State College Bird Club Zoom Meeting
September 22, 2021


Presiding: Doug Wentzel

Recording: Peggy Wagoner Saporito

Attendance: 34

Due to the corona virus pandemic and the need for social distancing, we are again holding our online-only Bird Club meetings using Zoom Technology and will do so at least for the entire Fall 2021 session. Thanks to Joe Gyekis for working with our speakers to make this happen.

Treasurer’s report (Jean Miller): At the start of the month we had $3300 in checking, $17000 in savings. Deposited: $105 in dues/decal donations; Paid out: $238 to secure the website and for purchase of Bird Club decals.

Old Business

Old Crow Wetland: Development of Rutters filling station above the wetland is still pending, waiting on environmental review. A tour of the wetland may occur in October; Greg Grove will send out details and there is a Facebook page devoted to Old Crow Wetland for anyone interested.

Bird Club Field Trips:
 
Several field trips have recently been completed; Heron rookery at Spring Creek Hatchery, Runnymede and largest PA Swamp White Oak at Bald Eagle State Park.

No Field Trips are scheduled at this time, but visitors to Hawk Watches during the fall are always welcome.

Additional Activities:

The Big Sit, sponsored by New Haven Connecticut Bird Club, will take place on Oct 9-10. Last year, PA led the country in the number of Big Sit circles. The Shaver’s Creek circle will take place on the boardwalk dock on Oct 9. More information at www.thebigsit.org

The last morning bird walks of the season at both Shaver’s Creek and the Arboretum at Penn State will occur Wednesday Sept 29.

Announcements:

There will be a virtual gathering of the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology, September 29, 2021 07:00-9:30 PM Eastern. The presentation will be: “From Finches to the Launching of the Finch Research Network (FiRN)” with additional breakout sessions during the last hour. This event is free and open to all birders, but you must register in advance for this meeting:https://psu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEodOippj8uG9Oy6F3G42xooIIFd12veFRc
 
To help Hawk Mountain’s Kestrel research, report any sightings of kestrels banded with red and green colored leg bands with number and letter combinations on fledglings and adults. Report any sightings to Mercy Melo, Hawk Mountain PhD student working on the kestrel project.

Hawk Watches:
This fall season we are lucky to have 4 watches in the area: Jacks, Stone, Tussey and Bald Eagle Mountains.

Counters for the single season hawk watches on Tussey and Bald Eagle Mountains have been hired; Caroline Fegley and Des O’Donovan are recent graduates with hawk counting experience. Since the official start of the season on Sept. 10, both sites have tallied 922 raptors, primarily Broad-winged hawks with a good number of Bald Eagles as well as some kestrels, osprey and harriers. Interestingly, at Tussey mountain 1458 monarch butterflies were counted migrating past the site on Sept.10.

The bulk of the Broad-winged hawk migration so far this season has occurred on Jacks and Stone Mountains with around 5000 passing Jacks and almost 3000 passing Stone. This count puts 2021 within the top 5 years for Stone Mountain.

Interesting Bird Sightings: Greg Grove’s Summary

(late August- Sept 22, 2021; Centre and its contiguous counties)

The biggest event that brought unusual species to our area was the remnants of Hurricane Ida on Sept 1. A large number of interesting shorebirds were seen including Black-bellied Plovers, Sanderlings, White-rumped and Buff-breasted Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitcher, Caspian and Common Terns and Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. Bald Eagle State Park and Pennsylvania Furnace Road were especially lucrative spots to see these unusual shorebirds. Other interesting sightings during the period included American Golden Plover, Baird’s Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Cattle Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron and incredibly a Swallowtail Kite at BESP.

Among the passerines, a large number (compared to previous years) of Yellow-bellied Flycatchers have been reported in many places throughout PA. The first White-throated sparrows have begun showing up in the last few days. There have been 34 species of warblers seen during the period along with a larger than usual number of reports of Connecticut warblers.

And finally, Greg suggested we keep our “eyes out for pink” during the summer. As in the last couple of summers, Roseate Spoonbills were reported in a few locations southeast of the State College area in July.

Speaker: PSU Campus Window Strike research:

The speakers originally scheduled for this evening were unable to present, but Chyvonne Jessick, who was to co-present provided us with a bit of information, to be expanded at a later date. She has conducted and coordinated research to evaluate bird deaths and injuries caused by window collisions on Penn State campus. Some of the most harmful buildings for birds include Pegula arena and the overpass walkway at the Huck Life Sciences Building. Part of this project is also working to engage the campus to address ways of mitigating and preventing window collisions.

Speaker: Joe Gyekis: "Unexpected Movements: Backyard Birds Travelling More Than We Thought"

Joe, our bird club VP of Programs, graciously stepped in to provide the club with a fascinating look at evidence of migration among  birds thought to be non-migratory such as White-breasted Nuthatches, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Cardinals.

Information about White-breasted Nuthatch (WBN) migration has been accumulating over the years. One fall day in 1968, more than 80 were counted passing the Bake Oven Knob hawk watch in eastern PA. Three days earlier, 500 (the largest WBN count ever) were recorded at Long Point Ontario along the shore of Lake Erie. A smattering of other sightings of unusually large numbers or presence at unusual locations have been noted, leading to questions such as:
•    Is this rare or common?
•    Localized or widespread?
•    How frequently does this occur?
•    How far do birds move?
•    Are they seen returning in spring?

Long Point Ontario has been recording counts of fall migrants since 1961. WBN are seen passing through in numbers from mid September-early October generally during years with high Red-breasted Nuthatch counts. Counts of WBN at Hawk Mountain and Cape May from 1990-2019 show peaks of WBN corresponding to Long Point counts. Other evidence that correlates, includes window strike numbers in Toronto, Ontario and Project Feeder Watch with slightly increased sightings of WBN at feeders throughout the eastern U.S. during the winter following peaks in fall migration counts.

These high counts of WBN generally follow a pattern of every other year, corresponding to low food supply in the northern forests of Canada. Mast production of seeds and berries for 30 species of trees and shrubs fluctuates in Northern regions. When seed and berry production is high, fewer WBN are seen migrating during the fall and fewer are recorded at NE U.S. feeders during the winter. Conversely, when northern food production is low, more WBN are seen in fall and winter here in the eastern U.S. During fall 2020 there was and irruption of WBN.

Bird band recovery data indicates that WBN are moving long distances along the eastern seaboard. And when irruptions do occur, both adult and juveniles are moving. Spring migration counts correspond to the previous fall counts, either both low or both relatively high.

Based on these observations, it appears that irruptions of WBN occur generally every other year, are widespread with birds moving at least a couple hundred miles and are triggered by low food supply.

Other species, typically considered non-migratory have been observed moving during fall migration. Red-bellied Woodpeckers have been noted moving through Cape May in mid September in an every other year pattern that mirrors that of WBN. Northern Cardinals appear to migrate as occurred during an irruption in fall 2020. Even resident species wander to some extent. Birds continue to surprise us; there is so much more to learn about their lives and behavior.