State College Bird Club

February 26, 2013

The State College Bird Club met at Foxdale Village on February 26, 2013.  Approximately 30 members and guests attended, including one first time visitor. Diane Bierly’s presided.

Business
•    The minutes of the December 11th  meeting were read.
•    Dorothy Bordner presented the Treasurer’s Report. The current balance was $2,894.18.
•    Ro Fuller said the next club meeting would be on March 26, and Ian Gardner would present a program on Goshawk habitat.
•    It was mentioned that Tussey Hawkwatch was underway, and Jon Kauffman was this year’s counter.
•    Field Trips -- PSO was sponsoring a field trip to the Tussey Hawkwatch on March 16.
•    Diane Bierly asked for volunteers to serve on the officer nominating committee, which will meet in April.
•    Greg Grove read the checklist of species seen within 25 miles of Old Main since December 11. Some notable species were Red-necked Grebes, a Northern Saw-whet Owl, Snowy Owls, and a Rufous Hummingbird.

Upcoming Events
•    The Avian Education Program at the PSU Arboretum will sponsor a talk on the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon on April 3, followed by a tour of the Children’s Garden.

Presentation
The evening’s program was by Doug Wentzel who gave a presentation on the Shaver’s Creek Nature Center.  Doug said that Shaver’s Creek was established in 1976 as an outdoor lab for PSU students. It has grown dramatically over the years; last year over 1200 Penn State students participated in programs there.

Shaver’s Creek also offers many educational and recreational activities for elementary and high school students, and to the community at large. Some bird-related activities that Shaver’s Creek supports or provides are migration walks in the Spring and Fall, on-premises bird feeders and bird counts, and support for the for the Stone Mountain and Tussey Hawkwatches. Shaver’s Creek benefits from the annual Birding Cup completion, which last year included 24 teams.

Shaver’s Creek has many bat boxes and performs on-going bat surveys.  Doug commented the crash in population had been obvious there, with a decline from 1500 bats several years ago to only 9 last Fall. On a positive note, Doug noted that Lake Perez was scheduled to begin refilling this May.


Submitted by Ron Crandall, Secretary.