2007-2008 Winter highlights:Sandhill Crane overwintering at Derry
Common Redpoll flock overwintering at Bushy Run Battlefield Park
Late winter - early spring waterfowl migration
Sandhill Crane
Lake Ethel in Derry, PA
December 2007 to April 2008
The Sandhill Crane has been present since mid-December 2007, and is overwintering at the lake in Derry.
Upland Sandpiper
Hutter's Farm
Mammoth-Kecksburg PA
May 25 1996
Sedge Wren
3rd Bridge
Loyalhanna Creek
Latrobe PA
June 7 1997
Both species are listed as threatened in Pennsylvania by the PA Department of Natural Resources. A threatened species may become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout their range in PA. An endangered species is in danger of extirpation throughout their range in PA.
Endangered & Threatened Species of Pennsylvania: PA Game Commission || DCNR || Fish & Boat Commission
The Westmoreland Bird & Nature Club (formerly Westmoreland County Bird Club) formed on Feb 26, 1981 to promote interest in birds and conservation and to provide field trips in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
The first newsletter, Vol. 1 No. 1, was for March 1981. In that newsletter five field trips were scheduled. Seven people were listed as paid members. The newsletter is published five times a year. Membership meetings are held only three times a year in September, January and April since we are primarily a field oriented organization. Thirty or more field trips are scheduled every year and these are not entirely limited to birds. When the birds do not cooperate we concentrate on botany, herps (reptiles & amphibians) and insects. Butterfly & dragonfly walks are scheduled in the summer.
Club Membership: $7 individual/family. Paid memberships currently stand at 217. All Membership Dues are due in January, unless you joined after September 1st. See Join for details.
Current officers of the club
President - Tony Pegnato
Sec/Treasurer - Rose Tillmann
Bird Records - Karen Jackson
V.P. - Shirley Glessner
Newsletter Editor - Dick Byers
Archives Scrapbook - Carol Hassenger
Web Page - Tim Vechter
The Barn
April 29 2008 (Tuesday) at 7 PM
Doors open 6:30
Dr. John Taylor, professor of geology at IUP will present "Allegheny Naturalists Loose in South Africa: geology, botany and especially birds of the Kwazulu Natal and Lesotho domains." John and his brother Wil traveled to Africa in 2006 on a birding trip, but with John being a geologist and Wil a botanist, you will get a smattering of just about everything.
After the program we will discuss the proposed club constitution. Please bring the February newsletter with you.
Directionsto Donohoe Center: Turn north onto Donohoe Road at the Route 30 traffic light below the overpass to the Westmoreland Mall in Greensburg. Drive north on Donohoe bearing to your right through another light and past WOW Outlets for 1.7 miles to the Donohoe Center on your right. The Barn is behind the main building.
Cancellation Policy: In the event of inclement weather, please call the field trip leader in advance to confirm if the outing is on or cancelled. The leaders have the right to cancel. Please check weather reports and road conditions. If there's any question, please call the leaders for confirmation. Car pooling is a good idea. Field trips are free and open to the public.
Join Tom Pearson in the parking lot to hike and explore the new 3-mile loop trail at 9:30 AM. From the McDonalds light on Route 22 in Murrysville, travel south on Trafford Road 0.2 miles and bear left onto Pleasant Valley Road for another 1.2 miles. Look for the parking lot on your left. Murrysville's Pleasant Valley Park
Sat. Apr. 5 Armchair Birding in Ligonier Valley
At the home of Len & Linda Hess 8:00 AM to whenever. From Route 711 in Stahlstown, go West on Route 130 for about 1 mile, you'll see the Foggy Mt. Lodge sign, turn right onto Old Distillery Rd., go about 1 mile to 316, on the right (there will also be parking directly across on the left, there will be parking signs). After the "armchair" part, bring boots and anyone who wants can go on the trail behind our house to look for early migrants, if you don't want, you're welcome to stay at the house and continue to "armchair". It is wet back there even when it isn't raining. Letting us know you're coming would be appreciated, but not necessary.
Sat. Apr. 12 Brinkerton & Jacob's Creek Wetlands
Follow Route 981 into Norvelt and look for the Dairy Barn at the triangle intersection. Meet Dick Byers (724-593-3543) there at 8:30 AM. We'll look for early migrants and shorebirds beginning at Brinkerton where the wetland reclamation project has been abandoned. If no luck there, we will proceed to the new Jacob's Creek Wetlands on Route 31. Note: The Dairy Barn has gone out of business. If the parking area at the restaurant is closed, there is a parking area across the street.
Sat. Apr. 19 Earth Day at Saint Vincent College Noon to 5 PM.
WBNC will have a booth. If you'd like to help man the booth, call Rose at 724-694-2082.
Westmoreland Earth Day
Sun. Apr. 20 Roaring Run Trail
Join Mary Lou and Andy Schreffler (724-568-1483) at 1:30 PM at the Canal Road Parking with the Botanical Society of Western PA to enjoy the trail and wildflowers. Directions: From Delmont, follow Route 66/356 to Apollo. After crossing the bridge over the Kisikiminetas River into Apollo, turn right at the light onto Kiski Avenue. Go approximately 1 mile to a Y and bear right onto Canal Street. The parking lot is at the end of the street. We got rained out on this one last December. Roaring Run Watershed Association
For early migrants and depending on water levels, some shorebirds. Meet Len & Linda Hess behind the old Corner Restaurant in New Alexandria (across from Sheetz at the Rt 981 - Rt 22 intersection).
