The winners will be notified as soon as the judging is complete. The prizes for the four categories, the most promising youth photographer and the grand prize winner will be presented at the 28th Annual Wildlife Dinner to be held on December 14th at St. Mary's Hall in Souris.

Special thanks to MacPhee's Home Hardware and Ducks Unlimited Canada for their sponsorship. The most promising youth photographer award is sponsored by the judging panel.

The entries will remain permanently on our site. Following the Wildlife Dinner in December, the prize winners may be found on our website at www.souriswl.ca/08contest.html.

Chairperson's Comments

Hello fellow watershed residents!

It is hard to believe that we are almost into another year! This past year has been very busy one within the watershed with much work accomplished. This will hopefully pay pay nice dividends in the future. None of this would have been possible without the funding that we receive and the tremendous work that our employees put in.

photo by Carmella Cheverie

One neat small project was providing perches for our Bald Eagles in highly visible areas. As a result four Eagle perches were erected along the Souris Causeway and Beach Avenue with funding provided by the Shell Environmental Fund. The hopes were that the eagles that frequent our watershed would use them. The great news is that, "the eagles have landed" (as you can tell from the picture) and what a sight they are. Our watershed is so abundant with wildlife and we are so fortunate to have residents, businesses & producers within our watershed who care about the well being of our area. It is through everyone's extra effort that we are able to enjoy living in such a great, clean, picturesque community.

I hope that you all had fun on Halloween, and I hope I you all take the time to reflect on sacrifices, that were made by our veterans and our current people in combat. I also wish you all the best as the year 2008 comes to a close!

Paul Deveau
Chairperson,
Souris River Watershed Management Committee

Wildlife Calendar

Souris Regional High School Student Council has entered into a partnership with Souris & Area Branch to sell the 2009 Wildlife Calendars. Students will be selling these calendars door to door for a Christmas special of $10.00. These calendars are totally unique with all pictures taken within the management area of the Souris & Area Branch. Nineteen of our communities are represented in this calendar. Many of the photographers are locals and some of the pictures have been prize winners in our 2008 Wildlife Photo Contest. Each month has a unique environmental message which coincides with the season. We encourage everyone to support these students when they knock on your door. For a simple $10 you support your local high school and your local wildlife branch.

President's Comments

I have served as a volunteer on the P.E.l. Recreational Fisheries Advisory Committee for the past few years. In 2008 this committee held meetings across P.E.l. to get input from anglers and interested citizens on what should be done to assist the recreational fishery.

From the input of these meetings we produced our recommendations (40) in a study document entitled: Fostering A Quality & Sustainable Angling Experience On P.E.I. This document is available at the Souris Service Center and for those who prefer online at http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/anglersreport2008.pdf.

The Committee was pleasantly surprised by the number of participants and quality of dialogue that occurred during the public consultation process. The written and verbal input afforded us with an opportunity to hear from numerous anglers and watershed groups.

Participants were generally environmentally conscientious and voiced their opinions in a respectful manner. Without a doubt, habitat restoration and land use are the key issues to the future of our recreational fishery. Watershed groups and the public rely on government to ensure that habitat restoration work is being carried out in the most biologically sensitive and cost effective manner.

I wish everyone has a very Merry Christmas and the best in 2009.

Hurricane Hanna

On the week-end of Sept 6th. - 8th., P.E.l. was drenched with rain as Hurricane Hanna relinquished its load of precipitation. Eastern P.E.l. was hit hard as there were recordings in Bear River of 130ml and in Kingsboro of 87 ml. Needless to say our streams levels rose at unprecedented levels. The water level in Gowan Brae on the northside of the causeway was above the large box culvert. A new culvert installed a few weeks prior to this storm south of Walter Mallard's couldn't handle the flow and did some serious damage on the downstream side of the road. Many island waterways were "red" with siltation for days after this storm. Souris River did go "red" in the peak of the storm but was relatively clear within hours. Credit has to been given to area farmers for their changes in their farming practices to assist the land in filtering the water as much as possible before it entered the waterways.

Coordinators Comments

As I struggle to meet my deadline with my limited computer skills, I realize how much miss my assistant Garry Gregory. Garry has returned to U.P.E.I. this fall where he is entering his first year of a two year masters program in biology. Garry will be doing his thesis on the, "Decline of the muskrat populations on P.E.l".

We wish him well in his research.

photo by Waldron Leard

We have had several sightings and photos of some birds rare to our area visiting this fall. Many of which are a long distances from their regular flyways. In Souris Line Road on the farm of Joe & Mike MacAulay we have had three Blue Geese (obvious white head). They stayed around with the Canada Geese for a short period of time. In Sheep Pond on the farm of Frances and Dwain MacAulay, a Cattle Egret appeared and followed the cows. This bird is similar in shape to a Blue Heron, but has an obvious different colour and habits.

photo by Waldron Leard

We also had sightings of a Sandhill Crane in North Lake and Goose River. Pictures were taken and identification was made.

The opportunity to identify something different or new to our area, always creates some enthusiasm. Two sediment traps on the Naufrage River were dug this fall which will catch silt as it moves downstream. We would like to thank Hazel Maclnnis and Dale Cahill for their cooperation for being so environmentally responsible for allowing this venture on their property.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very special Christmas and all the best in 2009.

Fred Cheverie
Souris River Watershed Coordinator

Copyright
Souris Branch of the P.E.I. Wildlife Federation

All pictures appearing on this site or its associated flickr account are the property of the photographers and the Souris & Area Branch of the P.E.I. Wildlife Federation.
They may not be copied without permission of the photographer and the Souris & Area Branch of the P.E.I. Wildlife Federation.