Three Rivers Birding Club
Bi-monthly Membership Meeting
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
6:30 - 10:00 PM
Phipps Garden Center, Shady Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA

Forty-eight members and visitors attended during stormy weather with nature’s special lighting and sound effects. People socialized, discussed recent and future birding trips, and nibbled on the refreshments.

President Jim Valimont called the meeting to order, made the introductory announcements, and recognized two first timers. Vice President Bob VanNewkirk ran the business meeting.

Bob recognized several members to make important announcements and reports.

* Sue Solomon enthusiastically reported on the club’s annual trip to Magee Marsh. About half of the audience indicated that they had attended “The Biggest Week in American Birding.” Members described it as an “awe inspiring event,” fantastic,” and “awesome.” Collectively, 3RBC members tallied over 174 bird species. Tropical Birding guides provided valuable assistance in locating the birds. Shortly after the festival, fire destroyed the Tropical Birders’ trailer. Sue warned people to book rooms early for next year’s event.

* Jack Solomon stated that the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology gave Jerry McWilliams a well-deserved Poole Award at its annual meeting. A record number of 160 species were seen by Saturday night and 171 for the weekend at Presque Isle.

* Ian Haigh announced that Geoff Malosh will be the presenter at the next 3RBC meeting on August 11. Paul Hess added that Geoff’s topic will be birding in Alaska.

* Bob listed future outings of June 5 at Oil City State Park with Dick Nugent, June 12 at Hunters Lane near Donegal with Mike Fialkovich, and June 19 at Pymatuning also with Mike. Check the 3RBC website for additional outings.

* Sue presided over the drawing of the door prizes.

* Mike Fialkovich, Bird Reports Editor, declared that a White Pelican was the rarest sighting at Presque Isle during the PSO outings. Connecticut Warblers were also special. In the Three Rivers area, the draining of North Park Lake provided excellent opportunities to view large numbers of shorebirds, such as 77 Solitary Sandpipers. Bald Eagles are nesting in Crescent Township—the first report for Allegheny County. Geoff Malosh photographed two Artic Terns near Dashields Dam—another first for the county. A long list of Spring migrants included Mourning, Connecticut, Canada, Brewster’s, and Orange-crowned Warblers, a Common Loon with a broken bill, Golden Eagle, Red-necked and Wilson’s Phalaropes, 4 additional tern species, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Rusty Blackbirds, and Pine Siskin. Paul Hess added that Ralph Bell’s bird outing just had a record 80 species. Ralph is still climbing the ladder to band kestrels! Mike mentioned that a Dark-eyed Juno was observed carrying food along the Freeport bike trail—a very unusual sighting in our area.

* Paul Hess announced that copies of the book by Ted Floyd and the American Birding Association, Let’s Go Birding, were available after the meeting. They are good for getting adults interested in birding.

Program Director Ian Haigh introduced Dr. Andrew Vitz, Powdermill’s bird banding coordinator, as our guest speaker for the evening. Andrew invited people to visit Powdermill and recommended September for fall migration. He stated that high numbers of Cedar Waxwings, Magnolia and Canada Warblers, and Philadelphia Vireos, as well as two Swainson’s Warblers were banded during spring migration.

After Andrew and his wife, Marja Bakermans, researched Cerulean Warblers on their breeding grounds, they spent parts of three years in the Cerulean’s wintering grounds in the Venezuelan Andes foothills for Marja’s doctoral dissertation. Andrew spoke first on the importance of coffee both economically and environmentally as an understory shrub. It is Latin America’s second largest export. Two-thirds of coffee consumed in the U.S. comes from L.A. There are two types of coffee: Arabica (shade grown) and Robusta (sun grown). The shade grown in plantations (SCPs) maintains forests, involves fewer chemicals, conserves the soil, and allows the highest biodiversity of agroecosystems. The sun grown method leads to deforestation, extensive chemical usage, erosion, and little biodiversity of habitat. This is particularly significant since 60-80% of North American migratory birds winter in L.A. The abundant fruit and flowers of the SCPs attract more migrants than does any other habitat, including natural forest.

The Cerulean Warbler winters in the Andes Mountain foothills. Its population has declined by 70% since 1966, which is the most drastic decline of any warbler in the U.S. Human-caused habitat changes such as deforestation, forest fragmentation, changing to monoculture and pastures, and growing sun instead of shade coffee are some probable factors in the Cerulean’s plight in the Americas. Andrew and Marja studied habitat influence on Cerulean Warblers and other migratory and resident species by netting/banding and by doing line transects in three shade coffee areas and three forest areas. They banded 29 Ceruleans from late November to early February (all from shade coffee sites). Andrew added that 55% to 65% of the Ceruleans returned another season to the same site. Andrew and Marja concluded that SCPs in the Venezuelan Andes provide high quality habitat for the Cerulean Warbler, which improves the birds’ condition and survival rates during the winter. Because of those benefits, Cerulean Warblers occur in SCPs in high densities and with high site-fidelity from year to year.

Andrew stated that further study should examine a broader area, compare elevations, evaluate degrees and diversity of shade areas, etc. On a positive note, the American Bird Conservancy is a partner in the first reserve in South America established for a migrant bird, the Cerulean Warbler, in Colombia. This reserve also protects many other birds. Our speaker added that the average person can help by purchasing coffee labeled as shade grown, fair trade, and/or organic. Andrew then answered questions from the interested audience.

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