State College Bird Club

April 27, 2016


State College Bird Club Meeting, 4/27/16
Meeting location: Foxdale Village. Diane Bierly presided, Debra Grim recorded. Approximately 33 members and guests were present.

Business

•    Minutes of March 23 meeting were read.
•    Treasurer report: Current balance $1,918.44.
•    The checklist reported 171 species, including Surf Scoter, American Bittern, Black-crowned Night Heron, Sandhill Crane, Baird’s Sandpiper, Common Tern,  and Marsh Wren. The Western Tanager was not seen.
•    Alyssia Church announced the next meeting (May 25) would be a potluck gathering at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center.
•    The next business meeting will be September 28.
•    There will be a field trip to Detweiler Run in May and possibly one in June to Molly Heath’s bobolink fields.
•    Millbrook Marsh will have a “Birds and Bagels” program Saturday, 30 April 2016 at 8:30 AM, and early morning bird walks will run through May 10.
•    Bird banding at the Arboretum and Shaver’s Creek Migration Morning walks will continue through May 11; walks will continue through May 13.
•    Rohan Kensey is the spring 2016 Tussey Mountain Hawk Watch counter. He worked in Yellowstone National Park previously. Tussey had a record 239 golden eagles in 2015 during the season.
•    State College Bird Club is a sponsoring agency of the Third Annual Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Blitz, which will be held Friday, June 17 through Monday, June 20. This event encourages the submission of checklists to eBird that include evidence of breeding.
•    Dorothy Bordner is stepping down from many years of service as Treasurer.
•    New officers:
o    Treasurer, Jean Miller
o    Vice President for Field Trips, Jon Kauffman
o    Board of Directors Member at Large, Greg Grove
o    Board of Directors Member at Large, Bob Fowles

Presentation:

Susan Braun gave a program entitled “Getting to know new areas through birding festivals: Southeast Arizona.”
 
Susan was inspired by a festival t-shirt and visits to her sister in Arizona to attend the Southwest Wings Festival in Sierra Vista in 2014 and 2015. Why visit Arizona in the heat of August? This is the monsoon season when moist air from the Gulf of Mexico refreshes the area, creating a “second spring” lush with insects, flowers and birds (and sometimes causing floods). Many of the field trips journey into the “sky islands” mountainous areas, where the elevation keeps temperatures more comfortable. Buses handle the transportation and birders from throughout the country meet each other. Susan saw an impressive array of specialties and scenic destinations—Curve-billed Thrasher in Ramsey Canyon, Coronado National Forest, century plants in bloom, young Spotted Owls at Beatty’s B&B, an evening pontoon boat trip in Patagonia, nesting Gray Hawks, Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, California Gulch, Tufted Flycatcher. Birding festivals are a great way to build your life list, learn the good birding spots, and meet other birders.