the opportunity for clear views of scoter bills in the past as they were always bobbing in the waves off-shore in the normal wind conditions found at East Point. This year we were greeted by gentle ripple conditions and the brilliance of the Surf Scoter's bill. The second surprise came when a Ruby-crowned Kinglet flew in to shore and landed on the ropes between the fence posts at the light house. It came closer and closer to us, until it was flitting about our heads within a few feet. Then it landed momentarily on the scope handle inches from my hand. What a view!

From East Point we wandered along Route 16 adding shorebirds, marsh ducks, and kingfisher to our list at North Lake. The sound of a Catbird's song at Priest came as a surprise and the bird was right beside the truck. An attempt to locate the sharp-tailed Grouse at Cable Head East was unsuccessful but we spend some fascinating time sorting out a thick billed bird searching for food in the crowberry. It was a Lapland Longspur. We also located two Caspian Terns but were confused for a while by the very dark mantle and white forehead of one of these birds.

The path from Cable Head led via Red Head, through St. Peter’s Bay to St. Andrews, and then to Mount Stewart, Afton Road, Deroche Pond and Tracadie Harbour. A stop at Long Pond yielded a Common Goldeneye and Ring-necked Ducks.

As the sun settled and obscured our vision we tried first for short-eared owls then sought out feeders hoping for doves, blackbirds or finches. Our last species for the day was a Mourning Dove flying across the Brackley Point Road. The day concluded with 78 species, down from last year's ninety species. The total list is provided below:

Common Loon Gray Partridge Blue Jay

Red-throated Loon Black-bellied Plover Common Raven Pied-billed Grebe Common Snipe American Crow Northern Gannet Greater Yellowlegs Black-capped Chickadee Great Cormorant Lesser Yellowlegs Boreal Chickadee Double-crested Cormorant White-rumped Sandpiper Red-breasted Nuthatch Great Blue Heron Least Sandpiper Gray Catbird ChnmhIGOOR: Dunhn Anwficerobm Mallard Semipalmated Sandpiper Golden-crowned Kinglet American Black Duck Sanderling Rubyerowned Kinglet Green-winged Teal Iceland Gull European Starling Blue-winged Teal Greater Black-back Gull Northern Parula Warbler American Wigeon Herring Gull Yellow Warbler

Wood Duck Ring-billed Gull Yellow-rumped Warbler Ring-necked Duck Bonaparte’s Gull Common Yellowthroat Common Goldeneye Common Tern House Sparrow Common Eider Caspian Tern Purple Finch White—winged Scoter Rock Dove American Goldfinch Surf Scoter Mourning Dove Savannah Sparrow Black Scoter Great Horned Owl , Northern Junco Red-breasted Merganser Barred Owl Chipping Sparrow Sharp-shinned Hawk Northern Saw-whet Owl White-throated Sparrow Red-Tailed Hawk Belted Kingfisher Swamp Sparrow

Bald Eagle Northern Flicker Song Sparrow

Northern Harrier Horned Lark Lapland Longspur Peregrine Falcon Gray Jay

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Thanks to the generosity of our many sponsors, just over $900 was raised towards the Island Nature Trust’s purchase of a 157 acres natural area on the Trout River in Coleman, P.E.I. The Trust is committed to paying just over $6,000 per year for the next eight years to pay for this property.

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