Our Next Three Rivers Meeting

Amber Wiewel
Amber Wiewel

WE'LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT
THE 3RD PENNSYLVANIA BIRD ATLAS
AT OUR APRIL 2 MEETING

Our April 2, 2025 meeting will feature Amber Wiewel, the 3rd Pennsylvania Bird Atlas Coordinator, telling us of the five-year program documenting all breeding and wintering species across Pennsylvania. Amber's topic will be "Pennsylvania's 3rd Bird Atlas - Celebrating the First Year!" She will give a short, general intro to the Atlas including the very basics of participating, and then spend the rest of the time recapping the first year (Breeding and Winter).

Amber was selected as Coordinator in July 2023. She has more than 15 years' experience in avian and wildlife conservation, having directed wildlife monitoring throughout the Northeast through various positions with Penn State University and USGS. Launched on January 1, 2024, the 3rd Pennsylvania Bird Atlas provides important data that helps prioritize conservation needs and protect birds. The project is supported by the PA Game Commission (PGC), headquartered at Hawk Mountain, and driven by the Cornell Lab's powerful eBird online tools.

A handy volunteer handbook, Quick Start Guide, and detailed instructions on how to use the eBird app for this citizen science project, are all available using the links above or this link: https://ebird.org/atlaspa/home.

Amber grew up in Missouri where she fell in love with birds in the Ozarks. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri and studied birds and other wildlife in Missouri, California, Puerto Rico, and west Africa before earning a master's degree from Iowa State University. She worked as a wildlife biologist for the US Geological Survey in Maryland and Pennsylvania before taking on the role of Pennsylvania Bird Atlas Coordinator.

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This will be a hybrid meeting starting "live" in Beechwood Farms at 6:30 PM (ET) and a Zoom presentation starting at 7:00 PM (ET) giving you time to log on. The business meeting will begin at 7:30 PM, and Amber's program will start around 8:00 PM. Details on how to join the Zoom event, including passcodes and other instructions, will be supplied a few days before the meeting.

FUTURE PROGRAMS:

  • June 4, 2025: KENN KAUFMAN - TBA
  • August 6, 2025 TOM KUEHL - Birding Across Africa

Last Updated on 2/15/2025

Items of Interest


   VIEW THE JANUARY/FERUARY 2025 EDITION OF OUR NEWSLETTER -- THE PEREGRINE Peregrine Falcon

The January/February edition of The Peregrine (in full color) is avaiable here: January/February 2025.
See also Tom Moeller's photo gallery to accompany his "Observations" column:
Barnegat Lighthouse.


   THE WRITTEN MINUTES AND THE VIDEO OF OUR FEBRUARY 5, 2025 MEMBERSHIP MEETING ARE BOTH NOW AVAILABLE!

Scott Weidensaul

Because Scott Weidensaul has requested we only keep the video of the February meeting on our website for a short time, we are making it available now. Written Meeting Minutes can be accessed
here: February Minutes .

You can find the Scott Weidensaul meeting until the end of February here: February 2025 Meeting




   LATE WINTER AND EARLY SPRING OUTINGS START ON FEB 21!! Birding Group

Our outings continue in February with a special beginners/less experienced birders outing at Sewickley Heights Borough Park on February 21, 2025. There are three outings in March — one to the Pymatuning Area and two Woodcock Walks. See details on our Outings page.


   BIRD FLU HAS CLOSED MANY PARTS OF MIDDLE CREEK WMA!

Middle Creek WMA

Tom Moeller's "Observations" column in the January/February 2025 edition of The Peregrine highlighted winter birding at Barnegat Lighthouse in New Jersey and at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in eastern Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, effective on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, many trails, parking areas, and the lake have been closed at Middle Creek due to avian flu.

For further information, go to Snow Goose and Waterfowl Migration Update


   A NEW ERA FOR THREE RIVERS BIRDING CLUB IS SPELLED OUT
Book of Bylaws

As you should know by now, the Three Rivers Birding Club has formed into a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation governed by a nine-member Board of Directors. Our organization has an official set of Bylaws, which spell out many details of the make-up of the "new" club, including the responsibilities of the Board of Directors, choosing of officers and their terms and duties, financial reporting to the IRS, standing committees, an annual election meeting, voting procedures, and so on. The members can read these Bylaws by following the link found at the top of each page of this website: Three Rivers Bylaws



   2024 WAS A PRODUCTIVE YEAR AS WE BECAME A NON-PROFIT CORPORATION

Our 2024 activities included our usual winter, spring, and fall outings, and membership meetings continued as hybrid in-person/Zoom formats, except in the winter months. Steve Thomas was able to compile the six meetings we had, the full sets of spring and fall migration outings, and other events in our full 2024 calendar. See the year's history as a PDF here: 2024 Events.


Longer Articles Highlighted in THE PEREGRINE

Longer articles and a photo gallery that members contributed to The Peregine have been assembled in this compilation. We hope you enjoy them again:

Oscar Miller's recent article "Blue Grosbeaks in Southwestern Pennsylvania," referred to in the September/October 2024 edition of The Peregrine, has moved from this Main page to its own page: Blue Grosbeaks.

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.

Tom Moeller had a two-part article in subsequent editions issues of The Peregrine during 2020 on Cedar Waxwings. Here are the two parts as one: Here's the Background on a Backyard Beauty.

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

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.

David Yeany II 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.

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

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

Other Important Items


FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK!

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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 articles and sites.



WE'RE ON INSTAGRAM TOO!

Instagram Icon

Our social media presence has expanded. Thanks to member, Malcolm Kurtz, we now have a site on Instagram. You can check for developments on our website 3rbc.org, upload photos, or comment on bird sightings, photos, or outings. Check out our Instagram site here: https://www.instagram.com/3rbcpgh/.


"BIRD WATCHER'S DIGEST" BRINGS BIRDING NEWS AS "BWD"

BWD Eagle

Bird Watcher's Digest, the birding magazine that suddenly closed in December 2021, resumed publication with its July/August 2022 edition under its new title BWD.
Two new publishers, Rich Luhr and Mike Sacopulos, have taken on the task of resurrecting BWD. Many of the magazine's former staff have returned to revamp the style and size of the publication. A welcome return of a vital birding publication.

For more information on the magazine, visit the BWD website here: BWD.

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

PSO Pileated 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.


Bird Group

Image Gallery

Mission of 3RBC

To gather in friendship, to enjoy the wonders of nature, and to share our passion for birds!

© Photo Credits:
Sherron Lynch, Tom Moeller, Brian Shema, and Chuck Tague