State College
Bird Club Meeting
December 18, 2024
Presiding: Doug Wentzel
Recording: Peggy Wagoner Saporito
Attendance: 30 in person/13 on zoom
Meeting Format: Hybrid: In-person (Don Hamer Community Room,
Millbrook Marsh Nature Center) and Zoom
This month was the first in which we had a fully hybrid meeting.
Not only was some of our audience on zoom, but some of our
speakers (Greg Grove and Jon Kauffman) were also brought to us via
zoom. As a consequence, the order in which items were presented
during the meeting changed so that zoom presenters were seen first
before moving to in-person presenters.
Thanks again to Mandy Maguffey and Millbrook Marsh for allowing us
to use their lovely community room as our meeting space.
Treasurer’s report:(Karen Kottlowski):
SCBC account balances: checking: $4811.02 and savings: $5578.65.
Notable Bird Sightings (Greg Grove): (Nov 20- Dec18, 2024;
Centre and its contiguous counties)
Some of the more unusual waterfowl moving through our area from
late Nov-early Dec included white-winged scoter, black scoter and
longtail ducks. ”Oscar” the dunlin who overwintered in central PA
last winter appears to be back this year. A very likely
white-rumped sandpiper was seen in Huntingdon Co. If this is
confirmed, this will be the latest date that one has ever been
reported in PA. Other late sightings include Caspian tern and
red-throated loon. The black legged kittiwake at Bald Eagle State
Park was also a surprising find. Among raptors, a half dozen
sightings of rough-legged hawks have been reported already which
is up from numbers in the past decade. Short-eared owls have been
seen in Big Valley. Northern shrikes and Lapland longspurs have
been reported in several locations. Evening grosbeaks were seen on
only a single day at Shaver’s Creek and one hardy Cape May warbler
was reported in the northern portion of our region.
Announcements/Other Activities:
Greg gave us a disappointing update on the status of Old Crow
wetland/Rutter’s truck stop saga. The Smithfield township
board of supervisors unanimously approved Rutter’s construction of
the truck stop. During the five year battle to try and stop this
development, the supervisors showed no interest in the wetland and
likewise, DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) was not
particularly supportive of the effort to protect Old Crow
wetland’s environment. Although all legal avenues appear to be
closed, The Coalition to Save Old Crow will monitor the condition
of the wetland as this development and use of the Rutter’s
property proceeds. Greg thanked the many bird club members who
worked to save the wetland.
Jon Kauffman announced that the official hawk watcher for Tussey
Mountain spring watch will be Adam Bradley Richardson, an
experienced hawk watcher who has also been involved with other
avian research activities at various locations around the country.
Jon is still looking for someone to host Adam for his arrival in
late February. Contact Jon
with any leads.
The listserv continues to provide interesting information
and announcements such as an update on the rufous hummingbird that
has visited our area during the past several autumns, hawk watch
updates and comparisons with previous years, and the recent thread
regarding members’ recollections of the sighting of a Chilean
Flamingo in the area several decades ago.
Joe Gyekis was recognized for his efforts during Giving
Tuesday in early December to garner support for Penn
State’s Sustainability: Birds and Biodiversity. There were 151
unique donors who gave close to $15,000 toward funding bird safe
windows on campus. Joe also works with students in community
engagement to foster awareness.
We are in the midst of Christmas Bird Count season. Centre
and Huntingdon Counties have completed their counts with 64 and 70
species recorded respectively. Raystown and Bald Eagle State Park
counts are coming up shortly.
Mandy announced that Millbrook Marsh Nature Center is giving away
books about birds that are being cleared out of their
collection. These will be donated to the library, but were
available at the back of the room during the meeting for any of
our participants to take.
Speaker: Wayne Laubscher: “The 2023-24 Red Crossbill Irruption
in Pennsylvania.”
