Date: 8/14/26 5:51 am From: Constanza Ehrenhaus <cxe1169...> Subject: Board members needed for new non-profit
Hi all,
Trillium Pennsylvania is a recently incorporated nonprofit dedicated to making environmental education affordable and accessible to people of all ages. Our work focuses on environment, education, and equity to foster love and respect for nature through diverse educational programs. We believe that understanding our environment creates connection, and that connection inspires people to protect and preserve it.
To help grow our initiative, we are looking for dedicated volunteers to serve on the Board of Directors. The candidates should believe that caring for the environment is a shared responsibility, that education is essential to environmental protection, and that these opportunities should be accessible to everyone, regardless of economic status.
We are especially looking for people with experience in accounting, legal services, educational programming, fundraising, and event organization. This list is not exclusive, if you are interested in participating and bringing your unique skills to Trillium Pennsylvania, we would love to hear from you!
At this time, all positions are unpaid, and our organization is run entirely by volunteers as we work toward sustainable growth.
If interested, please send an email to <trilliumpennsylvania...> including why you are interested in being part of this initiative, your skill set and what your previous experience has been.
Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 12:45:00 Total observation time: 4.5 hours
Official Counter: Diane Stewart
Observers: Ken Tucker
Visitors: Barb Yoder helped out with spotting which was greatly appreciated.
Weather: Overcast with almost no winds out of the NW. Little variation in the temperature.
Raptor Observations: A nice variety for the first day of the 2026 season. Many TV and BV. The TV preferred the new tower leaving Nemo and friends to the old tower. The first eagles came through in pairs at 11:35, 11:51, and 12:00. All were soaring high on thermals.
Non-raptor Observations: Eastern towhees were quite vocal. Cedar Waxwings. Dark-eyed Junco. Goldfinches. Too many swallows to count. Nemo and a friend showed up on the first tower. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Darrell Smith (<oleagleye...>)
Date: 8/4/26 8:39 am From: Nick Bolgiano <nickbolgiano...> Subject: Fwd: Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers moving south
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Nick Bolgiano <nickbolgiano...>
Date: Mon, Jun 22, 2026 at 5:56 PM
Subject: Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers moving south
To: SCBirds <SCBIRDCL...>
I have mainly been working on the third breeding bird atlas in Sproul State
Forest between Snow Shoe and Renovo, where I also have done two Breeding
Bird Surveys since 2002. A very interesting change in bird distributions
there is how Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers have moved about 30 miles south into
northern Centre Co and western Clinton Co since the second breeding bird
atlas in 2004-2009.
I first started finding sapsuckers on one of my BBS routes about 15 years
ago, but I would mainly find 1-2 . This number has increased rapidly the
last few years and this year, I counted 10 on the main route where I
typically find them. Where I find them is primarily in the northern part of
the state forest south of Renovo - along Grugan Hollow Rd, Pete's Run Rd,
and Dry Run Rd.
You can see the current atlas distribution of sapsuckers at this website:
In the second atlas, sapsuckers were previously present in parts of
Clearfield Co, where they are now, but the southern movement has occurred
in Lycoming, Clinton, and Centre Counties.
It is uncommon for northern birds to move south, but this is what is
happening with sapsuckers. If they continue to move at the current pace,
they could be in the Black Moshannon area within a few decades. The forest
there is similar to the forest in Sproul SF.
Date: 8/3/26 10:43 am From: Nick Bolgiano <nickbolgiano...> Subject: what birds survived the asteroid impact of 65 million years ago?
I summarize (and quote from) this interesting article. Nick Bolgiano
How Birds Survived the Dinosaurs’ Doomsday
By Steve Brusatte. May 2026. Scientific American 334(5): 44-51.
The author is a paleontologist who specializes in some of the first bird
species and especially those that survived the asteroid impact in the
Yucatan 65 million years ago that killed off the non-avian dinosaurs. This
article is about the characteristics of those several bird species that
survived that asteroid impact and were the ancestors of all descending
birds. Before the Cretaceous period ended 65 million years ago, “a
staggering array of birds” was present.
The asteroid impact had the force of one billion nuclear bombs and caused a
winter that lasted for years. Among all species that existed, roughly 3 of
4 went extinct. Most of these extinctions happened very quickly. All
forests would have burned and leafy plants would have disappeared because
sunshine was blocked. All species that depended upon a food chain would
have disappeared. What few birds survived?
There were two critical factors: where you lived and what you ate. “If you
were slow-growing, unable to burrow or shelter, lived in the trees or had
to eat a lot of food (especially plants) then game over.” “But if you grew
fast, could shelter or fly away from danger, loved on the ground or in the
water, and could eat seeds, then any of those assets would have been
beneficial and improved your odds at the poker table. And if you held all
of these? You would have a royal flush. Crown-group birds (i.e. members of
modern lineages) just happened to hold this hand, and they won the game.”
Two species that survived, *Vegavis* and *Asteriornis*, were duck- and
chicken-like birds that were small, had beaks instead of teeth, and lived
in or near water, were fast growing, reaching the adult stage within one
year, and very likely survived on seeds.
