State College Bird Club Meeting
September 27, 2023


Presiding: Doug Wentzel

Recording: Peggy Wagoner Saporito

Attendance: 28

Meeting Format: In Person (Millbrook Marsh Barn)

Treasurer’s report:(Karen Kottlowski):

SCBC balance in the checking account is $3238 and savings account is $5575.15. Karen collected dues from some members at this evening’s meeting. To pay dues, check our website: www.scbirdcl.org

Announcements/Other Activities:

As Doug begins his 7th year as SCBC president, he gave a big thank you to our departing board members: Joe Gyekis for his 6 years as VP of Programs, providing us with interesting and inspiring speakers each month (even through the uncertainties of COVID) and to Susan Braun and Nick Bolgiano as Board Members at Large for ideas, guidance and wisdom to shepherd the club along. And a big welcome to new Board members: Brady Thomas, our new VP of Programs and two new Board Members at Large, Deb Escalet and Doug Mason who has also been involved in the Black Moshannon Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Jon Kauffman gave an update on Tussey Mountain Hawk Watch (TMHW). Each spring the Chuck Widmann Citizen Science Endowment at Shaver’s Creek helps pay the salary of the official counter who is typically a young recent college grad.  This past May Shaver’s Creek Birding Cup raised more funds for the Endowment which will cover more of the salary costs. SCBC supports TMHW by providing money for housing costs. SCBC members who wish to support TMHW can either donate to the Endowment or to SCBC. Each year, TMHW provides the official counter with excellent training. This fall four of our recent former counters are currently working at hawk watches across the country: Carlyn Fegley at Gotshutes NV, Sean McLaughlin at Hawk Ridge, MN, Gilian Martin at Lucky Peak, ID and Andrew Bechde at Grand Canyon, AZ.

Jon also updated us on the nest boxes he has been monitoring through the summer. Among the kestrel boxes, 90 were fledged this year, an increase from the 84 kestrels fledged last year. The nest cam is still on the barn owl nest in Mifflin County. Surprisingly, this late in the season, the female is now on another clutch of 8 eggs.

SCBC is the sponsor of Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count for State College. Susan Braun has volunteered to be the compiler as Jen Lee is stepping away from that role. Bob Fowles will continue to be the co-compiler.

Doug reminded everyone that the listserv is a good source of information about SCBC meetings, field trips and recent local bird sightings. If you prefer not to sign up for the listserv, but still want meeting announcements, contact Doug.

Nick Kerlin has been working diligently on gathering documents and information for the SCBC history project from our founding in 1941 to present. In 2026, SCBC will have its 85th anniversary.

Thanks to Deb Grove and Julia Plummer for organizing the Pennsylvania Society of Ornithology (PSO) Birding Festival in State College this past May. This coming May, PSO will hold this event south of Pittsburgh. Julia also reminded us that PSO sponsors a zoom presentation every other month and posts announcements of them on SCBC listserv for anyone interested in joining. The next presentation coming in October will be about chimney swifts.

Joe Gyekis updated us on efforts to reduce bird window collisions on campus. Two fund raisers are underway. One, sponsored by Eberly College of Science, will provide window treatment for the elevated breezeway at Huck Life Sciences Building which is by far the worst offender. On Giving Tuesday in November, a fund raiser will be held to address other buildings on campus. Even if you can give just a small dollar amount, the more people that donate will demonstrate to campus administration the public’s concern for this issue. In fact, as we were beginning our bird club meeting this evening, Cheyonne Jessick, who monitors bird strikes on campus, brought to Joe an incredible rarity for Centre county, a clapper rail, that was killed by colliding with a campus building. If you find window strikes, send photos via email to Joe. or post on the Instagram account, found by searching PSU bird strikes.

In addition, State College is continuing its Light’s Out initiative this fall to raise awareness of the importance, to bird migration, of dark skies. Joe encouraged everyone to make a pledge to turn off any unnecessary outdoor lighting and to pass the word to friends and neighbors, even if you live outside of State College Borough. Anyone who has influence over the operation of buildings is encouraged to eliminate unnecessary outdoor lighting. The American Astrological Society could also be an important ally in this effort.