(This entire presentation can be viewed at:) https://psu.zoom.us/rec/share/wlPHsgyiUFLkKhH3Ev9x92VXJV_eI7ugRwRJCjNT_1sQeTLq70d8vPGqXY7rmmdn.w2bo9SdlCdUIY8mW
Wayne, a native of Clinton County, is deeply involved in the
birding community including as Clinton Co. complier for the PA
Birds publication, board member of both the Lycoming Audubon
Society and Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology, coordinator of
CBC centered in Lock Haven and a member of the Northcentral PA
Conservancy Technical Committee. Recently, prior to his
retirement, he worked for the Centre County Planning Office as the
Mosquito Disease Control Coordinator for Centre, Clinton, and
Clearfield Counties.
Wayne discussed the major irruption of red crossbills (RCB) that
occurred in PA from July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024 as a result of
the bumper white pine cone crop. More nesting pairs were reported
during the 2024 nesting season than had ever been reported in a
single season previously in PA.
RCB is a complex species with 25 identified types and subspecies
found worldwide in northern hemisphere coniferous woodlands where
they generally forage in flocks primarily on conifer seeds. They
are an irruptive species, wandering far beyond their usual range
in pursuit of good cone crops. In North America their range is
primarily the boreal forests of Canada and mountainous western US
but can extend into southern states during irruptive years.
Each type has a unique flight call and bill shape, adapted to
different conifer types. Among the types, size also varies from 5
½ to 7 ¾ inches. In North America there are 12 different call
types which can only be distinguished by making recordings with a
smartphone and sending to Matt
Young at the Finch Research Network of Cornell Lab of
Ornithology for identification.
Though worldwide populations are considered stable, populations in
North America are showing a slight decline and in PA this species
is of greatest conservation need. Habitat loss (logging, forest
fires, mining, construction, pine beetle outbreaks) vehicle
collisions, and red squirrel predation all contribute to this
decline. To their detriment, RCB are notoriously oblivious to the
dangers of humans and vehicles as they gather grit and salt for
calcium on roadways.
RCB types in the recent northeast irruption included Appalachian
(type 1), Rocky Mountain (type 2), Western hemlock (type 3),
Douglas fir (type 4), and Old Northeast (type 12). Wayne discussed
these types including their conifer species preferences as well as
range maps of zones where types are typically found breeding and
where they disperse in search of food when their local conifers
fail.
Interestingly, in the 19th century, type 12 was fairly common in
the northeastern US and eastern Canada. This population became
very rare when widespread logging cleared nearly all conifers in
the northeast. The restoration of conifers and maturation of
native forests may be the reason for type 12 rebounding.
Wayne shared audio recordings and videos of RCB as well as
information about breeding and diet during the irruptive year.
They fed primarily on white pine seeds during 2023 and early 2024
until the supply was exhausted when they switched to seeds of
other species including spruce, pines, Douglas fir, hemlock and
larch.
In North America, RCB build nests in two periods during the year
based on cone availability. Nesting can occur in July-September in
response to new cone crops and January-April in response to the
previous year’s crop. Wayne described some of the locations where
nests were found in PA during the 2023-24 irruption and breeding
behaviors.
The 3rd PA Bird Atlas eBird records for 2024 confirm eight
breeding records, not including the possible and probable breeding
seen through our region. In 2024, RCB were breeding or
possibly/probably breeding in 37 of 67 counties in PA. There have
been 38 breeding records of RCB in PA over the past 32 years.
Wayne also briefly discussed white winged crossbills that appear
in PA in some years, but have yet to be confirmed nesting here.
Wayne provided resources for more information:
• Sax-Zim Bog website has a nice video:
“Crossbills with expert Matt Young and Spring Snowstorm Sax-Zim”.
Virtually Live 45 S4 E10 at
saxzim.org/video-of-sax-zim/virtually-live-video-series
• Finch Research Network: Finchnetwork.org
• Recently published: “Stokes Guide to Finches”
by Matt Young and William Stokes.