State College Bird Club Meeting
October 22, 2025


Presiding: Doug Wentzel

Recording: Peggy Wagoner Saporito
 
Attendance: 35 in person/12 on zoom

Meeting Format: Hybrid: In-person and Zoom

Treasurer’s report:(Karen Kottlowski):

SCBC account balances: checking: $22746.95 and savings: $5580.32. Paypal which is currently unavailable for member dues or other transactions has $550.

The annual audit of the books will soon be conducted by the audit committee, Julia Plummer, Ron Crandall and Susan Smith.

Bird Club Field Trips and Tabling Activities: (Kathy Bechdel - VP of Field Trips)

Two field trips are scheduled for November: (Details on our website https://www.scbirdcl.org/schedule.current.html)

Nov 4, 4:15-5:45 PM: Hang out with Joe Gyekis at Sayer Dam, Bald Eagle State Park, with his scope, looking for whatever birds are on the lake and surrounding areas.

Nov 16: Bob Snyder’s annual field trip at Bald Eagle State Park.

Joe G. Also mentioned at ClearWater Conservancy sponsored field trip on Nov 2 at 2pm, Barrens to Bald Eagle

Kathy will be putting together the spring field trip line-up after the new year and she is always happy to receive trip suggestions from members. Additionally, though the tabling season is ending, she also appreciates volunteers for tabling, a fun and interactive activity that does not require extensive knowledge about birds, just your passion.

Coty Ehrenhaus has been keeping our social media up-to-date with announcements of upcoming events and highlighting recent events like the Big Sit at three locations around the State College area in mid October.

Announcements/Other Activities:

The annual PSO Birding Festival will be held in Blair County, June 19-21, 2026. Joe G. is helping to organize this and will be looking for volunteers to lead bird walks.

FeederWatch begins November 1. Details at https://feederwatch.org/

Jon Kauffman is chair of the committee to determine dispersal of the $20K gift SCBC received from an anonymous charitable trust. The committee met for the first time this evening to develop a plan. Any decisions that the committee makes will be brought to the membership for approval.

Some of the dates for Christmas Bird Counts have been set along with contacts and compilers:

Dec 14 – State College (Sue Braun, Bob Fowles)

Dec 14 – Huntingdon (Deb Grove, Doug Wentzel).

TBD – Penns Valley (Cathy Pierce, Joe Gyekis)

Dec 20 – Culp (Mark Bonta)

TBD - Bald Eagle State Park (Bob Snyder)

Susan Smith is in the process of having additional copies printed of the bird club history compiled by Nick Kerlin.

The Board approved increasing the amount paid for housing the spring Tussey Mountain official hawk counter from $400 to $500/month for the 2-month hawk count season. Salary for the counter is paid by Shaver’s Creek.

Connor Schmidt announced a fun birding activity, Waterfowl Bingo, sponsored by Juniata Valley Audubon Society. He had bingo cards available at the meeting for anyone interested in participating.

Speaker: Mike Toolan: “Conservation at Musser Gap Greenway.”

This entire presentation can be viewed for a limited time at:
https://psu.zoom.us/rec/share/fvaJxH62IrTSDX8NTooNFGtwzttnBMfVwd8L4xuWXyfkrc4w84QgsZao1VgBK6MT.d6rS8gvtg8vLbnNs

Mike, Musser Gap Conservation Director, gave an excellent overview of the history, natural resources and activities of Shaver’s Creek’s Musser Gap Greenway.

Located south of Whitehall Road with a portion extending south of Rt 45, the property, with its trails and recently upgraded facilities, consists of 200 acres of farmland, 90 acres of forest and a small section of Slab Cabin Run.

The Greenway can be easily accessed from State College by bus, car or bike. Trails through the property serve as a nonmotorized connection between the town and Rothrock State Forest, passing through a variety of interesting habitats for birding including a riparian zone and hedgerows as well as farmland, forest and future grassland.

As director, Mike works with volunteers, neighboring landowners, community organizations, state and local agencies, university faculty, staff and students.

Goals for the Greenway are to balance natural resource stewardship, preserve and enhance the landscape, protect water resources, conduct impactful research and provide a safe and enjoyable experience for visitors. Partnerships with PSU academics and clubs, ClearWater Conservancy and Wasson farms assist in accomplishing these goals.

In addition to hiking, biking and birdwatching, Mike discussed some of the other opportunities for public engagement. These include citizen science activities like volunteering to monitor and maintain bird nest boxes through Project NestWatch. Habitat management such as planting native vegetation and invasive species control also provides volunteer opportunities.

On-site research to monitor and maintain a riparian buffer along Slab Cabin Run is being done in collaboration with ClearWater Conservancy. As part of this research, a grant from SCBC Bird Conservation Endowment provided funding this year to support the installation of Birdweather PUC, bird song recording devices to monitor bird species in the riparian zone and future grassland area, allowing researchers to follow bird species composition changes over time as these habitats develop and mature.

Mike also expressed his gratitude for the money raised during the Shaver’s Creek sponsored Birding Cup this past May which will provide funding for long term management of the soon to be planted grassland habitat.

In the future, with the input of experts, a master plan will be developed for the Greenway including an expanded trail system and a forest management plan.

Mike encouraged us to enjoy and support the Greenway by visiting or volunteering time or money and by supporting partners such as the Wasson family farm.

As birders, we can contribute to understanding the avian populations that use this property by submitting eBird checklists. To wrap up the meeting and to encourage us to bird the Greenway, Mike had each audience member pull from under their chair a hidden printed eBird checklist with the list of species that have been recorded at the Greenway.