STATE COLLEGE BIRD CLUB

28 April 2004

           TheApril meeting of the State College Bird Club was held on April 28. Jim Dunn presided. 32 members and guests met at the State College Borough Building at 7:15. The minutes of the March meeting were read by  Deb Grove and approved by members. Dorothy Bordner delivered the Treasurer’s Report.

             Dorothy Bordner read the checklist: species of birds which were seen between March 25 and  April 28.   165 birds were seen.  Noted birds were American Bittern, Virginia rail and sandhill crane at Toftrees.

            Upcoming Field Tripa:

Greg Grove May 9 at Detweiler and Bear Meadows

Matt Rockmore May 15 Scotia Barrens

Bob Snyder Black Moshannon the last weekend in May

            Members were reminded of the upcoming Birdathon and NAMC. Also, start signing up for blocks in the Breeding Bird Rohnke who will give a talk on the West Nile Virus.

            Members voted to extend the club membership to Rails to Trails.

            The presenters  of the evening program were Fran and Alan MacEachren and the program was on their trip to South Africa in the summer of 2003.  Fran gave the powerpoint presentation which Alan had prepared using  photos he had taken on the trip interspersed with close-up shots of birds from WEB photos. There were  slides of the countryside as well as some shots of the flora of the area.

            Their trip started at Cape Town with a guide named James and they traveled to Betty’s Bay as well as the Cape of Good. They saw 134 bird species with James. A second guide John, took them to game preserves  and other birding areas proceeding towards Durban and finally to Johannesburg. They also caught glimpses of some of the region’s mammals. They saw 248 bird species with John.

            From cranes to kingfishers to hornbills to sunbirds and many in between the bird life of South Africa was stunning!

Respectfully submitted.

Deborah S. Grove, May 26, 2004