Next 3RBC Membership Meeting
SADLY WE MUST CANCEL OUR MEMBERSHIP MEETING
FOR JUNE 3, 2020
The leadership team of the Three Rivers Birding Club has been monitoring developments regarding the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and its potential impact on club operations. Public health officials whom we trust tell us that the overriding threat that we face now is the spread of the disease due to direct person-to-person contact. Social distancing has been working to lower the spread of the virus here in western Pennsylvania. It is not time to let up in this effort to limit passing the virus to others. Therefore, out of an abundance of caution, we are canceling our June 3, 2020 membership meeting.
Upcoming outings in May and June also have been cancelled.
We do not take these steps lightly. All of us shrink at the thought of cancelling a meeting or an outing we love, but scientific experts whom we trust advise that we do so. We hope to continue our regular meeting schedule with our August 5, 2020 meeting with Dr. Bruce Beehler and will continue to monitor the advice of trusted public health officials and follow public health guidance edicts as they are issued.
Please visit the Pennsylvania Department of Health's website for the latest news (www.health.pa.gov).
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ALL OF OUR SPRING BIRD OUTINGS HAVE NOW BEEN CANCELLED!!
Hopefully we can reschedule the picnic to a date in September 2020.
We thank you for your understanding of these cancellations as our nation deals with the world-wide pandemic.
IF YOU MISSED TESSA RHINEHART'S PROGRAM
ON APRIL 8, 2020, YOU CAN STILL SEE IT!
TESSA RHINEHART'S PROGRAM
IS AVAILABLE ON ABA LIVE
We missed Tessa Rhinehart's presentation "Eavesdropping on Birds" due to the cancellation of our April 1st meeting, but we can still view her presentation on ABA Live. Go to the site at https://www.aba.org/live/ to view her program about new technology to catch and record bird calls and identify, locate, and census bird populations.
Please be aware the program does not seem to start until the 4:15 minute mark.
There are also other programs which you can view: "The Sorry State of State Birds" by Nick Lund, "Healthy at Home, Birding" by Jody Allair, and "Nests and Eggs 101" by Robyn Bailey. Look for more ABA Virtual Bird Club videos in the future.
Thanks go to the ABA for their innovative Virtual Bird Club created to present Tessa's and other speakers' programs in this time of social distancing.
Future Programs:
- August 5, 2020 — Dr. Bruce Beehler will present North on the Wing his book on songbird migration
- October 7, 2020 — Frank Izaguirre will present "Field Guides and Environmental Thought"
- December 9, 2020 — Annual Slide-slam Program NOTE: This is the second Wednesday of December.
What's New? (5/20/2020)
THE MAY/JUNE 2020 EDITION OF THE PEREGRINE IS NOW AVAILABLE!
The May/June 2020 issue of The Peregrine is online.
Also, see additional photos for Tom Moeller's 'Observations' column on Hiding in Plain Sight (PDF).
As an extra, the full-length version of Bob Mulvihill's tribute to the late Bob Leberman can be found here: Leberman.
MINUTES FROM OUR FEBRUARY 2020 MEETING ARE AVAILABLE!
Please read the Membership Meeting Minutes from February 5, 2020, with speaker Brian Shema.
2019 WAS A BUSY YEAR FOR THE THREE RIVERS BIRDING CLUB!
Steve Thomas has compiled a summary of the club's 2019 activities. Check it out!
Plus, Mike Fialkovich has compiled the 2019 Birds Reported in Allegheny County summary.
BIRD SONG OPERA - A Delightful Diversion for Birders
As an escape from the stress of COVID-19, we wanted to present some 'light opera' performed by birds from around the world titled Bird Song Opera. This is an original video conceived and created by Volker Pannes of www.shakeup.de, a German website. Volker based this 'opera' on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute, which he rearranged and edited for this video.
Take some time to enjoy this video and see how many of the birds in it you can identify. There is a helpful list at the end of all the performers.
View this delightful video on our "Videos" page.
MORE DIVERSIONS AS WE WAIT FOR BETTER DAYS
In addition to the “Bird Song Opera,” we have many videos to enjoy on our “Videos” page. Click “Videos” on the Side Menu to see many interesting bird videos.
Also, on our “Links” page there are 15 ‘Live Wildlife WebCams’ to choose from to entertain you. Most are bird webcams, but there are also wildlife (deer, foxes, elk, squirrels, etc.) cams. Three of the links lead to a variety of webcams to increase your viewing choices. Again, click “Links” in the Side Menu and look under ‘Live Wildlife WebCams.’
Hopefully, you are getting out to enjoy the spring migration (with proper social distancing), but you can also enjoy Nature virtually with our video and webcam selections.
THE VIDEO PAGE HAS MORE NEW TAPES!!
