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THE NEWFOUNDLAND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Contents

1. Fi eld Trips ; "iscellaneous Notices 2. Bird Group News 3 . Chipmunks 4 . June Flowers G. Wildflowe r Book ; Canadian Audubon 8 . Competition for Schoolchildren 9 . Freshwater Fiends

June Meetinp-

Terra Nova Nationa l Perk - Two Sides of a Coin

by Philip Patey

Arts and Culture Centre 8 . 15 pm Wednesday June 17th

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Terre Nova. Field Trip June 21st

Anyone planninF to join in this E'vf'nt ts rf'ouested to notify rhil Patey (368-?7 ?8 ) ~s soon flS possibl e . Some peopl e intend to spend the rl.'ekf'nd at the pArk while othe r s v/il1 travel up for the- (I: y .

Summer Bi rd Count June ?8th

We hope thet this will become 1'n ('nnu e l event, which will give some ide :" of the numbers of birds breed inc in £,E"lcctcd "rens ::md how thl" number:: vElr~; from yer:r to yN'r . I f' :VOU \Mould 11k ... to join in notify the s e c ­retary , 726-4813 , prefe r ably before June 2~th - but better late thrm not at filL

Nest Rec ord CArds

Se veral people hp.ve ('omme n1.ed on the difficulty of cornpletin{" ther"e . Perhaps it 'rRsn I t msde clear in l rst month ' 5 Osprey that even if there if' no chf'nc e of pey­inc more then one visit to the nest it is still possible to record some inforD18tion rend t hat f!ny inform?tion i s welcome however SCAnty . Even if , for e),[lMple, you don I t even find the nest but see fin ?dult feed inr rEcently fledp-ed :vounp the dpte of thi s ob~I"'!"v['tion is \'"o r th c ard . I f you a re in ooubt \",rite it do\'m, r-ive the pe r s on who fl nalyses the c ,: rds the ch~nce to ciec ide whether or not he wC'nts to use it .

Society for the Prevent ion of Cruelty to Animals

ftrs . rfurray of the SPCA is hopinr- to orgAni se some fie l d trips for their thrivinr children ' s section during the summer . She would be very p. r fltefu l to f' ny of our mf'mbers who would offC'r to help \, .. i th these . I f you a r E" willing pleflse phone rrrs . !turray 895 - 6607 .

Sunbury Shores Arts rond Nature Centre Jnc .

Me mbe r s visi tine the ffii:! inland durin". the summer mi pht be interested in the Sunbury Shores programme . The centre is :'I t St Andr ews t New Brun!'wi ck t ['nd offers courses in Natural Hir tory [' nd Art (paintin,.- , weav inF­and flore l arran~ ement) for 8dult~ ~nci children . It is a non- profi t orecnis~ tion . Your zecretery hI'"' G sever? 1 copie s of Sunbury Shores If'' fletf' , wuich he would be plea~ed to p f'SS on to intereste d members .

Bird Grpup News

We are now beginning to receive reports from out­side the St John ' s area so this report will be divided geographically .

Avalon Peninsula . In general the cold weather during the second halt of May and early June seems to have slowed down the migrants and many first datee are later then last Year ' s. At the time of writing (8th June) individuals of most of the expected species have been seen , although full numbe rs do not seem to have been reached in Borne cAses. A apell of fine wepther should see another final rush of migrants . J.~eanwhile some of our hardier birds have been making the best of the weather . Boreal Chickadees were reported nest build­ing on 18th and 19th "1ay (2 paire, C. Adkisson), and 2 pairs of Canada Geese were leading ~ or 5 downy t"oslings down the Sa lmonier Line on June 7th (ARS ,VlM) . These two observers were also lucky enough to see a pair of Great Horned Owls in the same area. An even ~, lees common bird of prey wae a greyish mottled falcon the size of a Herring Gull , which could only have been a Gyrfalcon t seen flying over Kent's Pond, St John I s on 31st May (RII).

Pigeon Hawke were seen in mid '1.(ay (14th HJC, 15th CA). Tree Swallows were first seen in any numbers on 19th I'rcy with two Bern Swallows (CA) , which later : .. seemed to be around in unusually I arre numbers (BJ , RM ) . The Blackpoll, probably our most abundRnt warbler, was

first reported on 17th Way (HJC) and is now very numerous ; its weak lisped sonp CRn be heard from Alf'lost every small clwnp of spruce trees.