NOTE CHANGE
Due to the beginning of Spring Turkey Season, we will have to change the time from 8:00 AM to 1:30 PM on Sat. April 26 to meet at New Alexandria. The Game Commission has requested that we NOT have our outing in the morning, and the Corps of Engineers concurs. IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THE PM OUTING, PLEASE NOTIFY US BY EMAIL OR A PHONE CALL BY 10:00 AM AT THE LATEST!! Gas is too expensive for us to travel to New Alexandria and find no one is there for the outing. Thanks for the cooperation.
Sun. Apr. 27 Stillwater Farms for wildflowers and early migrants at 2:00 PM.
Stay for the hot dog roast and bonfire at 5 o'clock. The McMillens will supply the dogs, buns, fixin's and water. Bring anything else you want. Directions: Stillwater Farm is between Brady's Restaurant and the PA Turnpike off Route 31. Heading east from Brady's on Route 31, turn right onto Thompson Road just past the Yamaha dealer on the left and at the Hi-way Motors sign on your right. Continue down Thompson about a half mile past the 3rd house (stone) on your right. You'll see a steel building and a small camper on your left. Continue down the road another hundred yards to the main entrance on the left. From the Donegal Turnpike Exit travel west on Route 31 for a half mile to the Hi-Way Motors sign and turn left. Proceed as above. If you go by the entrance to the Yamaha dealer you have gone too far.
Sun. Apr. 27 Enlow Fork Total Ecology Extravaganza
There will be another all-day nature outing at Enlow Fork like the ones in the past, beginning at 7:45 AM with the birders. Wildflower walks will begin at 10:00 AM. Participating groups thus far are Ralph K. Bell Bird Club, Audubon Society W PA, Brooks Bird Club, 3 Rivers Birding Club, Wheeling Creek Watershed Conservancy (Enlow Fork is a tributary of Wheeling Creek), Botanical Society of Western PA, Schrader Environmental Education Center (website), Olgebay Institute (website) and WBNC. Come any time during the day.
Directions to Enlow Fork:
Take I-70 to the Claysville Exit 6. Take SR 40 east to Claysville. In town, turn right on SR 231 South. Follow SR 231 about 3 miles to the "Y" and bear right towards West Finley on SR 3035. Go approx. 7.5 miles to "T" & turn left onto SR 3037. Go approximately 2 miles & turn right over the iron bridge on Walker Hill Rd. Go approximately 1.5 miles & turn right on Smokey Row Rd. This is the entrance. The parking lot is on the left at the bottom of the hill. Enlow Fork stream is the northern boundary of Greene County, southern boundary of Washington County. Directions in more detail are here and here. Distance from Greensburg PA to Enlow Fork is about 70 miles.
Zoom into www.mapquest.com/maps/Burdette+pa/ several times (Zoom In 4 times) until names appear on the backroads, then pan the map image to the area of interest - Smokey Row Rd - southwest of Burdette.
Also see Microsoft Terraserver Imagery.
Enlow Fork websites: WPC: Natural Resource Conservation: Enlow Fork | The Enlow Fork Wildflower Walk
Last year Denny Smeltzer (724-834-3433) and Tim Vechter found both Sora and Virginia Rail here. Meet Denny at the Five Star Trail parking lot across from the railroad station on Depot Street in Youngwood at 6 PM. Take Route 119 from Greensburg into Youngwood and turn east (left at traffic light per from Greensburg) on Depot Street. It's the main road leading to Westmoreland County Community College.
Sun. May 4 The Big Trek
This competition will take place on the Blair Brothers railroad grade near Hunter's Lane. We'll meet at Catawbalea at 8:30 AM to organize into two teams and carpool to the opposite ends of the Blair Brothers Trail. Opposing teams will start at each end and pass each other at the middle. The team with the most species (all organisms) wins the prize (as yet undecided). The combined results will give us a good survey of the spring fauna and flora along this botanically rich trail.
Directions to Catawbalea: From the PA Turnpike Exit in Donegal, head north on Route 711 to Stahlstown. After passing the Route 130 intersection proceed another half mile to the Cook Township Community Center sign on your right. Turn right just past the sign onto Old Route 711 and bear to your left. Go a half mile past the hardware store and look for a black mailbox on your left (233). Turn left and go down the 500 foot driveway. Park on the grass. From Ligonier, head south on Route 711 to Stahlstown. Turn left in Stahlstown just past the Laurel Aluminum Co. (Pro Hardware) sign and immediately left again onto old Route 711. Proceed as above.
