CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: 
     
    
   
   
    
     The meeting itinerary, planning for Society events, and running the 
     
     business of the Society rests with the Executive and the directions provided 
     
     by the members at the Annual General and Special meetings. The health of the 
     
     Society requires members who are willing to serve periodically on the 
     
     Executive. These positions run from the January meeting of the election to 
     
     the subsequent January meeting. While it seemsearly to be looking at 1996, 
     
     the next newsletter will be too late for the officialcall for nominations. 
     
     So, if you would be interested in serving on the Executive, please contact 
     
     Ray Cooke (894-9695) or Barb Currie (evenings 675-3192) . 
     
    
   
   
    
     PIPING PLOVBR 1995: by Linda Thomas, P.E.I. National Park 
     
    

    
     There were 12 breeding pair of Piping Plover in the P.E.I. National park 
     
     in 1995. Twenty-four chicks fledged at 20 days of age for a fledging success 
     
     rate of 2.0 chicks per pair. Two chicks were lost after the 20 day mark so 
     
     realistically 22 juveniles should be on their way south. 
     
    

    
     It is difficult to call this a successful year when we were dealing with 
     
     the smallest number of breeding pair ever recorded in P.E.I. National Park. 
     
     However, the number of chicks fledged at 24 is excellent compared with 12 in 
     
     1993 and 16 in 1994. Hopefully this will be a positive trend for next year. 
     
    

    
     There were 24 nesting attempts, 15 of which were unsuccessful. Foxes 
     
     and avian predators were responsible for eight of the nests lost. Despite 
     
     flood rescue attempts, four nests were lost to flooding. Two nests were lost 
     
     to blowing sand and one nest was lost to human disturbance. 
     
    

    
     Six chicks hatched from fostering attempts. When abandoned eggs or 
     
     flooded eggs are recovered, they are artificially incubated. If a situation 
     
     occurs where a pair has lost their eggs to predation or flooding and suitable 
     
     eggs are being incubated they are used to replace the lost eggs. Therefore 
     
     these six chicks were given a new chance at life. 
     
    

    
     Your readers may be interested in was an encounter I had with an 
     
     immature Bald Eagle during the season. From the bridge at Covehead I could 
     
     see the eagle sitting near the fore dune tossing fairly large pieces of 
     
     driftwood around with its beak. Since there were two plover nests within 40 
     
     metres of the eagle, I thought it my duty to push it from their territory. 
     
     The eagle was not anxious to move. I approached it cautiously but it would 
     
     only hop a few feet closer to the water. When it finally decided to leave 
     
     the area, it flew over me. While I had always respected the eagle's grace in 
     
     flight, I gained a new respect for its size and power. 
     
    
   
   
    
     MASSIVE CANADA GOOSE POPULATION DECLINE: 
     
    
   
   
    
     Joint Canada - United States surveys of Canada Geese breeding areas in 
     
     the Ungava Region of Quebec revealed that only 29,000 pairs had nested this 
     
     year. In addition, egg and chick mortality had been very high and these 
     
     nests produced very few young. This finding follows poor nesting seasons in 
     
     1992 and 1993 and represents a decline from 118,000 in 1988 and 40,000 in 
     
     1994. They substantiate observations that wintering geese populations in 
     
     these areas are also down. The bad news confirmed observations by some . 
     
    
   
   
    
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