First dates for other species were as follows: May : Yellow-bellied Fl)cetcher

;~~t~~~i ~a~~~~~~~~d l~~~ (JW) , Wilson's Warbler (CA), Spotted Sandpiper 21st (HJC), Yellow Viarbler 2~th (JW) . J u n e : Redstnrt 4th (JW),

Black-throated Green Warbler and COl1lJ'll.on 'fern 6th (J\I) , Olive-becked Thrush 7th (DB and JVI) , Red-eyed Vireo 8th (JW) .

A tantalising snippet hee reAched us from John ~"aunder in his summer retreat on Gull I slf;nd t Witless Bay. He reports Greet Shearwater , Yellow-bellied Sapsucker , Black-throa ted Green And Vyrtle V/prble>rs etc. etc. We hope to be able to fill in Borne of the detAils next month .

Finally A couple of l atest dAtes for winter birds: Evening Grosbeak 17th I-'ay (H'T) end Hlack- heeded Gull 21et Way (HJC ,CA ).

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Harne? This islcnd is ",'ell :::~ i tuatpd to be 8 first l~nd­fi'Irfor sprinp- mi prflnts . r"r!': . H. J . Reid hfle sent in a list of the birds in her ".prden throlt{,,;' April rond J"ey . 'Phis is pfirticularly interestine sincf' the birds she seef' Are f!lm ost certpinly 1111 mi prants , while in other parts of Newfoun6 lcmd it is difficult to d istinguish between residents find miprflnts . The Fox SpRrrow is usua lly thoupht of as our first sprinp bird and seems to be wf'll established by the end of April , but r:rs . Re id still han smAll flockfl. ppse i n{" throurh Fa late as Hith r·~flY . Being more to thp west she SEes Eome bi ;rds which are uncommon or rere on the Avplnn . There has bf-en A refUlar pf'ssepr of Cowbirds (15th April to 17th May ) , Grackles (28th April to 18th l\rCly) . Rfmea i~ one of thp few pOints in Newfoundlp.nd where J,ElplAnd !onpflpurs are s€'en repu1ar1y And there \V£lS one presf'nt on 21st April. Two 'l'ree Sparrows on 27th April were -presumpbly Hlso on their way to I,,'O"bracor \'!hile th" Chippinl?" Sparrows she sew in early Pay were prob~bly pOin, no further than the south \';est corner of Newfound l vnd. For those species which also occur here in the Ave.lon '~rs . Reid ' s first dAtes tie in fpirly closely with ourR . Finr>lly her Evenine Grosbeak on 21st ~rr- y ,..ives one pAuse _ maybe this one WPS roinr thr- other "lAy, since they winter in NeVifoundlf'no but fire not kno\'m to nest np~rer thElTI N err Brunswick .

Terrp NOVFl . Robin South visit€'d the p?ric lflst week flno notlced 8 nair of OsnreyE' nl: st buildinr f1nd et lpflst three adult Hald IP.f l f's .

Stop Press ( 9th June) . Don Bnrton still hf'.s Iur!!le F inche s visi tlnp his-re:der on T'lizlO'bE'th Avenue , find the wri t er is fpirly sure th.9t he SPY{ r nEtr Elcul l . Eri tiEh Je-sspr Black-br eked Gull in St John ' s hr rbour this morninr . This bird resembles the GreE t Bleck Back but is slirhtly smeller thFn Ff i.errin§:, Gull \'-i th [1 rf'l"tively slencer bill Dnd y ell 0 W leFs . It breeds in Icel:tnd ~nd is repularly E'12pn pt E'pa off ('reenlFno . ,rhE>re is one record for C:-n'-dr Clt L:hurchill , tFnitoha, in 19(,8 , but it is oui <-e likely to be overlooked pre should occur in ~-ewfoundlcnd if ~nywherE' in Crn~dE', so keep your pyes open . p. . J . r .

Chipmuhks which '"Jere recently intro(u(,E>d to ...;utterpot Fark h~ve survived [nother \'linter . ('nt> \'I8S eeC'n by last Sundny ' s bird\".ratchinr {'"roup _

Flowers LikelY to Be Seen in June

late r.way and early JunP seee sevfral of the white ­flowered shrubs in bloom - probably the commonest of these is the Pin Cherry (PrunuB pensylvanica) . Two other members of the Rose family to look out for are the single white flowers of the Bake - Apple (Rubus chemaemorus), which are usually held well clesr of othPT vegetation on the wetter parts of the bArrens , and the Dwerf Raspberry, which is found in the dampe r open woodlands and looks like a weak thornless Bramble. I have seen this plant on the hill behind the Kent­wood Park estate , but I am surf' it is feirly common elsewhere .

