birds. The clamor of excited young ospreys was heard coming from the nest; it

reached its peak a little later when Father Osprey came flying in with another

fish which he placed on the edge of the nest. He flew away immediately. Again

his mate portioned out morsels of fish. . Lunch over, the three young birds took wing-flexing exercises - and then

settled down for a nap. The show was over until the next Air Express Fish Delivery. This was the fourth trip to observe this osprey nest. Because the ospreys v

were unaware that people were near, they behaved naturally and put on an interesting

performance. How different it was from the first visit, before we had discovered

the exact location of the nest. In searching fo it at that time we had revealed .

our presence. Instantly the adults became uneasy; therefore no fishing went on

while we remained. Their day had been disrupted by human intrusion.

A . . . . OR, WHO FORGOT TO CLOSE THE DOG

by Geoff Hogan

It is well known that many birds which nest in southerly latitudes often produce more clutches of eggs per season than the same birds nesting further north. With this in mind, I have wondered how many broods may be reared during our short P.E.I. summer by species such as the Robin? Robins, of course, are migratory and are generally with us only for part of the year. I have watched Robins successfully rear two families per season here on P.E.I., but was not certain that there was enough time for more. Kay Archer, of Bonny Blink Drive, East Royalty, however has recently collected some valuable information on this subject. During early June 1982 Kay noticed a pair of Robins attempting unsuccessfully for 10 days to construct a . nest on a light fixture outside her house that, in the end, proved to be too small of a support. Shortly afterwards, she discovered that a pair of Robins (the same ones?) had built their nest on a protected shelf inside the garage while the door was open. Four eggs were laid and all hatched. One chick died but eventually 3 young Robins successfully fledged.

Finally Kay thought.she could close the garage door. Not so. Before she knew it, the Robins had started again. Not only did they lay 4 more eggs, but they built a new nest on top of the old one. This time only 2 of the eggs hatched and eventually 2 more young Robins left Kay's garage.

It was now late July and surely the Robins had had their share of family duties? Hold on. Another nest was added to the pile and family number three was underway. This time, only 2 eggs were laid and both hatched. One chick was lOst early, however the other called loud and lusty and finally it too was on its own. Seven young Robins later, Kay could finally close the garage door.

**********************************************************************

Information such as this is valuable for increased knowledge concerni. the breeding habits of Island birds. .If you have collected similar information, please share it. Contact Newsletter Editor, Winnie Cairns.

'é