Three Rivers Birding Club Southwestern Pennsylvania

Our Next Three Rivers Meeting

We will reimagine our connection to birds at our February 2 meeting as Bridget Butler presents her talk "Slow Birding."

Bridget Butler, aka The Bird Diva, has been working in conservation and environmental education for more than 20 years. As the Bird Diva, she feels that birding is for anyone who enjoys and is curious about birds - if you take delight in noticing birds, you are a birder. Her Slow Birding work has been featured on numerous podcasts including the American Birding Podcast, Ray Brown's Talkin' Birds Podcast, and the South Africa podcast The Birding Life.

Bridget has worked for the Audubon Society in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts and helped to create Audubon Vermont's Forest Bird Initiative. Bridget lives in St. Albans, Vermont with her husband and three young children.

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This will again be a Zoom meeting online starting at 7:00 PM ET, giving you access time to log on. Details on how to join the event, including Zoom passcodes and other instructions, will be supplied to members a few days before the meeting.

The business meeting will begin at 7:30 PM, and Bridget Butler's program will begin approximately at 8:00 PM ET, but be aware that the business meeting may not last 30 minutes, and the program may begin before 8:00.

FUTURE PRORGRAMS:

• April 6, 2022: Holly Merker - "Ornitherapy: For Your Mind, Body, and Soul"
• June 1, 2022: Katie Fallon - "Saving the Cerulean Warbler"

Last Updated on 12/4/2021

Items of Interest

   VIEW THE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER EDITION OF OUR NEWSLETTER -- THE PEREGRINE

The NOVEMBER/DECEMBER Edition of The Peregrine (in full color) is avaiable here: November/December 2021. See also Tom Moeller's photo gallery to accompany his "Observations" column: Cliff Swallows. You can also view a video of Cliff Swallows gathering mud for their nests here: Swallows Gathering Mud.

   BOTH THE WRITTEN MINUTES AND THE VIDEO RECORDING OF OUR OCTOBER 6, 2021 MEETING ARE AVAILABLE

Read the Meeting Minutes for our October 6, 2021 gathering featuring Jean Iron's presentation "The Nature of Arctic Birds" here: October 6, 2021 Minutes.
The video for this meeting is on our Past Zoom Meetings page.

AREA CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS WILL BE HELD
IN DECEMBER 2021 AND JANUARY 2022

Saturday, January 1, 2022 - Pittsburgh Christmas Bird Counts

The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania hosts the Pittsburgh Christmas Bird Count (CBC) annually. This year it will held on Saturday, January 1. If you know where you would like to participate, please contact one of the area leaders listed below for instructions on where to meet, or if you prefer to watch your bird feeders, let the leader know of your participation, and he/she can send you the appropriate materials. Participation is free, and experience is not necessary. Social distancing guidelines will be followed for the count.

• Fox Chapel - Brian Shema, 412-963-6100; bshema@aswp.org
• Franklin Park- Stacey Widenhofer, 412-741-7536; stacey.fhnc@gmail.com
• Hampton Twp. - Brady Porter, 412-337-7397; porterb@duq.edu
• Indiana Twp. - Steve Gosser, 412-855-5220; smgosser@verizon.net
• Kilbuck Twp. and Ohio Twp. - Paul Brown, 412-963-1979; pmbrown1944@gmail.com
• North Park - Meg Scanlon, 724-935-2170; latodami@yahoo.com
• Oakmont and Harmar Twp. - David Yeany II, 814-221-4361; dyeany@paconserve.org
• O'Hara Twp. - Steve Thomas, 412-782-4696; thomassj22@verizon.net
• Penn Hills and Verona - Mike Smith, 412-526-8360; skeetor72@yahoo.com
• Frick and Highland Parks - Brian Shema, 412-963-6100; bshema@aswp.org
• City of Pittsburgh - Mike Fialkovich, 412-731-3581; mpfial@verizon.net
• Ross and McCandless Twps. - Bob Machesney, 412-366-7869; remach@aol.com

If you are interested in keeping a bird feeder watch for the CBC, Audubon has an interactive map of all the CBC circles in North, Central, and into South America at CBC Circles.
Type in the area you want at the top of the page to locate your circle, i.e. Pittsburgh. Expand or contract the map to reveal details of the area, and see if your location is within the circle for Pittsburgh or whichever local area you choose.
Thanks for supporting the 122nd Christmas Bird Count.

