PSO Ptleated
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THE PSO PtLEATED December 2005 The Newsletter of the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology Volume 16, Number 4 FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK .... There will be one significant change in the usual schedule. This change is inspired by the fact that we put in a very Annual Meeting to be at Powdermill, May 19-21, 2006. long day Saturday beginning with the early morning field trip, followed by afternoon talks and finally, the evening The officers and board members of PSO met on November banquet. Then, we are up again early 19, 2005, in Boalsburg, Centre County. We Sunday morning for another field trip. welcomed new board members Sandy Therefore, we decided to "shorten" Lockerman and John Fedak. Our principal Saturday a bit by moving our keynote topic of discussion was the annual members speaker to Saturday afternoon and reduce meeting. the total number of talks by one. Saturday evening we will have the banquet as usual The 2006 meeting will be held May 19-21 in along with the reading of the checklist for Westmoreland County where our local host the day's sightings and the presentation of organization will be the Powdermill Nature the Poole and Conservation awards. Then Preserve, celebrating its 50th year of it's off to bed in anticipation of another operation in 2006. Activities will be divided early rise on Sunday! between Powdermill and nearby Ligonier and, of course, various field trip locations. In addition to the Ramada Inn, other lodging possibilities include the cabins at For those who come early, the weekend will Powdermill, camping at Linn Run State begin with one or more Friday field trips. Park and motels and Bed and Breakfast On Friday evening, registration, a brief ' establishments near Ligonier and to the business meeting, socializing, and field trip President Greg Grove called our recent west at Latrobe and perhaps at Greensburg. sign-ups will be at the Ramada Inn Historic board meeting to order. The Ramada at Ligonier will open its Ligonier. A block of rooms has been reserved at the restaurant at 5:30 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday mornings Ramada for those who wish to lodge there. to allow time for a good meal before our field trips. As always, Saturday and Sunday mornings will feature Registration forms and additional details, including field field trips led by local birders. Included will be the oppor trip destinations, will be available in the next newsletter. tunity to visit the banding operation at Powdermill in the full swing of spring migration. One more bit of business - looking ahead, our 2007 meet ing will be held in the Harrisburg area. Saturday afternoon talks will be held at Powdermill' s conference facility. In honor of Powdermill's milestone I hope to see you in May. In the meantime, good luck and anniversary, one or more presentations will focus on have fun on your various Christmas Bird Counts. Powdermill 's history and contributions to ornithology. The Saturday evening banquet will be back at the Ramada Inn Greg Grove in Ligonier. PSO President [email protected] - 1 - agency, to get things going. In a nutshell, the Endangered The Species Act: Raven • Conserves the listed species Reporter • Avoids jeopardization of the species • A voids destruction of critical habitat - a critical Tales of issue for protecting nests Discovery • A voids takings of the species or its habitat from The ESA made the recovery of Bald Eagles in Pennsyl the vania a high priority for PGC. The recovery ~f the Bal? Eagle shows how determination and coop~rati~n can b_rmg Special back a bird from the brink of regional extirpation. This Areas happened because of great teamwork. If we can do it with Project Bald Eagles, we can do it with other species. In early 1980s there were only 2 or 3 Bald Eagle nests in Special Areas Project Update PA confined to the northwestern Crawford County weilands. One could say it was a hopeless situation: Several SAP volunteers now are working on bird checklists for state parks where they have collected bird data. There • Bald Eagles were very few and very local - really still are several locations for which we seek cooperators "critically endangered" in our state. who will help convert bird population data into checklists. • It seemed like it was a species at the edge of its For a list of parks in need of checklists, please see the range, a bad scenario for recovery. previous version of the Raven Reporter. • As a large raptor, it had a bad public image. • Bald Eagles require large areas for foraging and a It is getting a bit easier to finish this task. The Bure~u of good food source, so space and good nesting State Parks is sending the file template of the checklist so habitat may be a limitation for successful nests. volunteers can fill out the phenograms (the time charts They need big trees on which to nest and lots of showing bird seasonality). Please