Three Rivers Birding Club
Bi-monthly Membership Meeting
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
6:30 PM - 9:45 PM
Phipps Garden Center, Shady Avenue
Seventy-four 3RBC members and visitors gathered at 6:30 PM for socializing, networking, munching, and selecting free birding literature despite low temperatures, gusty winds, and major road reconstruction.
President Jack Solomon called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM. He recognized the Hospitality Committee for providing tasty treats. Next Jack warned birders to be careful because of a recent attack upon a woman at Mingo Creek Park and the smashing of car windows and theft in a parking lot at Frick Park. Jack recognized several first-time attendees including Nader Shaikh and his two young sons.
Vice-President Jim Valimont then chaired the business meeting. Carol McCullough stated that the Pennsylvania Migration Count would be on Saturday, May 12. Once again, Carol and Fred will coordinate efforts in Allegheny County. She requested more volunteers and reminded the audience that the data may also be useful for the Breeding Bird Atlas. Call them if you can help. Sherron Lynch informed the audience that the PSO would hold its annual meeting in Harrisburg on May 18-20. 3RBC and the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania will co-host next year's meeting in our area during May 16-18, 2008. Bob Mulvihill announced that Powdermill needs a field assistant ASAP to survey the Louisiana Waterthrush through June. The position pays $500 monthly and includes housing and mileage reimbursement. Speaking Spanish would be helpful. Steve Thomas, Outings Director, said that it will be a very busy spring and to refer to the website for a complete list of outings. Margie Kern stated that the club's annual Crane Creek outing is scheduled for May 4-11. The Jet Express trip to Point Pelee will be on May 10. The Best Budget Inn in Port Clinton will be the 3RBC headquarters for the outing.
Mike Fialkovich, Bird Reports Editor, encouraged birders to participate in the Breeding Bird Atlas, and then he hosted a large number of reported sightings. The gull invasion at the Point, which included Glaucous, Thayer's, Great and Lesser Black-backed, and Iceland, had attracted many birders and received media attention. Golden Eagles have also made the local news lately. Unusual in this area were a Brewer's Blackbird in Allegheny County and a Northern Shrike in Ohio. Interesting migrants, some returning and others just passing through, included Common Raven, Merlin, Red-necked Grebe, Common Merganser, Common Redpoll, Blue-headed Vireo, Fox Sparrow, Osprey, Spotted Sandpiper, and Barn Swallow. A Bald Eagle near the Highland Park Bridge and an albino Red-tailed Hawk in Hays were mentioned. A Hooded Merganser at Harrison Hills Park was recorded as the 180th species seen in the park since its opening. Keep up with the news about the Pittsburgh Peregrine Falcons on the web.
Tom Pawlesh introduced the evening's guest speaker, Connie Toops, as a friend and mentor since 1992. Connie is the author of books about bluebirds, hummingbirds, owls, and several birding locations. She is an active member of the North American Nature Photography Association, a group that encourages young people to become involved in nature photography through a scholarship program. She currently lives in a log cabin on 120 acres near Ashville, North Carolina.
Connie began her program, Spring in the Land Down Under: The Birds and Wildflowers of Western Australia, by telling how she and her husband had met an Australian couple in 1995. Clive and Wendy encouraged Connie and her husband to come to their home in Perth; that visit took place last fall. The three-week adventure included one week north of Perth, one week in and around the city, and one week to the south. Connie emphasized through spectacular photographs that Western Australia is a very old landform and that many of the plants and birds are unique. Record rains in 2005 produced amazing displays of wildflowers, but the drought in 2006 disappointed Wendy and Clive. Through diligent searching the group found a wide assortment of flowers, and Connie was able to show us many unusual species.
The bird species seemed to be divided into two groups. The ones along the coast were more familiar looking because they were either species found in the United States or birds that closely resemble some of our shorebirds and waders. Inland it was a different story. The 515 bird species recorded in Western Australia range from the huge Emu to the little Splendid Fairy-Wren. Colors vary from the Brown Songlark to the Rainbow Lorikeet. Some interdependencies between birds and plants include the Mistletoebird spreading the seeds of the mistletoe plant and some honeyeaters migrating to follow the ripening of nectar sources
Connie entertained us with the sights, sounds, and even a smell, menthol, which she combined to share her Australian experience with us. She encouraged us to do as her hosts had done by inviting birders from another country to share our birds and the natural beauty around us since "we as birders belong to a very large brotherhood around the world."
Claire Staples and Sina Shaikh won door prizes. They both now have oriole feeders for their yards thanks to the generosity of a 3RBC member who no longer needed them.
The next 3RBC meeting will be a slide slam on Wednesday, June 6. The following meeting will be on August 1.
Submitted by Pat and Sherron Lynch
Co-secretaries of Three Rivers Birding Club
