Hooded Mergansers in full breeding plumage at Long Pond. Magnificent looking birds. Shortly after this, 
     
     two juvenile and an adult male Northern Harrier as well as a Peregrine Falcon were seen hunting the 
     
     Covehead marshes. 
     
    

    
     The day’s outing concluded with a drive through Stanhope and back to Charlottetown. An 
     
     American Kestrel and Gray Partridge were spotted by Ray as we traveled the roads against a brilliant 
     
     crimson sunset. A great days outing for all the birders who, along with their generous sponsors, raised 
     
     over $1,048 for the Island Nature Trust’s natural areas conservation initiatives! At count’s end, we had 
     
     matched the previous count record for 93 species. I 
     
    

    
     Besides the birds noted above, we seen the following species during the day. Red-throated Loon, 
     
     Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Northern Gannet, Great Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Great 
     
     Blue Heron, Canada Goose, Green-winged Teal, American Black Duck, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, 
     
     American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, Common Eider, Oldsquaw, Black Scoter, Surf Scoter, White- 
     
     winged Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Bad Eagle (12), Northern Harrier (6), Sharp-shinned Hawk (2), 
     
     Merlin (5), Peregrine Falcon (3), Black-bellied Plover, American Golden Plover, Semi-palmated Plover, 
     
     Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Ruddy Tumstone, Red Knot, Sanderlings, Semipalmated 
     
     Sandpiper,, Least Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Dunlin, Bonaparte’s Gull, 
     
     Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Iceland Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Black-legged Kirtiwake, Caspian 
     
     Tern, Common Tern, Rock Dove, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-shafted 
     
     Flicker, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Common Raven, Boreal Chickadee, Black-capped 
     
     Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 
     
     Swainson’s Thrush, American Robin, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped Warbler, 
     
     Common Yellowthroat, Vesper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White- 
     
     throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Snow Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Purple 
     
     Finch, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, and House Sparrow. 
     
    
   
   
    
     AMERICAN KESTREL BANDING PROGRAM: 
     
    
   
   
    
     Jim Jenkins reported that 44 American Kestrel chicks had been 
     
     fledged from 11 nests in 2000. Dave Johnston and Jim have established 
     
     40 nesting boxes in the areas in and between York Point, Dunstaffnage, 
     
     Stratford, and Covehead. Seven new nest boxes erected this year failed to 
     
     attract kestrels. Unfortunately, the lack of a banding permit prevented the 
     
     banding of the chicks and the collection of valuable data from band 
     
     recoveries. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     PROVINCIAL FORESTS PROCLAIMED: 
     
    
   
   
    
     First proposed almost 20 years ago, the Hon. Mitch Murphy announced the designation of the 
     
     Provincial Forests across the Island in August, 2000. This designation means that 18,600 hectares (47,000 
     
     acres) of forest land owned by the government will be managed for long tern forest conservation. The 
     
     Natural History Society was one of many groups who supported the designation which was also 
     
     recommended by the Round Table on Resource Land Use. The Provincial Forest Section of the 
     
     Department of Agriculture and Forestry's Natural Resources Division contracted with P. Jon Burden to 
     
     design a logo that reflected all the values of the forest.