Three Rivers Birding Club
Bi-monthly Membership Meeting
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
6:30-9:30PM
Phipps Garden Center, Shady Avenue
About ninety 3RBC members and visitors began gathering at 6:30 PM for an hour of socializing, networking, snacking, selecting free birding literature to take home, and viewing a display of pen and ink drawings of raptors done by Karena Gregg.
President Jack Solomon called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM. Jack recognized a dozen visitors or members attending their first meeting. Many had heard about Dr. Scott Shalaway's Panama trip on his radio show and were eager to see Tom Pawlesh¹s slides and to hear more about their adventure. Jack thanked the hospitality committee and the members who provided treats. Karena Gregg was recognized and thanked for presenting her art work; this was her second trip to 3RBC. Karena is a 10th grader from Beaver County. Jack mentioned the passing in early October of Bernie Conley, fondly known as Bernie the Birdwatching Bus Driver.
Jack listed some future programs which will be held in early 2006. The speaker at the January 4 meeting will be David Liebmann, a board member of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, who will do a PowerPoint presentation combining birds and poetry. On March 1 Tony Bledsoe from the University of Pittsburgh will be the guest speaker. April will be a busy month with two meetings. One meeting will be a members' side slam and a special meeting is being arranged to have Ron Rohrbaugh, Director of Natural Resources and Visitor Services at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, speak about his experience with the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.
Mike Fialkovich then chaired the bird sightings segment of the meeting. Mike listed some of the rarer finds in western Pennsylvania and across the state. Recent birds of interest included Red Phalarope, Laughing Gull, Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Dickcissel, and Northern Goshawk. The Eurasian Wigeon was still seen at Moraine State Park on the day of the meeting. Paul Hess noted that it was a first year male.
Treasurer Bob Machesney stated that there are 225 memberships in 3RBC. Some of the long distance members live in Kent, England and Austin, Texas. A little closer to home, members range from Potter County to Greene County.
An assortment of door prizes was provided by the ASWP and by some club members. Scott Shalaway also donated a copy of his newest book as a prize. The winners this month were Holly Ferkett, Rob Protz, and Don Beck.
Mike Fialkovich introduced the guest speakers, Dr. Scott Shalaway and Tom Pawlesh. Scott is best known for his Saturday afternoon radio program and his nature column in several newspapers. Mike knew Scott as his professor when Mike took classes in Conservation and Ecology. Tom is an airline pilot who combines his interests in travel and nature photography. Tom has won photo contests, gets photos published in nature magazines, maintains a website displaying many of his works, and has been a guest speaker at 3RBC meetings in the past.
Before the program began Scott thanked the many people who wrote to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to have his nature column reinstated in the sports pages after the newspaper had stopped carrying it. He also brought along a Brunton Macroscope and Equinox HP binoculars for members to try out. Catalogs from Eagle Optics and a feeder manufacturer were made available.
Through slides and stories, Scott and Tom shared "what we did on spring break" in March 2005 at the Canopy Tower in Panama. They enthusiastically endorsed this ecolodge only one hour from Panama City and listed many reasons why other birders should try it. It is an easy trip and could be done in a long weekend, the food was excellent and the wine was complimentary and the water was drinkable, the rooms were immaculate, transportation and guides were included in the total package, birds near the lodge were easily approachable, phone calls home cost five cents a minute, viewing from the common areas and the upper deck were at treetop level, people at the lodge spoke English, and prices were very reasonable.
With his 70-210mm lens and a 500mm lens and extension tubes, Tom was able to photograph monkeys, sloths, coatis, butterflies, frogs, lush vegetation, a modern city with skyscrapers, the Panama Canal, activities during the five day stay, and lots of brilliantly colored birds. Photos of hummingbirds near the lodge set the stage for an outstanding array of wildlife pictures. Oohs and aahs were heard as slides showed exotically colored birds with exotic names. Some crowd favorites were Keel-billed Toucan, Common Potoo, Slaty-tailed Trogon, Broad-billed Motmot, Ruffescent Tiger-Heron, and Chestnut-headed Oropendola. These photos represented only a small portion of the 182 bird species seen during this tropical adventure.
For more information about this trip, check Tom Pawlesh's website at http://www.tompawlesh.smugmug.com then choose "New Images" and "Panama" to enjoy the show again, look at Tom's Journal on the 3RBC website, or find http://www.canopytower.com on the internet. Members were enthusiastic and expressed hope that 3RBC would plan an outing to the Canopy Tower. Where do we sign up?
Submitted by Pat and Sherron Lynch
Co-secretaries of Three Rivers Birding Club
