returning to the starting point in Charlottetown. During the day the following species were seen: Common Loon, Red-throated Loon, Horned Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, Northern Gannet, Great Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose, Mallard, American Black Duck, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal, American Widgeon, Wood Duck, Ring-necked Duck, scaup spp, Common Goldeneye, Common Eider, White-winged Scoter, Surf Scoter, Black Scoter, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Osprey, Merlin, American Kestrel, Ruffed Grouse, Semi- palmated Plover, Lesser Golden Plover, Black-bellied Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Red Knot, White-rumped Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Semi-palmated Sandpiper, Sanderling, Glaucous Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Bonaparte's Gull, Common Tern, Caspian Tern, Rock Dove, Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Long-cared Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Hairy Woodpecker, Horned Lark, Blue Jay, Common Raven, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Grey-capped (Boreal) Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin, Swainson's Thrush, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby- crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Water Pipit, Cedar Waxwing, European Starling, Nashville Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, House Sparrow, Common Grackle, Purple Finch, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, Savannah Sparrow, Northern Junco, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, and Song Sparrow.

This years bird count raised $733 towards the purchase of the 48 acres on Big Courtin Island in Malpeque Bay. During the five years this event has been held, a total of $4,615.77 has been raised for land conservation!

NEWS FROM ABOUT: Compiled by J . Dan McAskill

Congratulations go out to the Island Nature Trust which acquired a 100 acre block of sand dunes and wetland bordering Nail Pond thanks to an agreement with the 6 grandchildren of Sir Charles Dalton. This area will be known as the Charles Dalton Natural Area in his memory. It is the sixth parcel that the Trust has acquired this year to conserve natural areas on the Island. Thanks to their innovative work and the strong support from their supporters, the Trust has now acquired 2,330 acres for conservation on the Island.

Congratulations as well to the Toronto Field Naturalists who were presented with the " Thank You Green Toronto" Award from the City of Toronto for their outstanding efforts in promoting a healthy and green environment within the City. (adapted from the President's Report TFN 488, Dec. 1999)

A new mushroom book by George Barron was released by Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton, AB in 1999. Its title is Mushrooms of Ontario and Eastern Canada and it features 609 species of mushrooms found in the Northeast. The species descriptions are complimented by photographs as well as mini-essays and sidebars on topics such as mushroom toxins, the role of fungi in the ecosystem, and other topics. The price is $26.95. Visit Dr. Barron's web site at www.uoguelph.ca/~gbarron (adapted from FTN485, Sept. 99 review by Richard Aaron)

A new Field Checklist of Ontario Birds was released in 1999. It is available from the Federation of Ontario Naturalists at 416-444-8419 (adapted from TFN 486).

There are about 3,000 species of lizards, 140 worm lizards, 2,700 snakes, 200 turtles, 20 crocidilians, and one Sphenodon (the Tautora of New Zealand) according to the "Anatomy of Reptiles" by Howard E. Evans Cornell University.

Jayne Yack, a postdoctoral fellow fiom Cornell University working at Ottawa'sCarleton University, has found the first butterfly with an ear. Her work has shown that the Hedylidae family of butterflies can hear the sounds of predatory bats. This night flying butterfly species apparently developed this car to combat the predations of hats at roughly the same time they developed large ears and the ability to ecolocate. (adapted from Halifax Field Naturalist #95 cited article by D. McNaughton, Southam News, Ottawa)

Jim Goltz, a veterinary pathologist warned that feeding bacon fat, salted nuts, or other salty foods to birds could be quite dangerous to the birds because of the toxicity of dietary salt to birds at much lower levels than in

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