The Shady Avenue screech-owl video has moved to our "VIDEOS" page, and several more videos by members, including the "Burket's Warbler," a "Bird Song Opera", Virginia Rails in Harrison Hills Park, and now a Baltimore Oriole enjoying an orange..
Click on "Videos" in the Side Menu to find the owl and many more videos by members!
THE FIRST BALD EAGLE FOUND IN JAPAN
A Japanese friend of 3RBC member Trini Regaspi sent her an article on a Bald Eagle appearing in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost main island, on January 27, 2020, the FIRST reported Bald Eagle in Japan! Hokkaido has a large population of Steller’s Sea Eagles, but now there is a new species there. We westerners yearn to see Asian birds that may fly east to Alaska or the West Coast and record them as ABA sightings, but this is a North American bird that flew west to Japan, giving Japanese birders a treat.
Close viewing of the photo from Japan shows a near full adult eagle, purportedly a female, with dark feathers on its head and small black tips on its tail. This advanced stage of molt would put the bird’s age as a late four-year or early five-year eagle.
The story is reported in Japanese by The Hokkaido Shimbun Press
BIRDING THE ANDES OF ECUADOR
If you read Sheree Daugherty's two-part President's Message on her trip to the Andes in Ecuador in recent issues of The Peregrine and want more, she has offered up a more detailed account of the tour on the "Trip Reports & Articles" page of our website.
This narrative is the day-by-day journey the birding group made high in the Andes and features many of the birds they were able to see. There were three original paintings of Ecuadorian birds by Sheree accompanying the articles in the newsletter. This expanded version also includes a fourth painting by Sheree of a Violet-tailed Sylph, one of the 40 species of hummingbird the group enjoyed viewing.
Read Sheree's expanded trip report here:Birding the Andes of Ecuador.
NEW PAGE CREATED FOR LOWELL BURKET'S DISCOVERY OF THE THREE SPECIES, TWO GENERA WARBLER!
If you're wondering where photos of the "Burket's Warbler" have gone, you'll have to look on the new webpage created for all the information on that exciting new bird. There are photos, background information, links to articles and interviews, and more. Be sure to read about the new honor received by Dave Toews, the researcher who deciphered the three-species warbler's DNA.
Click on "'Burket's Warbler' News" on the side menu to see this new page.
Bird Species Lists of Recent Outings
View the 18 species seen on the FRICK PARK Dead of Winter Outing III (January 25) on eBird: Frick Park List.
View the 25 species seen on the GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT at SEWICKLEY HEIGHTS BOROUGH PARK outing (February 15) as a PDF: Sewickley Heights GBBC List.
Items to Note!
ABA CODE OF ETHICS
The American Birding Association's Principles of Birding Ethics now has its own page (ABA Code of Ethics) on this website. All birders are reminded to follow these guidelines while birding for the protection of the birds, respect for the environment, and enjoyment of other birders.
Follow us on FACEBOOK!
Be sure to visit our club's Facebook page for up-to-date news on happenings with the club, member photos, or links to other birding sites.
Longer Articles are Still Available
Read Kathleen Siebert's article on her journey to Ecuador Take the "Sun Route" to Enjoy Ecuador's Avian Wealth, and Geoff Malosh's tale of chasing the sun's eclipse A Different Kind of Chase: Not for Birds This Time.
Don't forget David Yeany II's wonderful report by about his adventure pursuing a Kirtland's Warbler in Michigan with friends on a "slow" day at Magee Marsh in May 2018: Kirtland's Warbler.
Plus, the stunning gallery of birds and scenery from Northwest Argentina, which is an adjunct to Claire Staples' article "A Very High Adventure: Birding to 15,000 Feet in Argentina's Andes" [The Peregrine Vol. 18, No. 2, March/April 2019], can still be enjoyed: Northwest Argentina.
The Peregrine "Online-only" Option Remains Available to Members
As we announced at our April 4 meeting, our members may choose NOT to receive a paper copy of our newsletter The Peregrine, in order to reduce clutter, save trees, or protect the environment. If you only want to view our newsletter online, please email Tom Moeller at thosjmoel@gmail.com and ask him to put you on the "online only" list to NO LONGER receive paper copies of The Peregrine.
Our membership rates remain the same with this change. It is your preference whether or not to receive the paper copy of the newsletter.
The List of Birding Checklists
We offer more checklists on our Outings page. There are now nine (9) lists you can download and use as you explore these birding hotspots. Check them out!
PENNSYLVANIA BIRDS — See what you've been missing!
The Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology (PSO) publishes sample article from the current issue of Pennsylvania Birds online. Anyone who does not subscribe or perhaps does not even know about PSO can now actually see a little bit of what they've been missing, and hopefully be encouraged to join PSO!