Other berry-bearing plants ere alro coming into flower - we heve Blueberry (Vaccinium u11p-inoeum) in our living room - end wild curre nts ere also in flower. Within the next month the wild Strflwberriee will be out.

Many of the plants which grow f' lonp: the edres of the coniferous forests burst into flower bpfore the accompanying deciduous shrubs ere in full lenf The

BunchbE>rry with its white "flower" nbov~ four leaves in the shape of 9 craBB is one of thE'Bf" . Another is thp pp, Ie ye llow Clintonie with dovm­turned bell-shoped flowers ... 'hleh ore replaced If'ter in the year by poisonous deep blue bsrries . Clintonia stpnds ab out fi _l f;rt tflll find usuflily hAS two or three flowers per stem. f~ueh smaller ore the ','href>-lf>Bved False Solomon I B Seal pnd the

t, ,,,~ch b~v"J ~~lgr~!~r;~f~!~~l~~;;~Y These two 8t~nd ?_r-:n

high FInd often oceur together. Both have 8 spike of smell white flov'pre above two or three lef.!ves . The easiest distinruishinr- point is thAt the Solomon I s Seal has its flowerinp pRrts in 6's ,--hile the ay­flower hes them in 4 ' s .

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Two of my person!?l frvouri tps should [l1so be in flower thic month , r In, in in the E'hrubby rl?{ ion slont'"

tl".(' e(re of th'" fpru('E' forest . Cne is thr cr int~: pele pink TwinfloVl€r , I"f'ieh , ~ (' the nt:""e implies ,";(..3 ~ ~ C'l flo'''erinJ''" steM "t;iuped by ::' nf'ir of small (lor'n ­turnf"d 'bpllFl . "PniF plrnt if' (uite rare in T.urope rnd rock - PFrci e ners often l'K'Y hrnch'ome 1y for it . Lerf' it is one of the commonest of plants ..

f'y othe r fFvourite (11so hfJS tjny flo','"€rs - j ts t'lorth Arnericen

nfP'lE' is !:It,- rflovo'er. It rrows fror:'! ? to 10 " hirh snd is e, f.ily re-

IWII·",·f lo w e.r co~·nised . ~"ch individuFll stem hf's [\ rosetfe of rointed le['ves, SOJ'TlE'

5- 8 in number I pith Above thflll usuf'lll~' 1 or ? sm? 11 white flo\'!ers \':i th six m'tnls and eix st2men:;; . The flower opens very flat .

Tf you find ?n:J flo1"err­you c r>nnot recornise rrin[ a lonp- one ('omple te flowe- ri:"'.{" stem (NOT the root~) pn{ f::ome chfl""rcterif·tic If" VPS .

ItsornetiJ!1es hE'lps if ,\'OU CE'n tell us with \'Ih~t othf'r p l flfl ts it was rrov:in .

We would like to herr

about your trips within end outside the provincp . Don Barton, for example, found some of the IprFe Lady's Slipper orchises on his pf!rents' fl\rT"\ in Ontario rpcently, end I hed my first sirht of Trilliums , on the cempus of York University of all plrces . A yellow violet and the pele pink COlllIT'on ':Iood Sorrel were also in flower in A smell pptch of bOfl!Y woodland inhabited by Grack]es , Red -winged Blpckbirds , fl pflir of Yellow-shflfted Flickers end some souirrels . This VIAS pll within flbout 100 yards of thE' 'ml1in residence block of York Univers ity .

The next six to eight weeks iEl probebly the most productive for flowers in Newfoundland I 80 keep your eyes open .

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Wild Flower Book

It seems Fene r a lly apreed that "A Field Guide to Wildflowers" by R. T.Peterson ('nd ~l~rgaret VcKenny is one of the best A.vH.ilabh~ pocket books for Newfoundl and . Its main disadvantage is that it omits pny pIenta covered in the compenion "Field Guide to Trees fnd Shrubs", many of which hflve attractive fIO\".-ers . 'Eech of these

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:~~~~a~~:t:i~g' ii~w;~ ~~~~s t~n h~v~u~u~:vi:;u~: other e Canadian Audubon Soc iety

1tfeny members may not know thet 'I"e rre affiliated with CAS. A conference was recently held in Winnipe~ pt which it was decided to strengthen the role of the CAS p s a nationel organisat i on representing both individuals and societies like ours . The aims of the society E'.re best summarised in the followinp" extri?ct from one of their l eafle t s , copies of which CAn be obteined from your secretary .

"The Canadian Audubon Society concerns i teelf with wildlife, plants, soil and water , find the importAnce of their intelligent treatment end wise use in relf:'>tion to human prop-ress . In addition,the Society stuc1ies (lTId conducts rese~rch into vflrious aspects of nEtuTfll science , a knowledge of which is estentiel to the formulation of Bound, practical policies in the field of conservAtion .

