3RBC Membership Meeting
January 12, 2004
Studies at Powdermill Nature Reserve — Past, Present, and Future
One of North America's most important bird banding stations is right here in
southwestern Pennsylvania: the Powdermill Nature Reserve. We will learn its famous and
fascinating history at our next meeting on Monday, January 12, in the Phipps Garden Center
in Shadyside. Bob Mulvihill, Powdermill's Field Ornithologist for 21 years, will present a
dazzling, up-close, bird-filled slide show titled "Studies at Powdermill Nature Reserve —
Past, Present, and Future." Don't miss this one! Doors will open at 7 PM for socializing,
and the meeting will begin at 7:30.
From its renowned banding program, begun by Bob Leberman in 1961, to the recently completed
bioindicator and breeding biology studies of Louisiana Waterthrush, to the second Pennsylvania
Breeding Bird Atlas project now getting underway, the nature reserve has been the headquarters
for a wide range of avian studies during its four-decade history. Bob, who is the statewide
coordinator of the atlas project, will talk about some of Powdermill's familiar and
not-so-familiar bird studies and will give us many details (and answer lots of questions!)
about the upcoming Atlas project.
The Garden Center is at 1059 Shady Avenue, directly behind the Pittsburgh Center for the
Arts at Fifth and Shady Avenues. Enter the cobblestone driveway from Shady Avenue at the
sign for the Garden Center. Detailed directions are on the Phipps website:
http://www.phipps.conservatory.org/information/directions.html.
There is a metered lot where city parking is 25 cents per hour. More parking is available on
nearby Shady Avenue. In addition, Beechwood Boulevard, the street parallel to Shady and a
block east (i.e., away from Downtown), has free parking and is a short walk through Mellon
Park to the Garden Center.
Reminder: Our meeting dates in 2004 will be March 8, April 26, July 12, September 13,
and November 8 — all the second Monday of the month except the fourth Monday in April.
