of Prince Edward Island as a backdrop - the Depart— ment of Tourism couldn't have done a better job as a pro-

.- r

Puts .blame on mom

BY GARY SCHNEIDER

stinky rats of

The double-crested cormorant is a bird that has taken . a lot of criticism on Prince Edward Island over the past two years, and so it was with great interest and anticipa— tion that I watched CBC's The Nature of Things program on "The Sea Raven" painted a much different picture of the double-crested cormorant, "a bird with a reputation

the bird world,

The show made the point that double-crested cormorants are blamed for for eating salmon and trout, but all studies show those species are only a

tiny part of their diet,

and that they mostly feed on fish of no commer—

cial value. On the other hand, cormorants‘are victims of gulls eating their eggs, pesticides sprayed on potato fields above their colonies that are absorbed by fish and then affect young feeders, and of course, man.

The host told about a colony in Mahone Bay that had a healthy popula~ tion five weeks before filming, and then we were treated to recent film at the colony, the ground littered with dead cormorants and shotgun shells and only two birds that escaped the killing. Some of the conclusions reach- ed were that with the pressure to reduce the population, the cormorants face an uncertain future, partly because even though they're protected,

law enforcement is lax,

and that people,

not cormorants take the largest

catch of fish and have caused serious depletions of some commercial species. David Suzuki closed the program with the following observation: "We're forever looking for scapegoats to blame for the damage done by human act— ivities. Destroying innocent wildlife won't solve complex economic and en— vironmental problems. The roots of those problems are much closer to home."

MISI‘G‘I’IOI’! Sfudy now (won lable

The Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation has produced a Short Study on the spring bird migra- tion on P.E.I. The study, done by NHS recording secretary Geoff Hogan, in- cludes why and where birds migrate, behavioural differences, keeping re- cords and a suggested reading list.

The back page is a table on when to expect new species as spring pro- gresses. The study is well-illustrated and designed (by Reg Vessey and Cheryl Cudmore, respectively) and hopefully is the first in a series. We look for— ward to Short Study 2. The study is available from the Foundation, or by writing to Short Study Series, 2 Kent St., Ch'town CIA 1M6. 14

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