To cover it s educational ['nd operationAl expenses , the Society depends on donfltions £'nd beou€'atf> from in­dividuals, grante from corporAtions f'nd other or; o.nisR­tiona thFit are in sympathy with its stated objects . Contributions are deductible in thE' comput1np of tflxFble income. II

The results of t he W1nnipep conference ~re reported in the pr ess r elease which fo110\"6 over . •

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Canadian Audubon

Society

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NEWS from the National Conference of Audubon Affiliates.

FOR REIJlASE MAY 18, 1970.

NATURALI STS ORGANIZE ON NATION>li. BASIS

WINNIFm - A bold new approach was taken in Winnipeg this week­

end to strengthen the voice and influence of naturalists in

protecting the natural environment .

The first National Conferbnce of Affiliates of the Canadian

Audubon Society hanmered out a set of recommendations to provide

a more representative organization of naturalists across Canada~

Taking part in the conference were delegates f rom all across

Canada, from P.E .I. to Vi ctoria, from the Yukon Territory to

'!bronta .

The conference, which wOW1d up on Monday , called for m:)re

effect1 va cOlluunication between local oganlzations J their

provincial federations and the national organization . It was

r ecommended that the name of the national organization be changed

from Canadian Audubon Society to the Canadian Nature Federation

to reflect more specifically the ne ... 1 role to be played by the

national body. It was also proposed that the office of the new

organization be fJlO\'ed from Toronto to Ottawa .

All proposa15 coming out of tho Hinnipeg confer ence will

be considered and formalhed by a Constitution Conrn1ttee , whi ch

will submit its recorrunendations to the membership of the Canadian

Audubon Society and its 30 affiliated clubs for ratification.

According to C. Ian P. Tate. Chairman of the Canadian

Audubon 3ociety, lithe organization will represent a broad

(more)

DEDICATED TO THE CONSERVATION OF WILOI.IFE, PLANTS, ~OIL AND W,\TER l!'< RJ:r.ATlON TO HUMAN rROGRESS

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spectrum. of Ca'l&dian citizens who are concerned. about the

ever-increasing threats to the natural environment. It

It is anticipated that under its new structure, the

organization will represent over 100 naturaliste I groups and

individuals totalling over 200,000 people.

In order to keep in close touch with conservation problems

throughout Canada the national body will have two representatl ves

from each province and each of the Territories on its board of

directors, along with another 12 directors at large. "This

provision will answer a long-felt need for regional representation

that a truly national organization must have," said Mr. Tate.

THE NEWFOUNDLAND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Annual Competition for Schoolchildren

Entries should be related to the Natural History (mammals, flowers , birds , rocks, se ashells etc.) of Newfoundland and Labrador . Some examples would be:

A General Nature Diary A Collecrtion of Pressed Flowers, Se a shells etc.

(but not birds egge or r are flo wers) A Nature Study of one partlCiiIi'r area or habitat

It you require guidance ae to whether an entry vlould be acceptable conta ct the President or Secretary of the SOCiety .

Entrie. will be judged in two cla •• e.: (1) up to Grade VIII, (2) up to Grade XI (a. of June 1970). Prize. of $25, $10 and $5 will be awarded in .ach cle ••• All

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~~t~~~u:;~i!nd~~ei~:m: :~~u~~ ~~e i~;~i~fi;~O~Y"!~:i~irdS e . local names whenever possible . Entries should be Eent to

the PreSident, Newfoundland Natural History SOCiety, c/o Department of Chemistry, r.~emorial University, St John's, before 1.t October 1970.

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Pond nends •• t at the edge of Lons Pond to look tor .,.chene ot

varioue larve and I1ra,h ton. of whlch I.&IlJ' .er. aquin1ns happll.y ,. around .. th. II\ld at our teet.

Dr. Phlpps ... there to h.l, ue ld..nt1~ the Httl. "be .. t1.~".

W. carrled n.te, etrain.re, jar_ and. .&6"lt71n« gl ...... to obtain and

.x .. ln. our "catch". We aleo wor. boote, oyer the top of .hlch the

vater fio.eel coplouely a.e ao •• of the lnsecta .er. puraultd out fro.

It .... really a .oat .xci tiDS Md .uc •• a.ful tl~d. trlpl Collected

ver •• Dra«OD nr Larva Caddi. Fly Larva Tadpol. Stickl.back Water Strider Water Bug Chlrono.ld L.ech