summer in conjunction with the Island Nature Trust and the P.E.I. Shell Fish Society. The members agreed and the cleanup has been scheduled to take place during Environment Week, June 4th to 11th. The objective will be to remove plastics, glass, and other garbage from our beaches. This effort will not only tidy up the beach, it will help to save wildlife from becoming trapped in materials such as plastic rings.

The success of this project depends entirely on the numbers of people who help out and the c00rdination of the pickup effort. If you are interested in participating, please call Barbara Currie at 894-9297, Diane Griffin at 892-7513, or Bill Warren (P.E.I. Shellfish Society) at 887-3474.

ARE YOU A MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF CANADIAN ORNITHOLOGISTS

If the answer to this question is no, then ask yourself - where else can I get information on what is happening in amateur and professional ornithology across Canada? Where else can I read interesting articles on early Canadian ornithologists and naturalists? Who received the latest Speirs and Taverner awards?

There is no other place to find the answers to these questions than in Picoides, the bulletin of the Society of Canadian Ornithologists. The bulletin 15 published twice a year. Regular ($10) and Sustaining ($25) memberships can be obtained thrOugh:

Philip H.R. Stepney Membership Secretary Provincial Museum of Alberta 12825-102 Avenue

Edmonton, Alberta

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Society of Canadian Otnlthologlsta

NATURALISTS IN ACTION I by Dan McAskill

When the word "Winnie" is heard at the Natural History Society's meetings it is normally heard in conjunction with the Piping Plover. The name of course refers to Winifred Cairns Wake, a former editor of the Society‘s newsletter and one of the key individuals whose hard work brought the plight of the Piping Plover to the attention of naturalists across North America.

Winnie's long association with this species began during her Master of Science thesis work at Dalhousie University in 1975. Under the tutelage of Dr. Ian McLaren (another extraordinary Maritime birder) Winnie studied the population of Piping Plovers at Cadden Beach or St. Catherines River, now the Kejimkujik National Park Adjunct. During this work, Winnie wrote to people from the east coast through to Ontario attempting to determine how the species was doing as it had been listed in the "American Birds Blue List". Rather than ceasing work with the species on the conclusion of her thesis in 1977, Winnie undertook a survey of the Piping Plover in conjunction with Dr. McLaren. She walked many miles of beaches in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and the Magdalen Islands during the nesting and rearing seasons of 1977, 1978, and 1979. Winnie and Ian completed their work in 1980 and published the article “Status of the Piping Plover on the East Coast of North America" in American Birds.

This achievement only served to mark another step in the effort to conserve the species. In 1978, Winnie approached the P.E.I. Fish and Wildlife Division for support for the surveys and received a $500 contract to write the

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