Three Rivers Birding Club

Three Rivers Birding Club Outings

Throughout the year, we have many outings to locations in Western Pennsylvania and beyond. For a more comprehensive calendar of birding and other Western Pennsylvania natural history outings and outdoor activities of other groups, see the links at the bottom of this page under the heading of "Events Calendars".

If you are birding one of the areas listed below, download a PDF copy of the birding checklist provided and take it with you:

Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania — Beechwood Farms Bird Checklist
Cook Forest — Cook Forest Bird Checklist
Erie County, Pennsylvania — Erie County PA Bird Checklist
Frick Park — Checklist of Birds in Frick Park
Harrison Hills Park — Harrison Hills Park Bird Checklist
Oil Creek State Park — Oil Creek State Park Bird Checklist
Shenango Reservoir — Shenango Bird Checklist
Westmoreland County — Westmoreland County Bird Checklist
Yellow Creek State Park — Yellow Creek State Park Bird Checklist

Outings are free and open to the public. In the event of inclement weather, contact the leader in advance to confirm whether the outing is on or canceled. Also, contact the leader with any questions about weather, driving directions, or trail conditions.

In the event of a late cancellation of or a change to any of our outings, please check the Three Rivers Birding Club Facebook page or the "What's New?" section of the Home page of this website for the latest information on outings, cancellations, and other events that could not make our newsletter's deadline.

3RBC Current Outings -- April 2020

ALL APRIL BIRD OUTINGS HAVE NOW BEEN CANCELLED!!

In an abundance of caution over spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) all of our bird outings in April have now been cancelled. Todd Bird Club cancelled all their Saturday bird outings in April, including the joint outing with 3RBC on Saturday, April 4, 2020. The leadership team of Three Rivers has decided to extend the cancellations to include the two Woodcock Walks led by Tommy Byrnes on April 8 and 15, 2020, the outing to Moraine State Park led by Michael David on April 11, 2020, the joint outing at Raccoon Creek State Park with Brooks Bird Club on April 18, 2020, the Sewickley Heights Borough Park outing with Sheree Daugherty on April 24, 2020, the outing in Frick Park led by Susie Solomon on April 25, 2020, and the April 26, 2020 outing to Glade Run Lake Park led by Dave Brooke.

We will be watching developments and the recommendations and advice of trusted public health officials as to what actions we may take in the future.

Keep referring to this website and our Facebook page as to events in the coming months.

Again, we thank you for your understanding of these cancellations as our nation deals with the world-wide pandemic.

The following May and June outings are subject to change or cancellation
depending on the advice of trusted public health officials.

3RBC Current Outings -- May 2020

Friday, May 1, 2020 — Sewickley Heights Borough Park

In collaboration with the Fern Hollow Nature Center, Bob VanNewkirk (412-366-1694 or email at van126@comcast.net) will lead this bird walk at Sewickley Heights Borough Park. The walks begin at 8:00 AM starting from the upper parking lot.
Birders should be prepared for muddy trails. Bring a lunch or snacks and water if you wish to continue birding into the afternoon at selected places along Little Sewickley Creek Road. Louisiana Waterthrush, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Warbling Vireo nest in the area.
Directions to the park can be found on the 3RBC Birding Locations page.

Saturday, May 2, 2020 — Harrison Hills Park

Meet leader Jim Valimont (412-828-5338) at 8:00 AM at this county park off Freeport Road between Natrona Heights and Freeport. As you enter the park, bear right and proceed to the parking lot at the end of the road. The Rachel Carson parking lot is near the pond. Dress for wet grass and mud. Previous spring outings have produced a nice variety of warblers, Philadelphia and Yellow-throated Vireos, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and Scarlet Tanagers.

See our 3RBC Birding Locations page for directions to the park.

Sunday, May 17, 2020 — State Game Lands 95 - Glade Dam Lake

Linda Croskey (lcroskey@consolidated.net; cell 724-612-9963) will lead us to new club location State Game Lands 95 - Glade Dam Lake in Butler County. Meet at 8:00 AM at Moniteau High School, 1810 W Sunbury Rd , West Sunbury, PA 16061 (Google coordinates: 41.0587556,-79.897439). Directions to Moniteau High School are: Travel PA-8 North through Butler to PA-308 (aka W Sunbury Rd), then follow PA-308 for about 12 miles and the School will be on your right.
"The Glades" consists of several large ponds, deciduous and early successional forests, hemlock stands, marsh and stream areas. Migrating warblers, waterfowl, Virginia Rail, Sora, Eastern Screech-Owl are all possible. There are over 9,000 acres to explore. Dress for ticks, pack a snack or lunch and bring plenty of water for this new adventure! A spotting scope would be useful.
Optional for early Birders who want to try for Eastern Whip-poor-wills, we will meet at 5:00 AM at the High School and drive to a part of the State Game Lands 95 near Hilliards for the Whip-poor-wills. Please RSVP Linda at lcroskey@consolidated.net if you are interested in attending this early option.

3RBC Current Outings -- June 2020

Sunday, June 14, 2020 — ANNUAL PICNIC at Harrison Hills

Mark your calendar for the annual 3RBC bird walk and picnic. This year's picnic will be at the Yakaon Shelter near the Environmental Learning Center in Harrison Hills Park off Freeport Road between Natrona Heights and Freeport. We will meet for the birding walk at 8:00 AM at the Rachel Carson parking lot near the pond. As you enter the park, bear right and proceed to the parking lot at the end of the road near the pond.
After the morning outing, we will have a pot-luck lunch at the Yakaon Shelter. Please bring your own beverages and a dish to share that will serve 6-8 people. Disposable plates and cutlery will be provided, but please consider bringing your own re-usable environmentally friendly picnic plates. Every little bit helps!

Saturday June 27, 2020 — Kooser State Park

This year's Laurel Mountains area outing will be to Kooser State Park. Meet leader Mike Fialkovich at the Dairy Queen off the Donegal Exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike at 7:30 am. Take the Pennsylvania Turnpike East to Exit 91 Donegal. After passing through the toll booths, turn left onto RT. 31 East and the Dairy Queen will be a short distance on the left. We will drive to the park from there. It's about 8 miles east from Donegal on RT. 31, so there are no turns. Allow about 45 minutes driving time from Monroeville.
Kooser is a little known state park and a new site for the club to explore. It's a small 250 acre park and most walking will be on the park road. We can decide if we want to walk a trail while we are there. This will give us plenty of time to bird at leisure. If we cover the park quickly and there is interest we can either visit nearby Laurel Mountain State Park or head back towards Donegal and stop at Hunter's Lane (where Mike led an outing last year) or Donegal Lake, which is a lake again now that the dam has been repaired. Expect high elevation forest breeding birds such as warblers, Scarlet Tanagers, vireos and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.