Three Rivers Birding Club
Bi-monthly Membership Meeting
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
6:30 - 9:30 PM
Phipps Garden Center, Shady Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA
Three inches of snow and below-freezing temperatures did not discourage 46 members and visitors from attending the bi-monthly meeting. There were lots of free birding magazines, tasty treats, and birding stories to share during the social hour preceding the meeting. President Jack Solomon called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM and recognized three first-time visitors; one came all the way from Wheeling, West Virginia. Jack suggested that everyone should take a look at the newly redone 3RBC website on which Julia Pahountis-Opacic has done a great job. Credit also goes to Ray Budd who has been doing the posting. Praise and comments can be directed to the webmaster using the "contact us" link on the website. Thanks were expressed to all who brought treats and especially to Mabel Matteson and Becky Byerly for their work on the Hospitality Committee.
Bird Reports Editor Mike Fialkovich began the short business agenda in the absence of Vice President Jim Valimont who is in Arizona enjoying the Northern Jacana. Mike listed some impressive bird sightings in the area. These included Tundra Swans, Northern Pintails, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Bald Eagles, Merlin, Black Vulture, Dunlins, Ravens, Marsh Wrens, Snow Buntings, Evening Grosbeaks, and Pine Siskins. Kate St. John enjoyed seeing and hearing over 300 Common Loons at Moraine State Park. Jack Solomon was in the right place at the right time to see the Barnacle Goose that was reported near Cape May, New Jersey. Mike Fialkovich mentioned the Bullocks Oriole near Harrisburg.
Program Director Neil Nodelman announced that the next meeting will be on the first Wednesday of February, February 6, and will feature Greg Miller, one of the three men whose birding tales are told in The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik. Pat Lynch reminded everyone to help themselves to the free magazines and birding materials made available by several members. Sue Solomon conducted the door prize drawing and mentioned that the many holiday decorations displayed around the room are available for sale in the Phipps Garden Center Gift Shop from 11 AM to 4 PM on Tuesday through Saturday.
Mike introduced the evening's guest speaker, Dr. Todd Katzner, Director of Conservation and Field Research at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh. Members who attended the PSO conference in Ligonier had enjoyed his program about eagles in the Soviet Union. Tonight his topic was "Migrating Eagles and Wind Turbines: Resolving Conflict in an Information Void." This program was a lot closer to home because Todd is currently conducting research on the Golden Eagles that migrate through Pennsylvania.
Although Todd began and ended his program by emphasizing that his project is in its infancy, it only involves a few birds, the data presented is incomplete, and the results to-date would not hold up to scientific analysis, it was obvious from the questions asked by the audience that this is a topic of great interest to many people in our area. Turbines are popping up "like dandelions in your lawn" and not a lot of information is available about their impact. Poor planning can lead to disastrous results such as on Golden Eagles in Altamont Pass, California, and on Sea Eagles in Smøla, Norway.
The wind power industry and migrating raptors both have a strong interest in the ridges between the Allegheny Front and Kittatinny Ridge. Todd's goal is to provide scientific information about migration of raptors, using Golden Eagles as an "umbrella" species, to land managers and government agencies. Armed with this detailed information, guidelines can be established to build future wind turbines in ways to mitigate their impact on migrating birds.
Todd showed maps that used satellite telemetry to follow the migrations of three Golden Eagles captured and fitted with monitoring devices. The dots clearly indicated that the eagles are funneled through the mountain ridges of Pennsylvania as they travel between southern West Virginia and northeastern Canada. As more eagles are captured and fitted with monitoring devices, behavior during migration routes and at wintering sites will be better understood. Maps can show relative risks to Golden Eagles from locating turbines on specific sites.
Preliminary results indicate that between 1000 and 1500 Golden Eagles pass through Pennsylvania annually, and this could be 90 to 95 percent of the eastern population of Golden Eagles. Bird movements seem to be related to topography, weather, time of day, food sources, and habitat.
The next steps in this project include raising funds to buy more transmitters, working with graduate students on studies involving modeling and genetics, continuing to increase the sample size by trapping more eagles, and developing models to report to appropriate political and management agencies.
To learn more about Todd Katzner's important and very timely work, go to the website of the National Aviary and click on Conservation & Field Research.
Submitted by Pat and Sherron Lynch
Co-secretaries of Three Rivers Birding Club
