NEWS FROM ABOUT 
     
    
   
   
    
     Each month the Society receives a number of newsletters from other 
     
     naturalist clubs. These are available on a loan basis at our regular monthly 
     
     meetings. This column will feature bits and pieces of information extracted 
     
     from other newsletters, newspapers, journals, and other sources. This is the 
     
     first of the new articles suggested by the readers in the NHS Questionnaire and 
     
     it will be a periodic feature of the Island Naturalist. 
     
    

    
     The Federation of Nova Scotia Naturalists held its first annual conference 
     
     during Environment Week at Acadia University. This conference culminated eight 
     
     months of work since the inaugural meeting at which 12 Nova Scotia naturalist 
     
     and environmental groups decided to form the Federation. (Blomidon Naturalists 
     
     Society Newsletter, Vol 17, No. 2) 
     
    

    
     Five “owlers" working on the Department of Energy and Forestry's owl 
     
     surveys were feature guests to a spectacular display of "Northern Lights“ (the 
     
     aurora borealis) on June 13th in the Tignish to Palmers Road area or western 
     
     Prince County. The lights covered almost half the sky and were accompanied by 
     
     circular bursts of colour reminiscent of fireworks. It was quite a night! 
     
     (Source, P.E.I. Department of Energy and Forestry) 
     
    

    
     The Piping Plover at the P.E.I. National Park have had their most 
     
     successful year since monitoring of their nests began at this site. This year 
     
     they produced an average of 3.15 chicks fledged per nest. (From nest record 
     
     data provided by the P.E.I. National Park) 
     
    

    
     Those of you who know the work of one of our region's foremost 
     
     ornithologists will welcome the July 7, 1990 dedication of the Robie Tufts 
     
     Nature Centre at the Swift Pavillion on Front Street in Holfville, Nova Scotia. 
     
     Participants in the project included the Blomidon Naturalists Society, the - 
     
     Nolfville Business Development Corporation, the Town of Holfville, residents 
     
     and businesses in the area, and the general public. (From June, 1990 Blomidon 
     
     Naturalists Society Newsletter, Vol.17, No. 2). 
     
    

    
     The Blomidon Naturalists Society held a raffle to refurbish the Farmers 
     
     Dairy Chimney which was a prime nesting site of the Chimney Swift in Nolfville, 
     
     N.S. Their Chimney Swift Raffle was an outstanding success with net receipts of 
     
     $5,658. These funds combined with others helped to both refurbish the chimney 
     
     and to construct the nature centre (above article - same source). 
     
    

    
     Harold Mayfield was named the Arthur A. Allen Award recipient by the 
     
     Cornell lab of Ornithology for his outstanding contributions to ornithology. 
     
     Mr. Mayfield is an amateur ornithologist who has carried out his bird research 
     
     without salary or grants. His work includes 36 publications on the rare 
     
     Kirkland's Warbler, definitive publications on bird nesting success and 
     
     estimates of population size, and studies of birds from the Arctic to South 
     
     America. His accomplishments and numerous awards epitomize what "amateurs" can 
     
     accomplish when they dedicate time and perseverance to an issue. (From "Type 
     
     Specimen" by Gustav A. Swanson, The Living Bird Quarterly, Summer 1990) 
     
    

    
     The Quebec Labrador Foundation opened a new office in Montreal recently. 
     
     QLF was the co-sponsor of the Atlantic Center for the Environment/NHS Piping 
     
     Plover Poster. They implement environmental, research, and education programs 
     
     in rural areas of eastern Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces. (From QLF) 
     
    

    
     0n the Atlantic Coast, contaminant residues in seabirds are generally 
     
     highest in the St. Lawrence estuary and gulf, lower in the Bay of Fundy, and 
     
     lowest off the coast of Newfoundland and southern Labrador. Despite differences 
     
     in diet and migratory patterns, eggs of all three species tested in the estuar 
     
     were all quite highly contaminated, suggesting that local conditions were 
     
     responsible. (Env. Canada SOE Fact Sheet No. 90-1. 
     
    
   
   
    
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