Additional species were observed within three days of the Count Day 
     
     and thus can be included in the Count Period. These additional species 
     
     were seen by David Smith: Goshawk, Great Horned Owl, Snowy Owl, Hairy 
     
     Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee, Common Grackle, Evening Grosbeak. The 
     
     area is really too large to be done by one team, so we hope to get two 
     
     or three groups of observers mobile next year. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Kathy Martin 
     
     Compiler 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     The Other Islands 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Despite the widely-held belief to the contrary, Prince Edward Island 
     
     is not the only island in the world! Indeed, P.E.I. is but one of many 
     
     hundreds of islands scattered throughout the Gulf of St. Lawrence which 
     
     share basically similar climates, topographies, and geological history. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The most important force shaping the relief of the Gulf and its 
     
     islands has been that of the St. Lawrence River, whose discharge has 
     
     carved a deep trench across the northern Gulf which Continues out the 
     
     Cabot Strait to the edge of the continental shelf. The southern part 
     
     of the Gulf is shallow because of sediment deposition from the St. Lawrence 
     
     system, and in several places these sediments have emerged to form islands. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The kinds of plant communities found on the Gulf islands are largely 
     
     determined by the quality of soil that has derived from the sedimentary 
     
     bedrock, and by the rigors of the local climate. The mammalian fauna 
     
     native to these islands is often far less varied than that of the adjacent 
     
     mainland, because of the risks colonizing individuals must run in order 
     
     to reach the islands. In thisarticle, I will outline the main biological 
     
     and physical characteristics of the Gulf's "other islands": Anticosti, 
     
     Bonaventure, the Magdalens, and the North Shore islands 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Magdalens 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Magdalens are the closest Gulf islands to Prince Edward Island 
     
     and are perhaps the best known to Islanders. Situated near the geographic 
     
     center of the Gulf, they can be seen from the highlands of Cape Breton 
     
     and on a clear day a traveller aboard the Souris—"Grindstone" ferry can 
     
     see both Prince Edward Island and the Magdalens. The Magdalen chain 
     
     stretches some 80 km but its total land area is very small. The sets of 
     
     rounded hills which constitute the inhabited part of the archipelago are 
     
     separated by long parallel sandspits which enclose large shallow lagoons. 
     
     Most of the Magdalen uplands are underlain bv red sandstone bedrock which 
     
     gives rise to the red soil and cliffs familiar to Ishrflers. Grey limestone, 
     
     gypsum and igneous formations are also present. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Unlike Prince Edward Island, the Magdalens were not linked to the 
     
     mainland by a land bridge after the retreat of the last glacier. As a 
     
     result their mammalian fauna is the most impoverished of any island in 
     
     the Gulf. Only the deer mouse is known with certainty to be native to 
     
     the islands. In 1534 Jacques Cartier recorded "bears and foxes" on the 
     
     Magdalens but these mammals may not have been permanent residents as 
     
     subsequent explorers failed to mention their presence. Red foxes, of 
     
     unknown origin, now inhabit the islands, and prey on the native deer 
     
     mice as well as on meadow voles, which may have hitchhiked to the islands 
     
     on shipments of hay. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Given their location, it is not surprising that the Magdalens are 
     
     richer in marine than terrestrial fauna. At one time walruses in large 
     
     numbers inhabited the islands' shores and shallows but as on Prince Edward 
     
     Island, the herds were wiped out by white hunters. Grey and harbour seals 
     
     are now common, and every spring the drifting ice brings in thousands of 
     
     harp seals to their pupping grounds in the vicinity of the islands. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Since the Magdalen Islands have high cliffs inaccessible to land 
     
     predators, and are surrounded by rich fishing grounds, the area is ideal 
     
     for seabirds. The most spectacular of these are the Bird Rock gannets, 
     
     which nest so thickly on the vertical sides of that small islet that it 
     
     appears white from a distance. The Bird Rock Gannetry was once the 
     
     largest in the world, but its numbers have been severely reduced by 
     
     human disturbance and by loss of habitat due to erosion of the soft 
     
     sandstone.