NEWS AND NOTES

OCTOBER MEETING REPORT. The first meeting of the fall season was held on Oct. 5. Reports were given by Winifred Cairns and Winston Johnston on recent Canadian Nature Federation meetings in Calgary and Ottawa. Members were strongly urged to attend the upcoming CNF Atlantic regional meeting in Sackville on Oct. 23. Plans were made to hold Christmas Bird Counts in the P.E.I. National Park (Dec. 18) and Hillsborough (Dec. 27) areas and possibly in Montague as well. A committee was established to write to museums across the continent to find out the whereabouts and extent of natural history specimens from P.E.I. The 'up-west' field trip rained out on Oct. 2 has been postponed until spring. An invitation was received for members to attend the inaugural meeting of the mushroom club. Members were urged to respond to the current membership drives of the Island Nature Trust, Natural History Society and Canadian Nature Federation.

Speaker for the evening was Macrae Morse, fourth year biology student at UPEI who worked this past summer on the Piping Plover in P.E.I. National Park. His well illustrated talk outlined various problems facing the plovers this year in their efforts to successfully raise young in the park - predation by ravens and foxes; destruction of nests by inclement weather; and human disturbance. However, in spite of all the difficulties 54 chicks were fledged from the park this year. Thanks to Macrae for an excellent presentation.

NOVEMBER MEETING REPORT. Winston Johnston reported on the recent CNF regional meeting held in Sackville, N.B. which was attended by ten NHS members. The next CNF regional meeting will be in Charlottetown in the fall of 1983. A letter is to be written to P.E.I. National Park and Parks Canada indicating the society's interest in becoming involved in the development of future management plans for Piping Plovers in P.E.I. National Park. The society decided to go on record as opposing the proposed Greenwich development and as finding the impact assessment carried out so far to be quite inadequate. A $50.00 donation was made to the Canadian Nature Federation. A letter is to be sent to the new Minister of Community Affairs, the Hon. Gordon Lank, offering the assistance of the society in matters relating to the environment. A committee was established to look into the development of a poster of Island birds.

Guest speaker was Sue Stephenson, fourth year biology student at U.P.E.I. who spent the past summer at the Queen's University researsh station at LaPerouse Bay in northern Manitoba. Sue's excellent photographs and conmentary provided members with a vivid account of ongoing research on ptarmigan, shore birds and snow geese at the sub-Arctic tundra station. Thanks Sue for a top-notch evening.

NEWS FROM THE MOUNTAINS. Edwin Knox, an NHS member working at a wilderness lodge near Trail, B.C. has the very special privilege of living with unspoiled nature. Thanks to his mother, Lorna Knox, for sharing with us this part of his April 14/82 letter. ...Concerning birds I saw something very interesting and unusual a few weeks ago. While I was out skiing with a group of friends on a slope of Fossil Mt. near the lodge we saw above the mountain peak a pair of golden eagles. I exclaimed to the others there that those were the first pair we had seen this year. Then just minutes later another pair of eagles joined the first pair soaring high above. Two pairs were perhaps not an uncommon sight but to see five pairs of golden eagles at one time in the air was something, and we did. Pairs of eagles kept appearing over the peak, and all travelling in a‘Nw direction under a very dark and stormy sky. During a period of 20 minutes we counted 30-32 golden eagles! They were

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