State College Bird Club ZOOM Meeting
April 24, 2024


Presiding: Doug Wentzel

Recording: Peggy Wagoner Saporito

Attendance: 52

Meeting Format: Zoom

Treasurer’s report:(Karen Kottlowski):

SCBC balance in the checking account is $4003.00 and savings account is $5577.55. We are still waiting for annual distribution of funds from the endowment managed by Centre Foundation.

Announcements/Other Activities

Applications for bird conservation grants are due in less than a week on April 30.

Birding Cup is coming up on May 3-4. To sign up or donate, check the website.

The native plant sale will be held at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center this Saturday, April 27.

Doug thanked Ilene White and Susan Smith for their help at the SCBC information table at the Earth Day event held at Millbrook Marsh on Sunday, April 21.

Thanks also to volunteers who assisted in sending out Pennsylvania Society of Ornithology (PSO) newsletter.
Acknowledgement went out to everyone who has given their time to lead bird walks this spring during various field trips and walks (SCBC-sponsored, Spring Creek, Arboretum) including Joe Gyekis, Julia Plummer, Susan Smith, Susan Braun and others.

Deb and Greg Grove will be leading a walk around Old Crow wetland tomorrow, April 25, at 5:00pm.

Our next meeting on Wednesday May 22 will be a potluck picnic at Millbrook Marsh Nature Center pavilion (or barn if needed). The picnic will be 6:00-7:00pm with a short SCBC meeting, 7:00-7:30 followed by optional evening birding around the marsh. An optional native tree planting project at Millbrook Marsh starts at 4:00pm.

Election of SCBC Officers

Susan Braun, Deb Escalet and Kathy Bechdel were this year’s nominating committee. Officers who were reelected to their roles include Karen Kottlowski as Treasurer, Bob Fowles and Jon Kauffman as board members at large. Susan Smith our current VP of Field Trips will be stepping down. We greatly appreciated all of the wonderful field trips she has coordinated for us over her tenure. Thank you, Susan! Kathy Bechdel was unanimously elected to fill the VP of Field Trips position. Welcome Kathy!

Tussey Mountain Hawk Watch report

Andrew Bechdel, our official counter this spring, provided a nice summary of this year’s spring migration. The official count will be ending on April 25. The Golden Eagle count of 164 was close to the average (169) for this site over 25 years of counts.

On April 18, a big push of 576 Broad-wing hawks were counted, with 326 of those passing in one hour! This was the fourth highest single day count of Broad-wings at Tussey. The season total to date is 1371. Other species included: 209 Red-tailed Hawks, 199 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 194 Turkey Vultures, 67 bald eagles, 55 Osprey 35 Red-shouldered, 28 Cooper’s Hawks as well as several Merlins and Peregrine Falcons.

Other highlights included Sandhill Cranes, returning warblers and on April 8, some glimpses through the clouds of the 95% solar eclipse.

Thank you, Andrew for your diligence and dedication during the spring count season and for all of the interesting daily emails with reports from the mountain!

Exceptionally Notable Bird Sightings: Greg Grove’s Summary
(April 1 - 24, 2024; Centre and its contiguous counties)

Large numbers of some waterfowl continued to be seen in April including 500 ring-necked ducks near Dubois and 80 long-tailed ducks at Bald Eagle State Park. White and Surf Scoters were also reported. Whip-poor-wills, hummingbirds and swifts have begun to arrive. There have been a good number of reports at various locations of Virgina Rails (7 locations) and Sora (12 locations). Other species include Common Gallinule, Sandhill Crane, and a larger number of Wilson’s Snipe than have been reported in recent years.  Laughing and Lesser Black-backed gulls, Caspian and Common Terns have all been reported. Night-flight calls have indicated American Bittern, Black-crowned Night Heron and willet flying over our area. A Scissor Tailed Flycatcher was seen from April 10-16 in Juniata Co. Other species in our area included marsh wren, American Pipits, Red-Crossbills, Pine Siskin and Clay Colored Sparrow. Sixteen warbler species have been reported in our area and the first scarlet tanager was reported. Last year was the first successful Osprey nesting in Huntingdon Co. Two adults were reported back in the area on April 19 with hopes for a repeat.

Speaker: Jon Kauffman: “Life in a Nest Box of American Kestrels and Barn Owls”

(This entire presentation can be viewed at:
https://psu.zoom.us/rec/share/AUr4o5cUWnrvOj9CLUBp47FpUqtuMee8w4u9Vviy_FrT1w3UVB0lAGzOPOU0MIDq.Y-UomMnIHJnSeGq7

Jon, who oversees the Shaver’s Creek Nest Box program gave us a fascinating look at the lives of breeding kestrels and barn owls as seen through the nest cams placed in and around local nest boxes on private land. He showed us many wonderful video clips demonstrating the various stages of nesting in both species, from nest box acquisition, nest preparation, incubation, food delivery to nestlings and fledging.

Both kestrels and barn owls are obligate cavity nesters of primarily open grassy habitat such as that found on farmland with meadows and pastures which support large numbers of mice, voles, grasshoppers and other prey species. Jon described the types and locations of nest boxes that are most successful and box maintenance to ensure the best success for these species.

The 60-day nesting season of kestrels typically begins in late March to early April with incubation for approximately 30 days and 30 days of feeding nestlings in the box before they fledge. Once kestrels fledge from the box they do not return.

Barn owls begin incubation as soon as the first egg is laid with eggs being laid every two days until the clutch is complete. Consequently, barn owls chicks hatch asynchronously, resulting in chicks of different sizes in the brood. The female stays in the nest with young cutting prey into manageable morsels for the smaller chicks. After about 30 days, she leaves the nest, and begins hunting along with the male to deliver whole prey items to the growing chicks. As they fledge, barn owl chicks take practice flights away from the nest, returning to the box for safety until they are more skilled flyers.

The live barn owl nest cam can be viewed at https://www.shaverscreek.org/conservation-and-research/citizen-science-projects/