NEWS FROM ABOUT

Each month the Society receives a number of newsletters from other naturalist clubs. These are available on a loan basis at our regular monthly meetings. This column will feature bits and pieces of information extracted from other newsletters, newspapers, journals, and other sources. This is the first of the new articles suggested by the readers in the NHS Questionnaire and it will be a periodic feature of the Island Naturalist.

The Federation of Nova Scotia Naturalists held its first annual conference during Environment Week at Acadia University. This conference culminated eight months of work since the inaugural meeting at which 12 Nova Scotia naturalist and environmental groups decided to form the Federation. (Blomidon Naturalists Society Newsletter, Vol 17, No. 2)

Five “owlers" working on the Department of Energy and Forestry's owl surveys were feature guests to a spectacular display of "Northern Lights“ (the aurora borealis) on June 13th in the Tignish to Palmers Road area or western Prince County. The lights covered almost half the sky and were accompanied by circular bursts of colour reminiscent of fireworks. It was quite a night! (Source, P.E.I. Department of Energy and Forestry)

The Piping Plover at the P.E.I. National Park have had their most successful year since monitoring of their nests began at this site. This year they produced an average of 3.15 chicks fledged per nest. (From nest record data provided by the P.E.I. National Park)

Those of you who know the work of one of our region's foremost ornithologists will welcome the July 7, 1990 dedication of the Robie Tufts Nature Centre at the Swift Pavillion on Front Street in Holfville, Nova Scotia. Participants in the project included the Blomidon Naturalists Society, the - Nolfville Business Development Corporation, the Town of Holfville, residents and businesses in the area, and the general public. (From June, 1990 Blomidon Naturalists Society Newsletter, Vol.17, No. 2).

The Blomidon Naturalists Society held a raffle to refurbish the Farmers Dairy Chimney which was a prime nesting site of the Chimney Swift in Nolfville, N.S. Their Chimney Swift Raffle was an outstanding success with net receipts of $5,658. These funds combined with others helped to both refurbish the chimney and to construct the nature centre (above article - same source).

Harold Mayfield was named the Arthur A. Allen Award recipient by the Cornell lab of Ornithology for his outstanding contributions to ornithology. Mr. Mayfield is an amateur ornithologist who has carried out his bird research without salary or grants. His work includes 36 publications on the rare Kirkland's Warbler, definitive publications on bird nesting success and estimates of population size, and studies of birds from the Arctic to South America. His accomplishments and numerous awards epitomize what "amateurs" can accomplish when they dedicate time and perseverance to an issue. (From "Type Specimen" by Gustav A. Swanson, The Living Bird Quarterly, Summer 1990)

The Quebec Labrador Foundation opened a new office in Montreal recently. QLF was the co-sponsor of the Atlantic Center for the Environment/NHS Piping Plover Poster. They implement environmental, research, and education programs in rural areas of eastern Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces. (From QLF)

0n the Atlantic Coast, contaminant residues in seabirds are generally highest in the St. Lawrence estuary and gulf, lower in the Bay of Fundy, and lowest off the coast of Newfoundland and southern Labrador. Despite differences in diet and migratory patterns, eggs of all three species tested in the estuar were all quite highly contaminated, suggesting that local conditions were responsible. (Env. Canada SOE Fact Sheet No. 90-1.

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