Three Rivers Birding Club
Bi-monthly Membership Meeting
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
6:30 - 9:45 PM
Phipps Garden Center, Shady Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA
Sixty members and newcomers gathered for a social hour to discuss local bird sightings and recent and future birding trips, to share gently used birding and nature magazines and books, and to sample the plentiful refreshments.
President Jim Valimont called the meeting to order at 7:30, made the introductory announcements, recognized three first timers, and thanked members for generously providing refreshments, freebies, and door prizes.
Vice President Bob VanNewkirk conducted the business meeting.
* Paul Hess, Newsletter Editor, gave an update concerning the November/December issue.
* Jack Solomon told the audience about the article he had written for the recent PSO newsletter (see www.pabirds.org) describing Paul Hess’s many accomplishments in the world of birding. He also suggested reading the list of articles written and/or edited by Paul available on the 3RBC website at www.3rbc.org. In case you hadn’t appreciated all that Paul has done, you soon will.
* In the absence of Ian and Margaret Haigh, Paul Hess announced that Dr. Robert Fleischer from the Smithsonian Institution would discuss avian genetics in a program titled “Who’s Your Daddy?” at the next 3RBC meeting on Wednesday, December 8.
* Steve Thomas, Outings Director, listed October and November outings to Boyce-Mayview, Pymatuning, the annual picnic at Moraine, Yellow Creek Park, and another outing to Moraine. The Christmas Bird Count will be held on January 1 since it happens to be the Saturday after Christmas this year. Check The Peregrine or www.3rbc.org. for details.
* Sue Solomon presided over the drawing of the door prizes. Generous members donated books and photographer Bob Greene donated bird photos.
Mike Fialkovich, Bird Reports Editor, listed many birds, especially fall migrants, which have been sighted around the Pittsburgh area such as: Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers; Dark-eyed Juncos; White-throated, Lincoln’s, and White crowned Sparrows; Purple Finches; Philadelphia Vireos; many thrushes; and 31 species of warblers. Other interesting species included American Bittern, Baird’s Sandpiper, Red-headed Woodpecker, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and Merlin. American Robin roosts and large numbers of Chimney Swifts and Common Nighthawks were mentioned.
Paul Hess introduced Dr. Jeffery Larkin from Indiana University of Pennsylvania who planned to share his research about Golden-winged Warblers. Only Paul and a few other members of the audience have actually seen Golden-winged Warblers in Allegheny County where they used to breed. Dr. Larkin’s credentials include degrees in biology, forestry, and animal sciences; his research covers such a wide range of fauna that Paul called Dr. Larkin “a true naturalist,” the Leonardo da Vinci of natural sciences in the Eastern United States.
Dr. Larkin began his informative and fascinating program by discussing some of his research with species that have low populations. One of his most interesting stories involved birding in Colombia with armed guards who sometimes set their weapons aside to look at the birds through his binoculars. Photographs of children dressed in papier-mâché Golden-winged Warbler costumes emphasize the importance of ecotourism dollars with the birds in their South American wintering grounds. Dr. Larkin participates in the Golden-winged Warbler Working Group that promotes research and conservation of the warbler.
The Golden-Winged Warbler (GWWA) has experienced a severe population decline throughout much of its range. Dr. Larkin utilized block data maps from the 1984-88 and the 2004-08 Breeding Birding Atlases in Pennsylvania to illustrate this fact. Competition and hybridization with Blue-winged Warblers (BWWA), nest parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds, and habitat loss are key reasons for this population decrease. The interbreeding with the BWWA is so pervasive that the only remaining pure group of GWWAs is in Manitoba.
Traditionally, fires, beaver activity, storms, and other natural occurrences created suitable scrub habitat with the essential forest edges. Habitat management is now necessary for the warbler’s maintenance and recovery. Dr. Larkin and his students currently monitor developments in two diverse areas only 18 miles apart—Bald Eagle State Forest with fragmented areas and the more heavily forested Sproul State Park. Their research will help determine what is the most suitable habitat for the GWWAs and how to accommodate other species. The discovery of a new GWWA population in Sproul SP following a forest fire perhaps will lead to the designation of the park as a global IBA. Methodology includes banding GWWAs, photographing wings, analyzing blood samples for hybridization, and the territorial mapping of individual birds.
Early successional forests, “think patchy,” with blackberry bushes provide good habitat for the warblers. Dr. Larkin believes that creating commercial forests on abandoned strip mine sites and reclaiming old gas well areas will help the GWWA. Eventually Marcellus Shale well sites might also be useful for the birds. Dr. Larkin states that Pennsylvania has been excellent in providing both funds and large tracts of land for his research. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, in particular, has been very cooperative. He also thanked other agencies and organizations for their support.
During the question and answer session, one particularly poignant query came from a child in the audience. He asked, “How can we help?” Dr. Larkin, ever the educator, came up with a simple and age-appropriate response. He suggested that the child could tell his friends in school what he learned about the Golden-winged Warbler. He could describe the bird and tell how cool it was to see it and how impressive it is that the bird can fly 3000 miles over the Gulf of Mexico from Colombia. He could get other young people interested in birds. This clever response went well with an earlier observation that Dr. Larkin made: “The most endangered species is kids who are interested in or at least not afraid to interact with nature.”
Submitted by Pat and Sherron Lynch
Co-Secretaries of Three Rivers Birding Club
