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 - September 2019

Sunday, September 8, 2019 — GLADE RUN LAKE PARK

Dave Brooke (724-487-3586) will take us on a return outing to Glade Run Lake Park. Meet at 8:00 AM at the park located at Lake Rd, Valencia, Pa which is a turn off of Route 228. Google maps co-ordinates are 40.716229, -79.901211. We will survey the lake from the dam and boat ramp for waterfowl. Then we will walk a trail that is about one mile out and one mile back. Luckily, the park conservancy has recently installed boardwalks over all of the muddy parts of the trail. It's now a very easy two-mile round trip.

Sunday September 8, 2019 — TOMS RUN NATURE RESERVE

Dave Yeany II (dyeany@paconserve.org/Cell: 814-221-4361) will lead us on an outing to Toms Run Nature Reserve starting at 8AM. We will meet at the parking lot located at Toms Run Rd, Sewickley, PA 15143 (Google Maps)
Toms Run Nature Reserve is a 369 acre property that is protected by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and they are currently creating a new trail system and parking access. We should see variety of migrant passerines at this time of the year.

Thursday, September 12, 2019 — 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 walk begins at 8:00 AM starting from the upper parking lot. Directions to the park can be found on the 3RBC's Birding Locations page. Birders should be prepared for muddy trails. It is also advisable to bring water and a lunch. Besides birding in the park we will drive and make stops along Little Sewickley Creek.
Hope to see you there!

Saturday, September 14, 2019 — NORTH PARK

Meet our leader Steve Denninger (sjdenninger@gmail.com) for a fall bird outing in North Park. We will be meeting at a new location this year at the parking lot on Bucktail Drive off of Hemlock Drive, east past the North Park swimming pool (40.581146, -79.979668). We will start at 7:00 AM and head out at 7:05 AM. We will be walking on both established as well as overgrown potentially muddy trails, so hiking boots would be appropriate. We will walk on the main trail through the North Park Mine Waste Field/Pine Creek area which is an eBird hot spot. The walk would be about 1.5-2.5 hours depending on bird activity. There are no restroom facilities in this area. But they are available in other places in the park.
The North Park map is available here: North Park map (PDF).

Saturday, September 21, 2019 — HARRISON HILL PARK

Meet leader Jim Valimont (412-828-5338) at 8:00 AM at this county park off Freeport Road between Natrona Heights and Freeport. We will be meeting and starting our walk 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. Dress for wet grass and mud. Previous fall outings have produced a nice variety of fall migrants, including warblers and vireos.
Directions to the park can be found on the 3RBC's Birding Locations page.
Hope to see you there!

Sunday, September 22, 2019 — All-day Outing in the PYMATUNING AREA

Meet leader Bob VanNewkirk (412-366-1694 or email at van126@comcast.net) at 8:30 AM in the parking lot of the former site of the Pymatuning Wildlife Learning Center (Waterfowl Museum), 12590 Hartstown Rd Linesville, PA (41.635779, -80.436634) for this all day outing.
Plenty of waterfowl, lots of Bald Eagles, and migrant songbirds should be around for this trip. Dress appropriately for the weather. Arrangements will be made to have lunch at the Scooters by the Lake near the Ohio side of the causeway for those who are interested.

Sunday, September 22, 2019 — FRICK PARK - ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER

Jack and Sue Solomon (412-521-3365) will lead this outing starting at 8:30 AM. We will meet at the Frick Environmental Center located at 2005 Beechwood Blvd in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh.
Frick can be an excellent migrant trap, where we hope to find lots of fall warblers.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019 — NORTH SHORE MORAINE STATE PARK

Meet Karyn Delaney (724-713-9474 for texts and calls) at the McDanel's Boat Launch in front of the Owlet Gift Shop on the North Shore of Moraine State Park at 9:00 am.
We will walk a 2-mile loop of the North Country Trail which has some hills and can have some muddy areas which will take approximately 3 hours. After this walk, we can also walk the Butterfly Trails if there is interest. The Butterfly Trails are flat and dry and take about an hour or so to walk. Both trails can have a variety of migrating species, including warblers. Please bring snacks or lunch and water if you plan to stay for the Butterfly Trails portion of the walk. We will take a break in the pavilion before starting the second portion of the walk.
Note: Rain Date will be Friday September 27. If there is any doubt because of weather, feel free to send a text.

3RBC Current Outings - October 2019

Sunday, October 6, 2019 — M.K. GODDARD STATE PARK and STATE GAME LANDS 270

Linda Croskey (lcroskey@consolidated.net - cell 724-612-9963) will lead us on this outing located in Mercer County.
Meet at 8:30AM at the Lake Wilhelm Marina parking lot, 540 Lake Wilhelm Road, Sandy Lake, PA 16145. There is a sign for the Marina, "Marina, Boat Rental, Bait-Tackle" on the right before the causeway, park in the lot by a tan building (restrooms). Directions to the park are on 3RBC Birding Locations page.
This will be a three habitat walk: Early succession with warm season grasses, wetlands, and mature forest. We will be looking for migrating waterfowl, shorebirds, warblers, sparrows, and others songbirds. Dress for ticks! Spotting scopes might be useful for looking at waterfowl on the lake.
For those interested, we can have lunch at Wilhelm Winery. You may also bring your own snack or sandwich.

Saturday, October 19, 2019 — MORAINE STATE PARK

Meet Michael David (michaeltdavid@gmail.com) at 8:30 AM at the 528 Boat Launch, which is under the Route 528 bridge (Coordinates are 40.95223, -80.04084) for a mid-fall outing to Moraine State Park.
Note: The annual picnic has been moved to June.

3RBC Current Outings - November 2019

Saturday, November 2, 2019 — YELLOW CREEK STATE PARK

This outing will be a joint outing of the 3RBC and the Todd Bird Club. Meet Margaret Higbee (724-354-3493) at the park office at 8:00 AM. The park office is located on Route 259 just off Route 422 east of Indiana. Allow an hour and a half to drive from Pittsburgh.
Yellow Creek State Park has been the prime outing location for the Todd Bird Club since the club was created. The park has a wide variety of habitats and a large lake that attracts a wide variety of waterbirds and sometimes exciting rarities.