Tue. - Fri. May 6-9 Crane Creek, OH
Our annual pilgrimage to this warbler Mecca coincides with the 3RBC. Call Karen Jackson (724-668-7421) or Don & Judy Koch (614-870-9323) for details on motels or cabins. Crane Creek State Park
Sat. May 10 PA Annual Migration Count
Contact compiler Dick Byers (email & phone on front page) for a field assignment or a request to cover some part of Westmoreland County. Count tally will take place, as usual, at the Old Country Buffet in Greensburg on Monday, May 12 at 6 PM. North American Migration Count
Tues. May 13 Nature Book Club
Join Tom Pearson at the Donohoe Center Barn at 7:00 PM (to 9 PM) to discuss the book 'Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature -Deficit Disorder' by Richard Louv. Directions to Donohoe Center are above. Richard Louv, author, Last Child in the Woods
Sun. May 18 Bow Ridge at Conemaugh River Dam for warblers.
Meet Tim Vechter behind the Old Corner Restaurant in New Alexandria (Rt 981+Rt 22), across from Sheetz, at 8:00 AM.
Conemaugh River Lake
Sat. May 31 Club Potluck Picnic at Catawbalea
Plan to arrive at noon and to eat at 1 PM. We'll provide hamburgers, buns, baked beans, coffee and diet soft drinks. Bring anything else you want or a dish for 4-5 people. This is a social outing. Come earlier if you wish to walk the trails.
Directions to Catawbalea: From the PA Turnpike Exit in Donegal, head north on Route 711 to Stahlstown. After passing the Route 130 intersection proceed another half mile to the Cook Township Community Center sign on your right. Turn right just past the sign onto old Route 711 and bear to your left. Go a half mile past the hardware store and look for a black mailbox on your left (233). Turn left and go down the 500 foot driveway. Park on the grass. From Ligonier, head south on Route 711 to Stahlstown. Turn left in Stahlstown just past the Laurel Aluminum Co. (Pro Hardware) sign and immediately left again onto old Route 711. Proceed as above.
*** NOTE CHANGE ***
Due to a rain and thunderstorm forecast for Saturday, the picnic is postponed to the next day, Sunday June 1.
Sat. June 7 Atlas Block 72 D 4-5 (reference page 72 grid of DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer Pennsylvania)
Join us in the last atlas block without data in region 72. Meet Dick Byers at the old Dairy Queen in Normalville on Route 711 at 8:00 AM
Sun. June 8 Charles F. Lewis Natural Area for reptiles and warblers.
The trail is very steep and strenuous, not for the weak of heart. Bring a walking stick. This is a joint outing with the Appalachian Plateau Audubon Society. Meet Jim Pemberton (412-414-9129) in the C.F. Lewis parking lot at 9:30 AM. From New Alexandria, follow Route 22 to Route 403 (first cloverleaf past Armaugh). Follow Route 403 south through Cramer, about 4 miles, and look for the C.F. Lewis Natural Area parking lot on your left a mile past Cramer. Or, follow Route 711 North from Ligonier to Cramer. Turn right onto Route 403 and follow the above directions.
Gallitzin State Forest | Gallitzin State Forest map
Sun June 16 Randal Reserve for a general nature walk on the new foot trail.
This is not the Sherman Tank boulevard type path characteristic of the rest of the reserve. It's on the other side of the road and we can make a loop, and then walk up a second trail to Donegal Lake and back. Meet Dick Byers (724-593-3543) at the Reserve parking lot on Four-mile Run Road at 2 PM.
Please send check or money order, made out to Westmoreland Bird & Nature Club to:
Rose Tillmann
PO Box 188
New Derry PA 15671
$7 individual/family. $20 supporting membership.
Include your name and address for the mailing list. Phone number, Email address, etc., is optional.
All Membership Dues are due in January, unless you joined after September 1st.
You can print and use an online application form by Clicking here.
The PABirds email list: Birds and Birding in Pennsylvania
The list serves as a forum for birders to discuss all aspects of wild birdlife in Pennsylvania, including rare birds, bird finding, bird identification, bird behavior, backyard birding, trip reports, bird counts, and bird club information.
To subscribe (it's free) mailto:LISTSERV@LIST.AUDUBON.ORG and put "SUBSCRIBE PABIRDS YourFirstname YourLastname" (w/o the quotes) as the body of the email message. Your name is optional. Capitalization doesn't matter. Leave the subject line blank. You will receive an automated confirmation with instructions on what to do next.
To suspend delivery of incoming messages (w/o unsubscribing from the list) if you will be away from your email for a period of time use the command SET PABIRDS NOMAIL as the body of the email message and mailto:LISTSERV@LIST.AUDUBON.ORG (no subject line)
To resume delivery of incoming messages use the command SET PABIRDS MAIL as the body of the email message and mailto:LISTSERV@LIST.AUDUBON.ORG (no subject line)
To unsubscribe from the list use the command UNSUBSCRIBE PABIRDS as the body of the email message and mailto:LISTSERV@LIST.AUDUBON.ORG (no subject line)
(Note that posts to the list for all subscribers to recieve get sent to the "PABIRDS@LIST.AUDUBON.ORG" address. Commands (SET...) to the list server program to subsrcibe, unsubscribe, change your subscription options, etc. get sent to the "LISTSERV@LIST.AUDUBON.ORG" address. The addresses are not interchangeable.)
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