State College Bird Club
October 22, 2014
The State College Bird Club met at Foxdale Village on October 22,
2014. Approximately 30 members and guests attended, including two
first time visitors. Diane Bierly presided.
Business
• The minutes of the September 24th meeting were read.
• Dorothy Bordner presented the Treasurer’s Report.
• Ro Fuller announced that the next bird club meeting
would be on November 19, and the speaker would be will be Lillie
Langlois, a Penn State graduate student. She will give a program on
Marcellus shale gas development and forest bird communities.
• Field Trips – Joe Verica said that Bob Snyder was
planning to lead a field trip for migrating waterfowl at BESP in the
first couple weeks of November. Details would be forthcoming on the
listserv.
• Diane reminded members that club dues are due, and
that payment could be given to membership chairperson, Megan Orient.
• Diane Bierly read the checklist of species seen within 25 miles of Old Main since September 24th.
Presentation
The evening’s presentation was by Alyssia Church who gave a program
entitled “A Big Day and a Bigger Week: The Good, the Bad, and the
Birdy.” Alyssia has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Penn State
and has worked at Cape May. She described and presented photos of
her big week of birding in May 2014 in northwest Ohio and Lee County,
Florida.
The first half of Alyssia’s big week was spent at Magee Marsh during
the Biggest Week in American Birding Festival in Oak Harbor, OH.
She saw many vireos and warblers, including a Prothonotary Warbler,
during the festival. She also saw many shorebirds, including American
Golden-Plovers and an Upland Sandpiper.
Alyssia recommended that anyone considering attending the next
festival, which is scheduled for May 8-17, 2015, book their
accommodations early.
The second half of Alyssia’s big week was spent at Sanibel Island and
Lee County on the west coast of Florida. She birded with a friend
in an attempt to break the one day record of 86 species in Lee County
set in February 2013. They started and ended their day of birding at
Sanibel, and spent most of the daylight hours on the mainland. Some
good birds found were Short-tailed Hawks, a Magnificent Frigatebird,
and Snail Kites. They tied the record of 86 species with a White-eyed
Vireo, broke it with a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and added an insurance
88th bird, a Chimney Swift.
Submitted by Ron Crandall, Secretary.