Check the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania Christmas Bird Count near the count date in case an area leader changes.

Other Christmas Bird Counts in Western Pennsylvania include the following:

Tuesday, December 14, 2021
• Imperial (Allegheny and Washington Counties) - Bob Mulvihill, 412-522-5729; robert.mulvihill@aviary.org

Saturday, December 18, 2021
•: Butler (Butler, Lawrence, and Mercer Counties) - Chris Kubiak, 412-963-6100; ckubiak@aswp.org
• South Hills - Nancy Page, 412-221-4795; nanpaul@verizon.net or Gigi Gerber, 412-973-9760, kasgerb@yahoo.com
• Buffalo Creek Valley (Butler & Armstrong Counties) - George Reese, 724-353-9649; g.reese@gaiconsultants.com
• Washington County - Tom Contreras, 724-223-6118, tcontreras@washjeff.edu

Sunday, December 19, 2021
• Buffalo Creek (Washington County) - Larry Helgerman, bobolink1989@gmail.com

Monday, December 27, 2021
• Indiana County - Roger and Margaret Higbee, 724-354-3493; bcoriole@windstream.net

Sunday, January 2, 2022
• South Butler (Allegheny and Butler Counties) - Chris Kubiak, 412-963-6100; ckubiak@aswp.org
• Ohiopyle (Fayette and Somerset Counties) - Matt Juskowich, 412-831-0898; jusko88@yahoo.com

With the Covid-19 situation, please be sure to check with the compiler to ascertain whether your count is still scheduled or whether it has been canceled.

A list of all Pennsylvania CBC dates and contacts is available in the December 2021 issue of the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology newsletter, the PSO Pileated (PDF).

   PLAN AHEAD FOR OUR WINTER BIRDING OUTINGS

With COVID limitations easing somewhat, it has been decided to resume our most popular activity of bird outings, but with restrictions. Winter outings are planned for January and March. We do have a general statement that will be followed for all our outings. Also, the leader may have specific requirements that are stated in the outing description. Please read that statement and the requirements on each outing as you plan your choices. Find all this important information on our Outings page.

   ALLEGHENY BIRD CONSERVATION ALLIANCE (ABCA) NEEDS BIRDERS

ABCA partners - Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH) - are working with Allegheny GoatScape to remove invasive plants, restore native plants, and monitor bird and habitats in the Clayton Hill area of Frick Park. The partners would like to ask birders accessing the area beginning now and through October 2021 to add eBird observations for the restoration areas. PPC will also be placing temporary signs to help delineate separate restoration areas on the trails within the Clayton Hill area. One important component is for observations for each eBird Hotspot to be associated with the corresponding restoration area.

Find more information on the Clayton Hill restoration areas at this website: Allegheny Birds.

Click here for a downloadable map of the four designated areas: Clayton Hill map.

   LONGER ARTICLES ARE STILL AVAILABLE FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE

Here are six longer articles that members have written that were spread out over the Main page but are now in this single compilation. We hope you enjoy them again:

Geoff Malosh pursued a different prize in 2017 - a solar eclipse - in this article A Different Kind of Chase: Not for Birds This Time.

Kathy Siebert traveled to Ecuador in 2017 to find rare birds in Take the "Sun Route" to Enjoy Ecuador's Avian Wealth.

David Yeany, Jr. and his friends took a side trip from Magee Marsh one rainy day in 2018 to find a Kirtland's Warbler in his narrative Saving the Best for Last: A Kirtland's Warbler Adventure.

Frank Izaguirre's adventure in exploring snowy Canada for winter birds in February 2020 was a two-part article in subsequent editions of The Peregrine. Here are the two parts as one: Frigid Canada's Birds Warmed a Pair of Birders.

Tom Moeller also had a two-part article in two issues of The Peregrine on Cedar Waxwings. Again, the two parts appear here as one: Here's the Background on a Backyard Beauty.

