Thanks to all those who contributed their bird sightings, and sorry that some of these are in late - two lists of sightings arrived just

a few days after I finished the May—June newsletter. CB — Clare Birch; VB - Val Beer; JB — Joyce Bernard; DC - David Cairns; JC - John Clements; RC - Rosemary Curley; KD — Katherine Dagg; TD — Tom Duffy; TG - Tom Godfrey; LH — Les Homans; SH - Sandi Hurry; AM - Allie McLellan; CM - Colin MacKinnon; GM - Gerald MacDougall; KM - Kent MacRae; MM — M. MacKay; SM - Sandy Mahon; ScM — Scott Makepeace; WM — Wade MacKinnon; BP - Bruno Peripoli; BMP — Brian Pellerin; FJP - Frank Joseph Peters; GP - Geraldine Peters; ES — Earl Strongman; GS - Gary Schneider; JS - Jody Samuelson; SS - Susan Stephenson; BT - Bob Thompson; DT - Dale Thompson; SV - Stan Vass; and PW — Phil Ward. Thanks again to all of the birders who keep us informed of what's being seen where.

IMPORTANT: MEETING LOCATION CHANGE

Please note that the October meeting of the Natural History Society will Egg be at the Farm Centre (the November meeting and future meetings will be at the Farm Centre). Wendell MacKay of Stanley Bridge has kindly offered his house for the October 3. To get there from Charlottetown, take Hwy #2 to Hunter River, turn right and head towards New Glasgow. After about five miles (and before New Glasgow), turn left onto Rte fi224 and take that for about six miles into Stanley Bridge. Turn left at the Shell service station in Stanley Bridge, and on the right hand side, about 1/3 mile down the road, you'll see a white house back off the road surrounded by a pole fence. The sign says Balnakeil, Wendell and Jean MacKay. Please make an effort to be there - I've heard it's arwonderful place and it will be nice to meet somewhere other than the Farm Centre. If you need more help getting there, you can call the MacKays at 886—2495 for more directions, but it sounds quite easy to find. Meeting time is at 7:30, and members will get a chance to talk about what they've seen and done since we last met. Katherine Clough will also be there to talk about P:E.I. Nature Tours. See you there.

One of the speakers for the coming year has had to cancel, so things may have to be rearranged slightly, but in the upcoming months we'll be hearing from Bruce Smith (Conservation Strategy), Ted Currie (Stream Im— provement), Rosemary Curley (Bird Atlas Update), Gerald MacDougall (Eagles on P.E.I.) and Geoff Hogan (Gardening for Wildlife). Sounds like a great lineup.

****~k********************

Please check the date code on the upper right-hand corner of your address label to see when you have to renew your membership. We need your support and we don't have the resources to send out renewal notices, so please take it upon yourself to keep your membership current.

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

I received an interesting note from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology recently. It seems that last winter there was a great shortage of birds in the Northeast United States. Bird numbers at feeders across the continent's midsection and in the west were on par with the previous winter. Because of the Lab's Project FeederWatch, they could determine that many birds appeared to have stayed north in the boreal forests of Canada, especially birds such the Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskin and Purple Finch. The grosbeaks and siskins showed decreases of 75-100% at feeders in the northeastern and southeastern U.S.