let me know if you a~e fish for food. That can be hard to fmd in parts of interested in making this project a success. By completmg populated PA these checklists, we will educate many people about the • Bald Eagles were fairly intolerant of human occurrence of birds at these locations, advancing the disturbances at their nests. There are lots of people knowledge and appreciation of birds in Pennsylvania. in Pennsylvania. Bald Eagle Recovery Proof of ESA's However, Bald Eagles had a few things going for them: Effectiveness The Bald Eagles is our national symbol, inspiring We are celebrating the great success in the recovery of the • patriotism. Bald Eagle in Pennsylvania. Thanks to everyone for • Bald Eagles are large, handsome, striking birds that making the recovery of Bald Eagles possible. At one time, symbolize wilderness for many people, symbols of the Bald Eagle was fairly widespread and relatively power and majesty. They're "a little bit of Alaska" common in the young Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. in Pennsylvania. Until around 1890, the Susquehanna River was a . • Many impediments (or limiting factors) were "kingdom" for the Bald Eagle. They nested along our large removed - water pollution, pesticides in the rivers and in our large wetlands. Its populations were environment (DDT and others), low fish decimated by the "five P's:" persecution, pesticides, populations, the stigma of being a raptor. pollution, poor food supply, and practically no big habitat. • As a result of the removal of some limiting factors But as a result of the Bald Eagle Protection Act and the (mentioned above), the Bald Eagle already had Endangered Species Act, the Bald Eagles went from a some positive momentum in the early ?Os before persecuted "hopeless cause" to a beacon of hope for ESA implementation. The population already was Pennsylvania wildlife. swinging back after hitting bottom. Public support for environmental issues and wild The Endangered Species Act enabled the recovery of the • life was growing. The number of wildlife Bald Eagle in Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the continental enthusiasts, birders, and conservationists grew in United States. By putting the Bald Eagle on the part because of the work of organiz~tions _like Endangered species list, the ESA enabled and empowered Hawk Mountain, Audubon, and vanous bird clubs. the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the state's wildlife - 2 - • Game Commission provided leadership for the there is good habitat but no eagle nests. This species' recovery. There was and is grassroots and includes quiet areas around reservoirs and wooded upper management support for the program. streams in our busy suburbs. • The ESA provided the prioritization of our • The nests are producing more than one eaglet per resources to implement a recovery plan in nest. Pennsylvania. • There now are pairs occupying territories where we • The ESA also gave us more power to protect nest don't know about nests - that probably brings our sites as eagle habitat. total nesting population to more than l 00 territorial • Due to many issues mentioned above, there's been breeding pairs. tremendous cooperation between PGC, other • There is widespread public support for Bald Eagle agencies, and organizations with Bald Eagles - PA protection. Many actively seek out viewing loca Fish & Boat Commission, PA DCNR (Bur. of tions for eagles along our major rivers, lakes, and Parks), municipalities, Audubon & bird clubs, reservoirs. Wildlife watchers love eagles and flock hunting clubs, etc. to see them, especially in winter and migration. • Many states enthusiastically began to implement • The Bald Eagle acts as an "umbrella species" for their own recovery plans so the eagle population conservation of wetland and riparian forest species. grew regionally and each state's population con By protecting Bald Eagle nest areas, we are tributed to another's. protecting critical habitat for other species not so well known but nevertheless protected. What did we do to bring them back from the brink? • The Game Commission is having similar success • The PGC obtained funding support from U.S. Fish with its Peregrine Falcon program, returning that and Wildlife through ESA Section 6 and from the handsome and charismatic raptor to the Pennsyl Richard King Mellon Foundation. The Wild Re vania landscape, including its cities. The public source Conservation Fund also provided funding. has embraced the peregrine's return thanks to a • We reintroduced Bald Eagles through a hacking concerted conservation program by the Game program using birds from Saskatchewan, Canada, Commission, PA DEP, and many other parties. It and Patuxent Wildlife Refuge. PGC released 88 is another endangered species flying back into eaglets mostly at Haldeman Island in the Susque prominence in our state. hanna River, and Shohola Falls area of the Poconos • The conservation community is moving toward All in the 1980s.