1 2c [9' dd 
     
     . BY BRIAN DALZELL 
     
    

    
     On August 13, 1984, two birders from California recorded a total of 
     
     100 species of birds in a single day on P.E.I. Last year, Stuart Tingley 
     
     from New Brunswick and Blake Maybank from Newfoundland eclipsed that re- 
     
     cord with 105 species on Aug. 21. 
     
    

    
     This year, on August 27, Rob Walker and myslef struck out to try and 
     
     set yet another record for the most species of birds observed on the Island 
     
     in one day. Rob is the chief park naturalist at Fundy National Park in New 
     
     Brunswick and I am currently a student at Holland College in Charlottetown, 
     
     having lived in Moncton most of my life. ‘ 
     
     Just what is a big day you ask? Well, 
     
     it originated in 1971 under the auspices 
     
     of the American Birding Association and 
     
     its publication, BIRDING. The idea is 
     
     for a team of no more that four birders 
     
     to record as many species as possible in 
     
     one 24-hour period in a state or province 
     
     , of their choosing. 
     
     i The tricky part is that all members of 
     
    

    
     the team must see or hear at least 95% 
     
    

    
     " of the total species recorded. This re— 
     
     quires staying within unampified earshot 
     
     of each other and making sure everybody 
     
     else is informed of the presence of a bird 
     
     that you alone may have sighted. 
     
     Rob and I decided to start our day at North 
     
     Cape, which is where the other teams start- 
     
     ed, and work our way down the Island as 
     
     far as the National Park. Neither of us 
     
     had ever been to that part of the province 
     
     before, but we were confident our map 
     
     reading abilities would see us to our des- 
     
     tination. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
          
     
       
     
        
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘h 
     
     r 
     
     \ 
     
    
   
   
    
     ~ ~—.‘ ‘\‘“ 
     
    
   
   
    
     _.—~ \\ sN \ \\. 
     
     . 
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
        
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
        
     
        
     
    
   
   
    
     We planned to camp overnight at 
     
     Anglo-Tignish Provincial Park, 
     
     which Stuart Tingley assured us 
     
     was a good spot to stay. It may 
     
     well have been, but Stuart neg- 
     
     lected to tell us that it had 
     
     ' been ten years since last he was 
     
     there. We drove past the park three times in the dark before we found it, 
     
    
   
   
    
     and then discovered it had closed at 9 p.m. and camping was not longer allow— 
     
     ed. * 
     
    
   
   
    
     .f. 
     
    
   
   
    
     .m. 
     
    
   
   
    
     We ended up staying in a field next to the park, but because someone 
     
     forgot the tent poles, one of us had to spend the night under the stars 
     
     while the other slept in the back of the truck. Being the nice guy (or fool) 
     
     that I was, I opted for the great outdoors. 
     
    

    
     Wednesday dawned cool and partley cloudy and I didn't miss a bit of it 
     
     because, for any number of reasons —- cold, dampness, hard ground, crashing 
     
     surf, etc., —— sleep had eluded me. 
     
    

    
     Rob, his usual bright and cheery self, offered his regrets on my rough 
     
     night and said I could sleep in the back of the truck next time...if there 
     
    
   
   
    
     - 3 _