Frank Izaguirre wrote an article for the January 2021 edition of Birding magazine. With permission of the magazine and its editor Ted Floyd, we can present a PDF of the article at this link: Celebrating the Stumpbreaker of Squirrel Hill.

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   SPECIES LISTS FROM RECENT OUTINGS BY THE CLUB   
Click the link to see the complete list of 28 species for the Sewickley Heights Borough Park outing on August 27, 2021 as a PDF: Sewickley Heights List 8/27 (PDF).

Click the link to see the complete list of 43 species for the Sewickley Heights Borough Park outing on September 10, 2021 as a PDF: Sewickley Heights List 9/10 (PDF).

Click the link to see the complete list of 33 species for the Frick Park outing from September 12, 2021 on eBird: Frick Park.

Click the link to see the complete list of 39 species for the Deer Lakes Regional Park outing from September 12, 2021 on eBird: Deer Lakes Park.

Other Important Items

WE ACCOMPLISHED SOME THINGS IN 2020 IN SPITE OF COVID RESTRICTIONS

Because of the COVID-19 restrictions, our 2020 activities were limited. Steve Thomas did compile the one live and three Zoom meetings we had, along with a few other items in our agenda. See the year's history here: 2020 Events.
And despite the pandemic, Mike Fialkovich's list of birds observed in Allegheny County outdid the numbers in 2019. See his comprehensive list here: Allegheny County Birds - 2020.

YOU CAN FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK TOO!

Three Rivers has its own Facebook page where the latest birding news from the web, upcoming events, member photos, and more can be found. Here you can also register reactions (Likes, Surpises, Loves, etc.) to the stories presented. Find our Facebook page here: 3RBC FB.

THE AMERICAN BIRDING ASSOCIATION OFFERS EXCELLENT RESOURCES FOR BIRDERS

The American Birding Association (ABA) produces two interesting segments on its website, among many others. One is a video program called ABA Live! hosted by Nate Swick and the other is an ongoing series of essays by Ted Floyd called How to Know the Birds.

ABA Live! began presenting their "Virtual Bird Club" in March 2020 as the pandemic set in across the country and live meetings were discontinued. Various speakers gave virtual lectures on a range of topics. Interspersed with the "Virtual Bird Club" were programs asking the question "What's This Bird?", a live presentation taking questions on bird ID. The "Virtual Bird Club" has faded away, but "What's This Bird?" continues about every two weeks. You can find recordings of past programs at the ABA site here: ABA Live!

Birding magazine editor and 3RBC member Ted Floyd has written over 60 entertaining and informative essays for How to Know the Birds. The friendly essays are a celebration of the art, science, and delights of birding. These are different essays than found in his recent book with the same title. You can find all of his ABA essays here: How to Know the Birds.

The Home page for the ABA website is www.aba.org and the ABA has various Facebook pages, including ABA Birds and Birding and American Birding Association (ABA) Discussion Group.

PSO's PENNSYLVANIA BIRDS MAGAZINE: SEE WHAT YOU'VE BEEN MISSING

The Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology (PSO) publishes previews of the current issue of Pennsylvania Birds online, which consist of the cover, table of contents, and a featured article. Now anyone who does not subscribe or perhaps does not even know about PSO can actually see a little bit of what they've been missing, and hopefully be encouraged to join PSO! Click on the following link for an example of an article from the latest edition of Pennsylvania Birds: sample article.

Pennsylvania Birds is an all-volunteer effort, created and maintained by a group of Pennsylvania's most dedicated birders, but it is not an exclusive club. Anyone may contribute, whether a member of PSO or not, any original work related to birds or birding in Pennsylvania. If you have photos, article ideas, letters to the editor... as long as it is original work and related to birds or birding in Pennsylvania.

Consider joining PSO if you haven't already. They especially encourage the "beginners" out there, those of you who are just starting to discover the wonderful hobby of birding. In addition to being relatively inexpensive, membership buys you a year's subscription to Pennsylvania Birds and The Pileated, the PSO newsletter.

Find the Home page of the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology here: PSO.