Bird Club Field Trips: (Susan Smith VP of Field Trips)

There have been three field trips so far this fall including one focused on beginner/young birders. Two more trips are planned; one on the afternoon of October 8 at Chicory Lane Farm led by Joe Gyekis and one at Bald Eagle State Park, led by Bob Snyder during the morning of November 12 (details on our website: www.scbirdcl.org). Susan gave a big thank you to the dedicated members who have led bird walks and continue their willingness to do so. Julia Plummer suggested that if anyone has ideas of new or favorite locations for bird walks to let her or Susan know. And thanks to our SCBC members who co-lead bird walks sponsored by Millbrook Marsh (Tudek Tuesdays) and Penn State Arboretum (Thursdays).

Notable Bird Sightings:

Julia Plummer gave us a quick overview of the interesting and unusual birds seen in the Centre region during the month of September. Though not specifically in our region, the 2 flamingos blown off course by hurricane Ophelia, that had landed in Franklin County were indeed a rarity. Other birds of interest were shorebirds, including black-bellied plovers and white-rumped sandpipers especially along PA Furnace Road. Among the fall warbler migrants were a number of sightings of orange-crowned and Connecticut warblers. A Nelson’s sparrow was seen recently. The night flight calls of nighttime migrants passing over our region that are being monitored by Joe G. and Julia have revealed a number of unusual species including upland plover. It is interesting to imagine and learn of all the migrating birds flying through our area as we sleep.

Speaker: Joe Gyekis: “Solo First Fall Movements; Amazing Knowns and Tantalizing Unknowns”

Joe kicked off the season with a high energy, thought provoking presentation about dispersal and/or migration of young birds from the location where they were raised. This is a topic about which there is surprisingly little known.

Joe described the first migration of young birds and the range of parental guidance in different species. Unlike geese and cranes, which learn migration routes and destinations from their parents, neotropical songbirds such as warblers and thrushes, as well as raptors and shorebirds all have to figure out migration on their own. An innate compass, a burst of incredible energy and endurance along with physiological changes compel these young birds to head south in the fall and north in the spring having never done it before and without learning this from parents or other adult birds. There is still so much we don’t know about how young birds find their way. Tracking devices have been deployed on large birds such as raptors but such devices are too large for songbirds.

Recent studies have shown that songbirds cluster in the sky as they migrate and may use flight calls for guidance. Species of warblers that have the ‘zeep’ type call winter in the Amazon. Those with the ‘double-up’ call winter in drier areas of Mexico.

When young raptors in their first flights south in the fall or north in spring are tracked, it is obvious that at least some have trouble figuring out the best route. Examples include, broadwings heading to Mexico’s west coast instead of following the typical east coast route along the Gulf of Mexico or the meandering flight of one young golden eagle recorded zigzagging around the eastern half of the US before finding its way to eastern Canada on its first flight north in spring.

Shore birds such as Barred-tailed Godwits (BTG) exhibit some of the most incredible migrations. In the fall young BTG leave several weeks after their parents have already headed south. These young birds manage, without guidance from older experienced birds, to fly nonstop, across the Pacific Ocean, from their nesting areas in Alaska to the species wintering grounds in New Zealand.

Dispersal from the nest among young, common, typically non migratory species such as chickadees, nuthatches and titmice, is not well understood either. For the most part young must disperse far enough from their parents’ range to avoid competition and problems associated with inbreeding. Young females tend to disperse further from their birth places than males. In some cases, one young male from a clutch of titmice have been observed setting up a territory adjacent to their father’s. In this case, there appears to be fewer territorial disputes between father and son than when males in adjacent territories are not related.

There are examples of long-distance flights in what are considered some of the least migratory species. Downy woodpeckers have been recorded on a surprising numer of occasions, circling boats more than 100 miles off-shore and Carolina wrens, a typically steady year-round resident of shrubs and undergrowth have recently colonized off shore islands such as Nantucket. To make that journey across miles of open water, they likely flew at night to avoid gull predation.

Dispersal of young birds is especially obvious when large numbers appear. Irruptions of specie such as red crossed-bills and snowy owls that move into the US during some winters from their typical northern habitats are almost exclusively young birds. Large numbers of young titmice have been recorded on a regular basis during October in two long term study sites, with few being seen in some years alternating with high numbers in other years.

The first dispersal of young backyard birds is one of the least understood aspects of common bird behavior. In the not too distant future, it may be possible to identify individual birds through iris scans which will help us understand how young birds disperse. Sophisticated bird feeding stations to attract not just seed eaters, but also fruit and insect eaters could be set up and fitted with special cameras to obtain iris scans of individual birds.