State College Bird Club

December 10, 2014


The State College Bird Club met at Foxdale Village on December 10, 2014.  Approximately 35 members and guests attended, including two first-time visitors. Diane Bierly presided.

Business
•    The minutes of the November 19 meeting were read.
•    Dorothy Bordner presented the Treasurer’s Report. The checking account balance was $1601.34.
•    Ro Fuller said the next meeting would be January 28, and that the program would be by Bob Snyder who will give a program on the Birds of South Africa.
•    Diane Bierly said she was hoping to lead an owling outing sometime in January.
•    Greg Grove gave an update on the status of the proposed construction of wind farms on Jacks and Stone Mountain. He noted that ordinances had been passed in a number of the townships that helped discourage construction plans. Also, landowners have been released from their leases on one of the projects. While the status of the leases for the other project isn’t known, both projects now appear to be inactive. Greg cautioned, however, that the projects could be reactivated at some point in the future. Many thanks to Greg, the Friends of Jacks Mountain, and the SOAR group for all their efforts in defending the cause of birds and other wildlife.
•    Greg Grove read the checklist of species seen within 25 miles of Old Main since November 19th.

Presentation
The evening’s program was presented by Don Bryant, who gave a program called “So many Raptors, … So Little Time.” Don presented his fantastic photos while describing the trip he took to Spain from March 3 to March 16, 2014. His tour was arranged through Sergio Seipke’s tour company from Argentina. His tour started in Madrid, and he visited a number wildlife areas and National Parks throughout Spain.

Don saw about 8000 raptors total. A particularly good spot for raptors was the small port city of Tarifa. Tarifa is only 8-10 miles of open water from the coast of Morocco, which makes it a prime migration flyway. Some of the rare birds Don saw were the Spanish Imperial Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, Bonelli’s Eagle, and Northern Bald-faced Ibis. He also saw two raptor species that are among the largest birds on earth: the Eurasian Griffon Vulture and the Cinereous Vulture.

Don was interested in seeing and photographing mammals. His target species was the Iberian Lynx. He missed seeing the lynx but did hear one. He was, however, able to see and photograph a number of other interesting animals.


Submitted by Ron Crandall, Secretary.