WBNC Birding and nature observation in Westmoreland County southwestern Pennsylvania
above: Harlequin Duck at Keystone State Park, Nov. 19 2008 Reported by Linda Huber & Ken Byerly Photograph by Dick Byers
below: Pine Siskin in Latrobe PA, Jan. 21 2009
Sandhill Crane
Lake Ethel in Derry, PA Mid December 2007 to last week of April 2008
More photos are here, more Sandhill Crane info is at wikipedia | Middle Creek | Platte River Nebraska | Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge | International Crane Foundation
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
Atlas of Breeding Birds in Pennsylvania
Links to other web sites about nature and birds seen locally. These links can become inactive at any time.
Links open in separate browser windows.
Photos by Mark McConaughy:
Pine Siskin, White-winged Crossbill at Bushy Run Battlefield, Westmoreland Co., Feb. 2009
WBNC outing to West Lebanon, Indiana County, Feb. 24 2008.
Common Redpolls at Bushy Run Battlefield Park
Sandhill Crane at Derry Lake, Dec. 31 2007.
Herring Gull Nest in Armstrong County, 29 May 2005.
Short-billed Dowitcher at Mammoth Wetlands and Mammoth Lake, Sat. May 14 2005.
Westmoreland Botanical Society
Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club
Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh
Westmoreland Bird & Nature Club
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 - Tom Pearson Vice President - Hope King Secretary/Treasurer - Rose Tillmann Newsletter Editor - Dick Byers Bird Records - Karen Jackson Archives Scrapbook - Carol Hassenger Website - Tim Vechter Outings Committee - Debbie Bryant (chairperson), Tom Pearson, Dick Byers, Hope King and Karen Jackson.
Nature Book Club Schedule for 2009 and 2010 HTML
Nature Book Club Schedule for 2009 PDF
Club Meeting
No meetings are scheduled.
Field Trips for Fall and Winter 2011
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.
Weather for Latrobe (weather.com) || Weather for Westmoreland County || Weather(underground) for PA
- Sat. Oct. 8 Exotic Trees
- Tim Vechter has located a park in Greensburg with a lot of unusual tree species. Meet him at 2 p.m. at the Lynch Field parking lot on Route 119 right across from the Dairy Queen.
- Sun. Oct. 9 The BIG SIT!
- Join our 4th Big Sit at the Keystone S.P. deck near the causeway. Last year we had a record 42 species. Can we break that this year? Come any time before or after daybreak, stay as long as you want. Bring a chair, food, drinks, snacks, for yourself or to share. Last year we had people there from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. First person to arrive, start the list. Last person pass the list on to the Newsletter editor. Who wants to pledge a dollar to the club for every bird we get over the record? That'll give participants enticement to look harder. Make your pledge to Rose.
- Tues. Oct. 11 Nature Book Club
- Join us for a discussion of Where the Wild Things Are by William Stolzenberg. Donohoe Center 7:00 p.m.
- Tue. Oct. 18 Club Meeting 7:00 p.m. Donohoe Center "Birding with a Twist."
- See details on cover and page - 6 of the newsletter.
- Sat. Oct. 22 SGL # 111 & the LHT
- Meet Dick Byers (724-593-3543) in Normalville at the Paint Shop or Sandwich shop to caravan to State Gamelands #111 at 10:00 a.m. The fall foliage scenery, windmills and views along the way will be worth the hike, about 2.5 miles long on the Laurel Highlands Trail past an osprey pond and ending at Craneberry Glades Lake.
- Sun. Oct. 30 Allegheny Front
- Join us at the lookout at 11:00 a.m. Call Dick Byers or Karen Jackson for directions - contact info on front page.
- Sun. Nov. 6 Jacobs Creek Waterfowl
- Meet at the Jacobs Creek (Greenlick Reservoir) at 1 p.m. to take a leaderless tour for waterfowl beginning at Greenlick and going on to Bridgeport, Jacobs Creek wetlands, Acme and Donegal.
- Sat. Nov. 12 Waterfowl Tour
- Meet Ken Byerly (724-468-8594) at the Beaver Run Dam parking lot at 8:00 a.m. He'll proceed from there to Keystone, Derry Lake, and Trout Run for migrating waterfowl. Directions: Take Route 66 N from Delmont to Route 380. Drive east on 380 several miles to the parking lot near the dam on your right.
- Thur. Nov. 17 Member's Night Club Meeting Donohoe Center 6:00 p.m.
- See details on page - 6 of the newsletter.
- Sat. Nov. 19 Pymatuning Lake
- Meet Don Koch at the Pymatuning Environmental Center at 10:30 a.m. Bring lunch!
- Fri. Dec. 9 Night Hike
- Meet at the 981 strips parking lot at 7:00 p.m. for a moonlight walk to see owls, foxes, coyotes and deer. Canceled if two conditions are not met - clear skies and at least an inch of snow cover. Directions: From Latrobe on Rt. 981, drive 3.3 miles from the railroad underpass to the top of a steep hill. Look for the parking area on the left. From the intersection of 22/981 in New Alex go south on 981 for 3.2 miles and pull into the parking area on your right.
- Tues. Dec. 13 Nature Book Club
- Join us to discuss Wild America by Roger Tory Peterson at the Barn, Donohoe Ct. at 7:00 p.m.
- Sun. Dec. 18 Bushy Run Christmas Bird Count
- Meet at the Delmont McDonald's (1/2 mile west of the Rt. 22/66 cloverleaf on the north side) at 7:00 -7:30a.m. to join your team party. Let Dick Byers (724-593-3543) know you're coming in advance. At 4:30 p.m. head for the Hoss Restaurant in Murrysville on the south side of Route 22 just before the Sheetz gas station for the count tally. If you live inside the count circle, do a feeder watch and listen for owls at night. Send your results to Dick
Note: for the email addresses replace "_AT_" with "@", and "_DOT_ with ".", without the quotes. This is done to help foil spamming programs.
To join Westmoreland Bird & Nature Club
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:[email protected] 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 post a message to the list for all subscribers to receive mailto:[email protected] 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:[email protected] (no subject line) To resume delivery of incoming messages use the command SET PABIRDS MAIL as the body of the email message and mailto:[email protected] (no subject line) To unsubscribe from the list use the command UNSUBSCRIBE PABIRDS as the body of the email message and mailto:[email protected] (no subject line) (Note that posts to the list for all subscribers to recieve get sent to the "[email protected]" address. Commands (SET...) to the list server program to subsrcibe, unsubscribe, change your subscription options, etc. get sent to the "[email protected]" address. The addresses are not interchangeable.) See Info about pabirds list and Archives of PABIRDS (Login required). The List archives at LIST.AUDUBON.ORG includes number of subscribers for each list. The LISTSERV general user's guide is a manual for L-Soft's LISTSERV software. Recent postings from the PA email list can be viewed without subscribing to the list at Birdingonthe.net's PABIRDS recent postings (quickest download time) and Virtual Birder B-Mail. |
Web page, and photos (unless otherwise noted), by tim vechter. For more about birding in Westmoreland County & Western PA look for links at:http://www.westol.com/~towhee/redtail.htm | site map
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For places to bird in Westmoreland County click here