Our Next Three Rivers Meeting
TAKE A SAFARI TRIP
TO SOUTHERN AFRICA
ON AUGUST 6!
Take a Safari Trip to Southern Africa with Tom and Janet Kuehl, who were on the September 2019 Rockjumpers Birding Tour trip through the Southern African nations of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. Tom will present a photographic tour through the arid savanna, dry highlands, and coastal deserts of Namibia, the seasonal wetlands of Botswana, and end at one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World - Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.
This is an African safari, so expect to see not just the many birds photographed on the tour, but also floral and fauna, and some of the culture of the areas visited.
Tom and his wife Janet became avid birders in the late 1990s and are hawk watchers and prolific participants in citizen science projects - Christmas Bird Counts, Winter Raptor Surveys, and in the current Third Pennsylvania Birding Atlas.
This will be a hybrid meeting starting at 6:30 PM (ET) in-person at Beechwood Farms auditorium [614 Dorseyville Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15238] and a Zoom meeting at 7:00 PM (ET) for those who cannot attend. The business meeting will begin at 7:30 PM, and Tom's presentation will start around 8:00 PM. Details on how to join the online event, including Zoom passcodes and other instructions, will be supplied a few days before the meeting.
FUTURE PROGRAMS:
- October 8, 2025 BOB MULVIHILL - TBA
- December 3, 2025 - ANNUAL SLIDE-SLAM (Zoom Only)
Last Updated on 6/15/2025
Items of Interest
VIEW THE MAY/JUNE 2025 EDITION OF OUR NEWSLETTER -- THE PEREGRINE
Items of Interest
VIEW THE MAY/JUNE 2025 EDITION OF OUR NEWSLETTER -- THE PEREGRINE
The May/June edition of The Peregrine (in full color) is avaiable here: May/June 2025.
See also Tom Moeller's photo gallery to accompany his "Observations" column:
European Starlings.
THE VIDEO OF OUR JUNE 4, 2025 MEETING WITH KENN KAUFMAN IS AVAILABLE!
At Kenn Kaufman's request, we are only allowed to show this video of our June 4th meeting for the month of June 2025. If you missed the program or you know someone who missed it, you all only have this month to view this video.
The video for the June meeting is on our Past Zoom Meetings page.
OUTINGS CONTINUE IN JUNE WITH ONLY ONE MORE!!
Our outings move into summer with one more scheduled trip in June. It is our annual summer outing wuth Mike Fialkovich on June 21st.
See details on our Outings page.
VISIT A SPECIAL EVENT ON PURPLE MARTINS AT HARRISON HILLS PARK
Discover the magic of Purple Martins by joining the Friends of Harrison Hills Park for a special presentation by birding expert Ken Kostka on Sunday, June 15 at 1:00 PM at the Environmental Learning Center. RSVP to: friendsofharrisonhills@gmail.com
Want a sneak peek? Learn more about these fascinating birds on their blog: Birding in Harrison Hills.
A NEW PYMATUNING WILDLIFE LEARNING CENTER IS BEING BUILT
Many of us can remember gathering at the Pymatuning Wildlife Learning Center with Bob VanNewkirk for a day of birding in the area. We could see Bald Eagles, Sandhill Cranes, and all kind of passerines and waterfowl from the front of the building. That 75-year-old building was torn down in 2014, having become too expensive to maintain.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission broke ground on a new Pymatuning Wildlife Learning Center on May 19, 2025. Participants were Game Commission Northwest Region Director Jesse Bish, Game Commission Executive Director Stephen Smith, retired Pymatuning Wildlife Learning Center manager Terry McClelland, and state lawmakers Sen. Michele Brooks, R-50, and Rep. Brad Roae, R-6.
The new learning center will be much bigger, more modern, and more user-friendly than the old building. There will be many informative and interactive displays with a life-sized Bald Eagle's nest on permanent display. The project will cost $8.8 million. Completion date will be in 2026 with a grand opening in early 2027.
THE ELECTION OF A NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR 3RBC IS COMING!
As a non-profit Three Rivers Birding Club has a Board of Directors consisting of nine members. The terms of all nine end this year on December 31. At our October meeting we must elect a new board to serve the club. The new board will choose the officers for the club.
Get involved in running the club! Members of the club can nominate someone or themselves to serve on the board. Nominations are taken by the Nominating Committee from June 1 through September 1. To qualify, nominees must be at least 18 and members in good standing for at least one year.
Dave Brooke, Chair of the Nominating Committee, is accepting nominations — email him at davbrooke@gmail.com.
All of us have a stake in making 3RBC the best bird club it can be!
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.
Other Important Items
A NEW ERA FOR THREE RIVERS BIRDING CLUB IS SPELLED OUT
As you 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
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 articles and sites.
WE'RE ON INSTAGRAM TOO!
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"
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
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.
