ISLAND NATURALIST ISSUE # 227 JUL - SEPT, 2018 SOME HIGHLIGHTS • Nature PEI News; • Nature PEI Field Trips; • Special Raffle Results; • Groundhog at West Royalty; • The Elusive Bobcat; • 2018 Bain Bird Count; • Aggressive Hummingbirds; • Red Foxes with White Feet or Toes on P.E.I.; • Raccoon Attempts the Hillsborough; • Cat Treed by Mink; • Investments in Bobolink Conservation; • Canada Warbler International Conservation Initiatives; • News from About; • Strong Supporters of Nature - Now Gone; • Weather Events; • Great sightings: Capelin; Ruddy Duck; Wilson’s Phalarope; Black-headed Gull; Least Bittern; Little Egret; Turkey Vulture; Broad-winged Hawk; Black-backed Woodpecker; Eastern Phoebe; Blue-gray Gnatcatcher; and Northern Cardinal; • Environmental Calendar. NATURE PEI - NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND P.O. BOX 2346, CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. C1A 8C1 Meetings are held of the first Tuesday of the month from October to June at 7:30 p.m. at Beaconsfield’s Carriage House, corner of West and Kent Street in Charlottetown. Each meeting commences with a brief business meeting followed by a nutrition break and our guest speaker. Members and non-members are welcome. Membership is open to anyone interested in the natural history of Prince Edward Island. Membership is available at any meeting or by contacting the Treasurer at P.O. Box 2346, Charlottetown PE C1A 8C1. Annual membership is $20 and renewals are due in January. Multi-year renewals are $20 per year for which you wish to renew. Membership expiry dates are shown in the top right hand corner of the mailing label or by a notice provided to those receiving electronic newsletters. The Society is directed by a volunteer Executive elected from its members. 2018 Executive: President ....................................................Rosemary Curley, Stratford 902-569-1209 [email protected] Vice-President .........................Gerald MacDougall, Charlottetown 902-368-8092 [email protected] Past President ............................... ...............Ian Scott, Charlottetown 902-892-5796 [email protected] Secretary ..........................................Robert Harding, Summerville 902-838-2699 [email protected] Treasurer ...........................................Francine Desmeules, Charlottetown 902-626-3304 [email protected] Director- Program & Publicity .............Connie Gaudet, Stratford 902-367-5774 [email protected] Director - Field Trips ......Kathleen MacNearney, Montague 902-838-4204 [email protected] Newsletter Editor....................................Dan McAskill, Donagh 902-569-4351 [email protected] NEWSLETTERS are normally published quarterly and are available in Acrobat Reader colour format via E-mail or in black & white hard copy delivered by mail. Hard copies are printed on recycled paper. Articles, notes, reports, drawings, bird sightings, plant records, pictures, etc. are welcomed from members and non-members. If you have seen anything unusual, please share it with us. It is important to have your nature observations recorded so that others may learn from them. All contributions should be sent by mail to Dan McAskill, Newsletter Editor, Nature PEI (NHSPEI), 368 Brazel Road, Donagh, P.E.I. C1B 0T9 or via E-mail to [email protected] The next deadline for articles, sightings, or other newsletter information is December10th, 2018. Illustrations/Pictures: Our thanks to Vanessa Bonnyman, Daphne Davey, Fiep de Bie, Jesse Francis, Janine Gallant, Debbie Hill, Bob Harding, Lois Kilburn, Rosanne MacFarlane, Brett Arthur MacKinnon, Donna Martin, Emilie Morrell, Doug Murray, Brian Simpson, and John te Raa for using their photos or illustrations. Reprinting: Editors of other newsletters and teachers wishing to copy classroom materials are welcome to reprint articles from the Island Naturalist (except when copyrighted). Due acknowledgment must be provided to the Island Naturalist, the author and illustrator. Web page: www.NaturePEI.ca Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NaturePEI Nature PEI gratefully acknowledges support from the Department of Education, Early Learning and Culture which enables distribution of newsletters to schools and libraries desiring it. The Society has representation on the board of the Island Nature Trust. The Society is a registered charity and a non-profit organization (Part 2, PEI Companies Act). Tax receipts are issued for donations to the Society and these funds are used to further the work of the Society. Cover Illustration: This luna moth (Actias luna) was attracted to light at Summerville and photographed on July 2nd, 2018 by Bob Harding. The larvae of this North American giant silk moth species feed on the leaves of deciduous trees and shrubs including those of birch, sumac, and alder. Its species name is derived from the Roman moon goddess Luna. 2 NATURE PEI NEWS: Thankfully for the Executive Council members, the summer is devoted primarily to enjoying nature. However, amidst the more fun side of enjoying nature, members were active on the following activities. Holding