Three Rivers Birding Club
Bi-monthly Membership Meeting
Wednesday, July 6, 2005
6:30-10:00PM
Phipps Garden Center, Shady Avenue

The 3RBC gathering began at 6:30 PM, a full hour before the meeting began, to facilitate socializing. A cornucopia of refreshments was available. Members had the opportunity to select free birding brochures and magazines to take home. Fifty-six enthusiastic birders attended.

President Jack Solomon called the meeting to order. President Solomon profusely thanked the members of the hospitality committee for providing name tags and thanked all who provided refreshments. Jack recognized Joyce Hoffmann for her many contributions to birding. He stated that we owe Joyce a lot. ASWP is having a Todd Family Day with a full day of activities for the entire family. (Check this website for details soon.)   Jack recognized seven people, including two from Florida, who were attending a club meeting for the first time.

Vice-president and Outings Chairman Jim Valimont presided over the rest of the meeting. Program Chairman Neil Nodelman provided a tentative list of speakers for next year including Tom Pawlesh, Tony Bledsoe, Chuck Tague, Felicity Newell, and Bob Schutsky. There will be two members' slide slams and hopefully a special program on the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

Treasurer Bob Machesney stated that the treasury contains $3700.  Fifteen people joined recently. Some of the new members are from West Virginia and Ohio.

Jim announced that there will be shorebird outings in August. Walt and Dana Shaffer will lead a butterfly outing on July 24 at IBA 80 in Washington County. Bob reported that the water level at Shenango will need to drop about two feet before opportunities are good for shorebird watching.  It might be mid-August before conditions are suitable at Shenango. Jerry McWilliams, at Presque Isle, had posted that the fall migration has already started. (Check either The Peregrine or this website for a full listing of outings for the next few months).

Mike Fialkovich then chaired the bird sightings segment of the meeting and offered BBA materials to anyone who needs them. Recent sightings of young birds included a Broad-winged Hawk fledgling, a Bald Eagle which raised two young near Tionesta, a family of Wood Thrushes, a Common Merganser with Chicks at Ohiopyle, and a family of Virginia Rails. Other interesting observations included a nesting Sharp-shinned Hawk in Forest Hills, two Golden-winged Warblers at Ohiopyle, a Northern Parula gathering food, Henslowıs and Grasshopper Sparrows, Fish Crows still in Braddock, Least Sandpipers at Duck Hollow, Golden-cheeked Warblers in Texas, a Red-tailed Hawk and an American Robin each carrying a snake, a Red-headed Woodpecker in Pine Township, and a Loon in June at Deer Valley.

An assortment of door prizes has been provided by the ASWP and by several club members. The winners this month were George Bercik, Oscar Miller, and Eric Marchbein.

Brian Shema, Director of Sanctuaries for ASWP, presented information about an Eco-Expedition to the Eastern Shore in late October. The tour is being led by Gene Wilhelm. Contact Brian or call  412-963-6100 or check the Audubon Bulletin for more details. Brian is also working on Kentucky Warbler research in the seven counties around Pittsburgh.  Contact Brian or Ross Gallardy if you have information to share with them.

Ken Kostka of the Purple Martin Preservation Alliance showed a diversity of habitats and nesting sites used by Purple Martins in various parts of the United States. These birds have adapted to weep holes in highway overpasses in Sacramento, old woodpecker holes at Lake Shasta, single-unit boxes on Puget Sound, and colonial boxes on golf courses near Pittsburgh. Supplemental feeding during cold weather and control of European Starlings and House Sparrows have been key management techniques. For more information or to volunteer to help, check the website.

Slides for the eveningıs program were presented by Walt Shaffer, Mike Fialkovich, Pat and Sherron Lynch, and Bill Parker. Walt began the show with close-up photos of butterflies and moths from Frick Environmental Center. Walt is always able to point out the fine details of identification, trivia as he calls it, without losing his audience.  Amazing warbler shots, including a Brewster's, were taken with a macro lens because they were so close to the trail at Crane Creek. White-rumped and Semipalmated Sandpipers at Conneaut Harbor posed so that Walt could point out the projection of the wings and the coloring on the backs of these birds.

Pat and Sherron took the audience on two of their recent trips. Pat showed birds photographed on an October trip to Florida. These included a Long billed Curlew demonstrating how to dig for food with its extraordinary bill, a Great Egret showing how to swallow a fish, and a Wood Stork stretching its wings in preparation for flight. Sherron's slides concentrated on birds known as specialties of The Bahamas. The Bahama Woodstar, Greater Antillean Bullfinch, Stripe-headed Tanager, Bahama Yellowthroat, Thick-billed Vireo, and Black-cowled Oriole were some of the specialties found on Grand Bahama and Andros in January. Pat and Sherron followed up with a Tufted Titmouse with a deformed bill and a Northern Cardinal which looked like a female but had a great deal of extra red coloring.

Mike Fialkovich showed some of his recent slides from Pennsylvania. A highlight was several close views of the Townsend's Solitaire which many birder's chased in McKean County. Mike then took us north to Canada where Mike, Jim Valimont, and Paul Hess had gone in late February to search for owls. This was a great way to illustrate the article Jim had written for the June Peregrine. The audience enjoyed the various poses of the Great Gray Owl, but found the photos of the three men holding Red-breasted Nuthatches, Gray Jays, and Black-capped Chickadees in their hands and on their hats very entertaining. As Mike said, "Things started to get silly."

Bill Parker ended the show with digital pictures just bursting with color. His baby cuckoo and robin shots were stunning. The cecropia and sphinx moths showed details many in the audience had never noticed. The Great Egret photographed on the 3RBC trip to Delaware and New Jersey was spectacular with plumes blowing in all directions.

You won't want to miss Ted Floyd at the next meeting; mark your calendar for MONDAY, September 19.

Submitted by Pat and Sherron Lynch
Co-secretaries of Three Rivers Birding Club