Thanks to all those who contributed their bird sightings, and sorry 
     
     that some of these are in late - two lists of sightings arrived just 
     
    

    
     a few days after I finished the May—June newsletter. CB — Clare Birch; 
     
     VB - Val Beer; JB — Joyce Bernard; DC - David Cairns; JC - John Clements; 
     
     RC - Rosemary Curley; KD — Katherine Dagg; TD — Tom Duffy; TG - Tom 
     
     Godfrey; LH — Les Homans; SH - Sandi Hurry; AM - Allie McLellan; CM - 
     
     Colin MacKinnon; GM - Gerald MacDougall; KM - Kent MacRae; MM — M. 
     
     MacKay; SM - Sandy Mahon; ScM — Scott Makepeace; WM — Wade MacKinnon; 
     
     BP - Bruno Peripoli; BMP — Brian Pellerin; FJP - Frank Joseph Peters; 
     
     GP - Geraldine Peters; ES — Earl Strongman; GS - Gary Schneider; JS - 
     
     Jody Samuelson; SS - Susan Stephenson; BT - Bob Thompson; DT - Dale 
     
     Thompson; SV - Stan Vass; and PW — Phil Ward. Thanks again to all of 
     
     the birders who keep us informed of what's being seen where. 
     
    
   
   
    
     IMPORTANT: MEETING LOCATION CHANGE 
     
    
   
   
    
     Please note that the October meeting of the Natural History Society 
     
     will Egg be at the Farm Centre (the November meeting and future meetings 
     
     will be at the Farm Centre). Wendell MacKay of Stanley Bridge has kindly 
     
     offered his house for the October 3. To get there from Charlottetown, 
     
     take Hwy #2 to Hunter River, turn right and head towards New Glasgow. 
     
     After about five miles (and before New Glasgow), turn left onto Rte fi224 
     
     and take that for about six miles into Stanley Bridge. Turn left at the 
     
     Shell service station in Stanley Bridge, and on the right hand side, 
     
     about 1/3 mile down the road, you'll see a white house back off the road 
     
     surrounded by a pole fence. The sign says Balnakeil, Wendell and Jean 
     
     MacKay. Please make an effort to be there - I've heard it's arwonderful 
     
     place and it will be nice to meet somewhere other than the Farm Centre. 
     
     If you need more help getting there, you can call the MacKays at 886—2495 
     
     for more directions, but it sounds quite easy to find. Meeting time is 
     
     at 7:30, and members will get a chance to talk about what they've seen 
     
     and done since we last met. Katherine Clough will also be there to talk 
     
     about P:E.I. Nature Tours. See you there. 
     
    

    
     One of the speakers for the coming year has had to cancel, so things 
     
     may have to be rearranged slightly, but in the upcoming months we'll be 
     
     hearing from Bruce Smith (Conservation Strategy), Ted Currie (Stream Im— 
     
     provement), Rosemary Curley (Bird Atlas Update), Gerald MacDougall (Eagles 
     
     on P.E.I.) and Geoff Hogan (Gardening for Wildlife). Sounds like a great 
     
     lineup. 
     
    

    
     ****~k******************** 
     
    
   
   
    
     Please check the date code on the upper right-hand corner of your address 
     
     label to see when you have to renew your membership. We need your support 
     
     and we don't have the resources to send out renewal notices, so please 
     
     take it upon yourself to keep your membership current. 
     
    
   
   
    
     ************************* 
     
    
   
   
    
     I received an interesting note from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology 
     
     recently. It seems that last winter there was a great shortage of birds 
     
     in the Northeast United States. Bird numbers at feeders across the 
     
     continent's midsection and in the west were on par with the previous 
     
     winter. Because of the Lab's Project FeederWatch, they could determine 
     
     that many birds appeared to have stayed north in the boreal forests of 
     
     Canada, especially birds such the Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskin and 
     
     Purple Finch. The grosbeaks and siskins showed decreases of 75-100% at 
     
     feeders in the northeastern and southeastern U.S.