STATE COLLEGE BIRD CLUB

28 February 2007

The February meeting of the State College Bird Club was held on February 28 at the Schlow Library at 7:15 with Greg Grove presiding for President Jim Dunn. 27 members and guests were present. Dorothy Bordner delivered the Treasurer's Report.

The March Field Trip, Early Birds of Huntingdon County was announced and scheduled for either March 24 or 25.

Dan Ombalski introduced this year's Tussey Mountain Spring Hawk Watcher, Aaron Haiman. Dan updated the group about finances, stating that $1000 was still needed for this spring. Members voted for a transfer of $400 from the Bird Club.

The Easter Bluebird Society meeting at Toftrees was announced and also the American Woodcock Festival will be held on March 31 at BESP.

Deuane Hoffman will speak next month about the Conejohela Flats in Lancaster County.

Dorothy Bordner read the checklist and bird species seen between January and February 28 were noted . Species of note were lapland longspur and snow bunting in Big Valley, eastern meadowlarks on Summit School road, winter wren near Atlhouse building on campus, and an American coot on Frasier street.

Guests Mary Ann Williams and Michele Barben spoke to the group about the "Stop the Dump" efforts to keep the landfill out of Rush Township. 5800 acres adjacent to I-80 are targeted for a landfill by Resource Recovery of Lancaster. Black Moshannon and Sproul IBAs border the area and a request was made for bird data in order to argue for conservation.

Robyn Grabowski, Centre Wildlife Care rehabilitator, was the speaker for the evening and her program focused what the centre does. About 1000 animals are rescued per year and this effort is facilitated by volunteers and interns. She works with orphaned, injured or compromised animals with a goal of returning them to the wild. She also has several non-releasable animals she uses to educate the public, including a pair of bats and a saw whet owl which she brought. A license is required to keep these animals. Education is one of her primary tasks. She also reports diseases and illegal activity. Her slide show focused on several species with which she has worked over the years.

Respectively Submitted by

Deborah Grove