FROGS, OWLS, AND RAILS by Dan McAskill 
     
    
   
   
    
     All those interested in participating in the amphibian monitoring project 
     
     should note that the final two "Sounds of the Night" presentations will be held 
     
     on Wednesday, April let at MacPhail House in Orwell Corner and on Thursday 
     
     April 29th at Rodd's Mill River Resort. These presentations are designed to 
     
     train volunteers in the sound identification of frogs and toads as part of an 
     
     international effort to determine the population status of amphibians. 
     
     Environmentalists around the world have become concerned over declines in the 
     
     populations of many amphibians and it is hoped that the volunteers involved in 
     
     this project will be able to provide information on the abundance of our frogs 
     
     and toads on the Island". 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     In addition to frogs and toads, volunteers will be taught the calls of 
     
     owls and rails so that better information can be obtained on their occurrence 
     
     across the Island. The objective in the initial year of the project is develop 
     
     an occurrence map for the various species of frogs and toads. The volunteers 
     
     who participate in the project can be involved either in monitoring ponds within 
     
     hearing distance of their home, in monitoring three to five ponds along a road 
     
     route near their home, or in recording observations or calls while fishing or 
     
     walking near wetland habitats. The participants in the first two types of sound 
     
     surveys will have to devote part of three evenings of their time, one each 
     
     during the first two weeks in May, the second two weeks in May, and the third in 
     
     mid-June. Casual one time observations from trout or salmon fishers and 
     
     naturalists will also be recorded so that as complete a distribution map as 
     
     possible can be constructed for the Island. 
     
    

    
     Casual observation reports will also be encouraged for salamanders, newts, 
     
     and snakes so that better information can be obtained on their distribution on 
     
     the Island, the types of vegetation in which they occur at various times of the 
     
     year, or areas where they congregate to overwinter or breed. 
     
    

    
     This should be a fun project for all those who participate. It combines a 
     
     good learning experience and increased awareness of the life around us with the 
     
     collection of critical population information on some of these animals. 
     
    

    
     The presentations will start at 7:30 p.m. and last for about an hour and a 
     
     half to two hours. For more information or to obtain monitoring forms, contact 
     
     Dan McAskill in the evening at 569-4351 or write him at RR # S, Charlottetown, 
     
     P.E.I. ClA 7J8. 
     
    

    
     The orgainzations supporting this effort include the Society, ECO-PEI, the 
     
     P.E.I. Department of Energy and Forestry, P.E.I. Fish and Wildlife Division, and 
     
     the Canadian Parks Service. 
     
    
   
   
    
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