FIRST P.E.I. RECORD FOR MEN GULL by Geoff Hogan 
     
    
   
   
    
     On August 20, 1990 two visiting birders, Paul Lehman and Shawneen Finnegan 
     
     from California, identified and photographed a Mew Gull (Larus canus) on the 
     
     beach at Rustico Island in the P.E.I. National Park. Mr. Lehman is the editor 
     
     of "Birding" magazine, published by the American Birding Association. A copy of 
     
     the slide was included with the written description sent to me. This 
     
     constitutes the first P.E.I. record for this species. 
     
    

    
     The photograph shows a small gull, only a little smaller than a 
     
     Ring-billed Gull, with a pale gray mantle and black wingtips with white spots, 
     
     standing in front of a mixed flock of Herring and Greater Black-backed Gulls. 
     
     The small gull also has greenish legs and a greenish-yellow bill with no 
     
     markings on it. For a moment you might think it is a Black-legged Kittiwake 
     
     (especially if it were swimming) for it is the same size but, of course, the 
     
     legs aren't black. The overall impression was of a neat, trim and delicate- 
     
     looking small gull - quite a contrast with the big Herring and black-backs 
     
     nearby! 
     
    

    
     The Mew gull is also known as the 
     
     Short-billed Gull and, in Britain, it is 
     
     called the Common Gull. Its range seems to 
     
     encircle most of the northern latitudes 
     
     although it is not normally found in eastern 
     
     North America and thus it is not well known 
     
     here. In these other places however, it may be 
     
     one of the most common gulls. Because of our 
     
     geographic location the Mew Gull that visited 
     
     us could have come from Britain or Europe or 
     
     it could have been from western North America. 
     
     In any case, sightings in the Atlantic 
     
     Provinces are rare. 
     
    

    
     To see an illustration of the Mew Gull look at the National Geographic 
     
     Society Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Roger Tory Peterson's Field 
     
     Guide to Western Birds, or The Birds of North America by Golden Press. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     CEDAR HAXHINGS by Bruce MacLaren 
     
    
   
   
    
     Directly across the street from where we live there is a large Rowan tree 
     
     and this year it was simply loaded with fruit. At the back of the house, on an 
     
     angle to the north, are two Rowan trees that were absolutely loaded with fruit 
     
     as well. 
     
    

    
     As the fall progressed, a few starlings would take some berries but not 
     
     many. However, on December 29, I observed 8 or 10 Cedar Waxwings quietly dining 
     
     on the Logan berries. I was a bit surprised to see waxwings here this late but 
     
     I know for sure that they nest here and thought that this might have been a 
     
     family that forgot to go south. This quiet group kept feeding at intervals 
     
     until January 9, 1991. 
     
    

    
     On that morning I looked out the back and a flock of at least 60 waxwings 
     
     were raiding the Rowans. Really, it looked like swarm of bees and there was 
     
     nothing quiet about their feeding. I watched for quite a while and, when the 
     
     birds left, there were no buries left! 
     
    

    
     The reason I found this so interesting was because of an episode that 
     
     occurred in Santa Maria, California, in the winter of 1971. We lived in Santa 
     
     Maria that winter and enjoyed it very much. About half a block from us was a 
     
     large fire thorn (Cotoneaster Pyracantha). The fruit of this shrub is striking 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
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