one Executive Council meeting and developing the draft minutes for the June 5th meeting; Recruiting tour leaders for a field trips and speakers for the autumn meeting schedule; Correspondence respecting various requests (Canadian Urban Forest Conference; Research and Discovery Centre; Information and identification Requests); Donating $500 towards a PEI Invasive Species Council Wildlife Conservation Fund project on oriental bittersweet control; Meeting with various parties respecting a fund raising initiative to move the Flora of PEI project; Recruiting a new Nature PEI representative for the Island Nature Trust Board; Developing and submitting an award nomination for the Angus MacLean Natural Areas Award; Developing Island Naturalist Issue 227; and Collecting flower flies for submission to Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre. NATURE PEI FIELD TRIPS: Songbirds at Hyde Park in Cornwall - Trip Leader Brendan Kelly: On July 8th, eight participants met at the Hyde Park Pond and the Cornwall Lagoons on Pond Street at 8:00 am. Besides the birds in and around the lagoons, the participants walked along the woodland trail beside the Hyde Creek. Brendan shared information on bird identification as well as tips on nature photography. Besides having a great field trip, the group picked up 27 bird species with the highlights being an Eastern Wood Peewee, an Eastern Kingbird, a Mourning Warbler, and a Bald Eagle. Early Morning Birding - Trip Leader Luke Peters: On July 15th, 14 participants met at the Winter River Trail at 7:00 am for a birding trip along the Winter River Trail. They found ten species of birds, picked up an owl pellet which they examined, and seen a red fox. The highlight of the day was observing a family of five recently fledged Downy Woodpeckers. In addition to these sightings, they picked up an Osprey and a Bald Eagle. Eagle Banding - Trip Leader Gerald MacDougall: On the morning of June 17th, 20+ people met at the Orwell Farm Museum and travelled to Lower Newton for an eagle banding Nature PEI field trip. Gerald was the tour leader and he was ably assisted by Matt McIver who, using climbing ropes and safety harness, climbed to the nest some 20 metres up the tree. The adults were out foraging but Matt found two eaglets in the nest, the younger of which was the right age for banding (~6 weeks). This eaglet was lowered to the ground in a basket and, taking care to avoid being seized by its talons or beak, a numbered band was clamped closed around its leg by Gerald. A rapt audience watched this entire process as Gerald explained the once dire circumstances of eagles in the Gerald MacDougall handling a 6 week old Bald Eagle during 1970s with a single eagle at a nest in Georgetown to the Nature PEI’s Eagle Banding Trip Photo by Brian McInnis present 50+ nests on the Island and a population of several hundred eagles. Karalee MacAskill, the Watershed Coordinator for the Cornwall and Area Watershed Group and Simon Land, a reporter from Great Britain helped with the field trip. Brian McInnis photographed the event and subsequently posted a story to social media. This story led to many responses. 3 Wildflower Walk Trip Leaders Doug Murray and Rosemary Curley: On August 2, seven people took part in a wildflower walk at Fullerton’s Creek Conservation Park in Stratford. Many weedy plants of old fields were identified and, in the woodland portion of the trail, several native ferns and colourful shelf fungi were observed. Reeds and rushes attracted attention and shutters were open for a display of dogbane and fireweed. For some it was an introduction to the trail system in the park. Doug Murray is maintaining a list of species for this site and has been capturing photographs of many of them. Shorebirds and Seabirds - Trip Leader Brendan Kelly On August 4th, I was joined by seven participants at Covehead Wharf where we discussed shorebird and gull identification. Although the tide was quite low and the birds were a fair distance away, we did manage to see several great species and learn the basics of shorebird identification. Thanks to the spotting scopes provided by Dwaine Oakley, we were able to have great looks at many birds. Two participants were lucky enough to find two "life" birds. One person saw a Caspian Tern for the first time and another their first Ruddy Turnstone. After Covehead, we headed to Tracadie Harbour and again the tide was still not in our favor. However, we did get better looks at Black-Bellied Plovers and several Osprey. Shorebirds and Waterfowl - Trip Leader Brendan Kelly: On September 9th, I was joined by six participants again at Covehead Wharf. Just minutes after arriving, we were treated to close-up views of a dark Peregrine Falcon hunting around the bridge. After birding the wharf area and driving a few hundred meters west to the little pull off, we witnessed three Merlin fighting and putting on an acrobatic performance. A few minutes later, at the small lagoons just behind Covehead wharf, we observed a dozen Short-Billed Dowitchers along with Greater Yellowlegs, a few Black Ducks and Gadwall.