NATURAL HSTORY UPDATE

OCTOBER MEETING: The first meeting of the fall '84 season was held in the Provincial Health Building on October 2 with the largest turnout ever - a total of 54 people showing up for the evening. Included in the business were reports from Dan McAskill on the CNF, Pat Doyle on the Island Nature Trust and Evelyn Meader on the Canadian Coalition for Acid Rain. (See last issue for articles on CNF and Island Nature Trust activities). Please note: any money collected from the sale of Acid Rain bumper stickers should be turned in to Geoff Hogan; also, any nest scheme cards. Following a brief lunch break, Wayne Barrett gave a fascinating history of Anticosti Island and presented a coll- ection of his slides showing Anticosti Island and the Magdalenes as well as whales in the Gulf region.

NHS SPONSORS 2 PROJECTS: In 1984, the NHS sponsored two projects to study Piping Plovers and Bar Clams. The Piping Plover research project received a grant of $18,000 to enable a project supervisor (Joyce MacLeod) and 2 field workers (Peggy Jo Jenkins and Melissa McGonell) to survey nesting sites of the Piping Plover outside the National Park. Joyce will have a report available later. The grant was funded through Environment 2000. The second project was on Bar Clam research with a grant of $75,000 (under Section 38 of the Job Creation Branch) to study the distribution and productivity of bar clams along the North shore of P.E.I. (See article in this issue).

JAMES L. BAILLIE MEMORIAL FUND for Bird Research and Preservation is now available to researchers outside Ontario. the aim is to-encourage ‘field studies by amateur naturalists and to support projects dealing with birds in their natural environment or with their preservation. "Priority will be given to projects which utilize the efforts of vol- unteer naturalists in conducting research or field work and to appli- cants who have little or no access to other funds. Grants do not nor- mally exceed $1000." Applications are due by Dec. 31, 1984 and should be submitted to The Secretary, The James L. Baillie Memorial Fund, c/o Long Point Bird Observatory, Box 160, Port Rowan, Ont. NOE 1M0.

CONGRATULATIONS to John Sylvester gxa\ for receiving Honourable Mention ‘ in the 1984 Nature Canada photo contest, for his photo of a puf- fin at Woody Cove on Baccalieu Island, Newfoundland. See the October/December issue of Nature Canada Magazine.

RED FOX (Vulpes fulva). About 40" w_' h long, rusty-reddish with a white 4Q*_H \v belly, chin, throat and tail tip. by Lower legs, feet and back of ears \\,fq

are black. Inhabits forests and V open country through most of North America. In summer, the red fox feeds mostly on vegetation, while its diet changes in the winter to small birds and mammals.

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