3RBC
Membership Meeting
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Learn About Falconry From Jeff Finch
The ancient art of falconry will be featured at our meeting on Wednesday, April 1, at the Phipps Garden Center, 1059 Shady Avenue in Shadyside. Doors open at 6:30 PM for socializing, the business meeting begins at 7:30, and the program starts at 8.
Our speaker will be Master Falconer Jeff Finch, a high school principal, who is president of the North American Falconers Association and a member of the Pennsylvania Falconry and Hawk Trust (PFHT). He has used Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrels, Northern Goshawks, Cooper's Hawks, and Harris's Hawks
Jeff describes his growing interest in the sport: "One of my earliest memories of grade school was when a local falconer brought to our elementary school several raptors for an assembly. Over the years I found a few books on falconry, but I never realized the fact that the sport was active/available and highly regulated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Pennsylvania Game Commission. While teaching in the Seneca Valley School District in Butler County, I met a local falconer's apprentice and through that connection I met several Western Pennsylvania falconers."
Currently, he hunts with a hen Goshawk, a male (tiercel) Goshawk, and a male American Kestrel. His wife, Rebecca, is a biology teacher. She and his sons, Sam (9) and Eric (7), all enjoy spending time in the field with him and the hawks. "Our hunting does not involve any type of firearm, and the hawks fly free while in pursuit of wild quarry. All game that is taken by the hawks is used for feeding them throughout the year," Jeff says.
Information about the state organization is available at www.pfht.org. The Pennsylvania Game Commission has a web page dedicated to falconry at www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc.
If you're bringing anything to eat or drink to one of our meetings, please note that Phipps Garden Center, the location of our membership meetings, now prohibits the use of most plastic and paper plates, napkins, water bottles, cups, and utensils (knives, forks and spoons) etc. They are "going green." They said they are requiring that only "eco-friendly paper products" be used at the facility. "The use of water bottles, paper and plastics is not permitted." The materials they list are fully biodegradable. For the time being, if you bring anything, please put it in a reusable container/serving plate, that you can take home.
The Garden Center is at 1059 Shady Avenue behind the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts at Fifth and Shady Avenues. Parking is 25 cents an hour in a metered lot, and more parking is available on Shady Avenue. In addition, Beechwood Boulevard, a block east of Shady, has free parking and is a short walk through Mellon Park to the Garden Center. Detailed directions are on the Phipps website: http://www.phipps.conservatory.org/directions.htm.
