Early in October I turned the survey of the airport over to local birder 
     
     Roberta Palmer because it was becoming too time consuming to cover my four 
     
     airports three times a month from my home on Grand Manan Island, N.B. Roberta 
     
     has provided me with the results of her coverages up until the end of 1992, and 
     
     I have included them in a table with this account which may give the reader an 
     
     idea of what was found during those surveys. Probably the highlight was the 
     
     shorebirds that used the airport for both foraging and nesting prior to 
     
     migration. 
     
    

    
     Good numbers of Lesser Golden Plover 
     
     could be found throughout September and 
     
     October, a real treat for both myself and 
     
     Roberta. For myself because I had never 
     
     seen such numbers before, and for her 
     
     because she had never seen them at all. I 
     
     would venture that this is probably the 
     
     best location on the Island to see this 
     
     species on a annual basis. The best 
     
     chance of seeing them from outside the 
     
     airport is to go to that area of fence 
     
     closest to the main road near the old 
     
     terminal building and peer through with 
     
     binoculars. 
     
    

    
     The best sighting of all was a Buff-breasted Sandpiper found on September 
     
     9th, and again on September 24th, both in exactly the same spot. It was 
     
     undoubtedly the same bird, and although I conducted a survey in between those 
     
     dates, it was not seen then. This is probably the third record ever for Prince 
     
     Edward Island. 
     
    

    
     A fair number of Horned Larks were found early on, leading me to believe 
     
     they had nested on the airport proper. Judging by the mix between adults and 
     
     juveniles I would estimate that between three and four pairs had nested during 
     
     the summer. 
     
    

    
     other interesting observations included a brood of six Gray Partridge 
     
     almost full grown on October 5th, indicating a hatching date in late August or 
     
     early September. This was obviously a second or third attempt, perhaps due to 
     
     the presence of a Red Fox on the airport property. 
     
    

    
     A young Barn Swallow, just out of the nest, was found on September 9th 
     
     sitting on a fence and looking rather forlorn without its parents. They had 
     
     apparently migrated leaving it to fend for itself, which it appeared to be 
     
     doing on September 24th, when I saw it near the site of the first encounter. 
     
    

    
     Adjacent to one runway is a large area of cattail permanently flooded 
     
     with water, and it was here that Blue- and Green-winged Teal were found. 
     
     Investigations during the breeding season would undoubtedly turn up other marsh 
     
     birds such as Sora and perhaps Virginia Rail. 
     
    

    
     So far, the most obvious danger to aircraft using the Charlottetown 
     
     Airport are the large number of gulls, especially Ring-billed Gulls, that feed 
     
     and loaf along the runways. Although I did not see more than 100, I was told 
     
     that on some occasions more than 300 were present. Snow Buntings are also a 
     
     threat during the winter when bare areas along the runway are kept open for 
     
     plowing. Surprisingly, one pilot reported hitting a fox in mid-August!