this site. In addition, there were a few Black-bellied Plovers present. At Redhead Beach, we saw two White- 
     
     rumped Sandpipers, several Semipalmated Plovers, some Semipalmated Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers, and a few 
     
     Short-billed Dowitchers. At Mount Stewart, there were very few shorebirds. We saw a few Common Eiders, Black 
     
    
   
   
    
     Scoter, White-winged Scoter and Northern Gannets at East Point. A small group were on the trip but it was a nice 
     
     trip. 
     
    
   
   
    
     NEWS FROM ABOUT: Compiled by Dan McAskill 
     
    
   
   
    
     A new publication, “Bird status changes - and changes in environment - in the Chegnecto Isthmus region 
     
     of Atlantic Canada” is now available as Technical Report Series Number 430. It covers the period from 1930 to 
     
     2000. The authors are Anthony Erskine and Reid McManus, Jr. (adapted from CWS letter) 
     
    

    
     One of our members, Denyse Lejeunesse, the Parks Ecologist with the RBI. National Park, recently 
     
     moved back home to Gatineau for a new job with Parks Canada. In the past four years since her arrival, Denyse 
     
     has been instrumental in building a research and collaboration network to expand our knowledge on the habitats in 
     
     and near the Park. During her time on the Island, Denyse has supported the Society by participation in the 
     
     Christmas Bird Counts, presentations to the Society, and by her Society membership. We wish to express our 
     
     thanks to Denyse for her contributions to the Island and look forward to seeing her in the years ahead. 
     
    

    
     The Island Nature Trust’s Fundraising Dinner was a great success. Thanks to the generosity of those who 
     
     bought tickets and purchased auction items and raffle tickets, nearly $22,000 was raised for the Trust’s 
     
     conservation and land acquisition programs. (adapted from Island Nature Trust Update Issue 89, Aug. 2005) 
     
    

    
     Twenty-four Piping Plover guardians and Island Nature Trust staff conducted surveys of Piping Plover 
     
     beaches on Prince Edward Island this year. The number of adults was down to 80 this year from last year’s 85 and 
     
     our highest count of 112 in 2001. This year, Piping Plover were found on 18 beaches from Hog Island to Diligent 
     
     pond. Thanks to the installation of nest exclosures to protect nests from predation, signage symbolic fencing, and 
     
     advocacy, fledging success rates were good. (adapted from Island Nature Trust Update Issue 89, Aug. 2005) 
     
    

    
     The Natural History Society was advised via a letter from the P.E.I. Department of Environment, Energy 
     
     and Forestry that the department had changed the composition of the Wildlife Conservation Fund Advisory 
     
     Committee to restructure the committee to include only one non-consumptive group whereas two groups, the 
     
     Society and the Island Nature Trust, had been included since the fund was created. The Society was one of the 
     
     inaugural groups that supported the creation of the WCF to enable projects enabling wildlife conservation on 
     
     Prince Edward Island. (adapted from an EEF letter to the Society dated August 5'“, 2005) 
     
    

    
     The Prince Edward Island Wildlife Federation, with the assistance of the National Wild Turkey 
     
     Federation, advised a number of organizations of its intent to submit a proposal to the Government of Prince 
     
     Edward Island outlining a strategy for the introduction of the eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris). 
     
     The Federation’s E-mail indicates that the approximately 50 wild turkeys to be released on Prince Edward Island 
     
     will be live captured from wild stock from Ontario. They will then be immediately transported to Prince Edward 
     
     Island, and released in one or two predetermined areas. The Federation hopes that the capture and introduction will 
     
     occur sometime in February or March 2006. (adapted from an August 31“, 2005 E-mail from the P.E.I.'Wildlife 
     
     Federation) 
     
    
   
   
    
     ANIMAL AND PLANT SIGHTINGS: 
     
    
   
   
    
     PLANTS: ‘ - 
     
    

    
     A spectacular swath of grass pink (Calopogon pulchellus) orchids was seen blooming in a small Cardross 
     
     bog on Jul. 21 and several lesser purple-fringed orchids (Platanthera psycodes) were blooming in the ditch 
     
     adjacent to the bog (D&MS). Chicory in flower in Pisquid on Aug. 6 (JDM, RHP). The first red oak acorns were 
     
     dropping in Charlottetown on Aug. 31 at West Royalty. First fruiting field mushrooms were seen at Donagh this 
     
     year on Sept. 1 and there was a flush of them in Southampton on Sept 6th. Indian cucumber root was flowering 
     
    
   
   
    
     4 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Compiled by Dan McAskill '