Finding the skeleton of a mousebird in New Mexico dating from several
million years after impact implies that many primitive crown-group species
would have branched off relatively early in an evolutionary sense after
impact. The genomes of hundreds of current species imply that major groups
of contemporary birds would have originated then, although we don’t yet
have the fossils to prove it.
Date: 8/3/26 9:34 am From: Julia Plummer <julia...> Subject: Help with a survey
Hi everyone,
My friend Shannon, who is both a birder and an astronomer, is hoping to
develop some kind of joint astronomy & birding programming. She is asking
for additional feedback from people who are birders and/or amateur
astronomers. She created a short survey:
Shannon notes that this is not for research, but may inform possible public
programs or outreach events. I think the idea sounds pretty interesting. I
don't do as much amateur astronomy as I used to, but it seems like a
promising area to explore. Such as bringing together local astronomy clubs
and birding clubs for events.
Date: 7/18/26 9:30 am From: Nick Bolgiano <nickbolgiano...> Subject: PA Breeding Bird Atlas Indicates Some Large Distributional Shifts Northward
The email summarizes personal observations and atlas maps and is the third
of three such summaries that I have been thinking of.
At nearly the halfway point in the six-year third PA Breeding Bird Atlas,
large changes are evident for several species since the second atlas two
decades ago. I discuss here northward shifts in distributions, either
northern species withdrawing to the north or southern species expanding to
the north. The expansion of southern species has been happening for many
decades, but the withdrawals of northern species is newer and especially
noticeable.
My on-the-ground atlas experience is from Sproul State Forest north of Snow
Shoe and the area in and around Black Moshannon State Park. There, I
covered 30 atlas blocks there during the second atlas and to date have 17
atlas blocks in the third atlas. Plus, I have run two Breeding Bird Survey
routes in Sproul State Forest since 2002.
Use the below-linked atlas species map website to view current PA atlas
distributions. For the four species that I concentrate on, I include a
picture of their distribution from the second atlas book.
The two species for which I have seen the most noticeable changes are
Purple Finch and Yellow-rumped Warbler. I have also seen retractions for
Winter Wren and Hermit Thrush. The Hermit Thrush changes may be more
dramatic in Rothrock State Forest, where they have inhabited the highest
elevations and so disappearances are particularly noticeable. I haven’t
seen much change for Magnolia and Blackburnian Warblers, which are more
abundant in the higher elevation areas in Sproul and Black Moshannon and
are closely connected to conifer patches.
*Purple Finch (PUFI)*. During the second atlas, Purple Finch was found
throughout the higher elevations of the Allegheny Plateau, with the point
count densities highest in the northwestern and northcentral parts of PA
(see attached map). There has been a shift in the third atlas, with Purple
Finch being found in more atlas blocks in northeastern PA. I have recorded
it 16 times in Sproul and Black Moshannon during the third atlas, thus not
many, but more frequently in my several blocks in NE PA.
In the last several decades, it has been discovered that Purple Finch is a
spruce budworm finch in the boreal forest, similar to Evening Grosbeaks.
There has been a spruce budworm infestation in eastern Quebec since 2013
and the highest concentrations of Purple Finches during the PA Christmas
Bird Count are in eastern PA, as if they are moving south from an area of
high concentration in boreal Canada. I wonder if someday we will find that
the distribution of breeding Purple Finches in the northeast U.S. is
related to the overall distribution of Purple Finches in boreal Canada.
*Yellow-rumped Warbler (YRWA)*. During the second atlas, Yellow-rumped
Warbler was found at higher elevations of the Allegheny Plateau across the
state (see attached map). But their third atlas distribution has changed
dramatically from the second. There has been a small cluster in Sproul, a
cluster at North Mt where Doug Gross and colleagues have been working, and
a loose cluster in the Poconos. A few have been found at Black Moshannon.
In Sproul, I find them mainly in white pine and tamarack groves, some of
which have been planted by the Bureau of Forestry. I have recorded it 28
times during this atlas at Sproul and Black Moshannon, so some degree of
success. But I have only had moderate success at going back to the same
place and recording again seven or more days apart.
*Hermit Thrush (HETH)*. In the second atlas, Hermit Thrush was also found
across the higher elevations of PA, including in Rothrock and Bald Eagle
SFs (see attached map). I still hear Hermit Thrushes fairly often in Sproul
and Black Moshannon, but less frequently in Rothrock. Andy Wilson and one
of his studies did a study of how more northern PA breeding birds have
changed in the Breeding Bird Survey and they found the largest change in
Hermit Thrushes, as they already tend to be found at the highest elevations
and so that is a logical place for them to vacate, especially where Eastern
hemlocks are affected by hemlock wooly adelgid. This was a topic for a
presentation at the State College Bird Club several years ago. Andy and his
students will also be working to seen how these more northern species
change between atlases.
*Southern Species Expanding Northward*
I have encountered more Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Tufted Titmice in
Sproul during this atlas than during the second atlas, but these trends
have been gradual. Tufted Titmice have been more noticeable in the Beech
Creek drainage; elsewhere I don’t find many in Sproul.
*Hooded Warbler (HOWA)*. During the second atlas, Hooded Warbler was common
much of western PA and in large patches of central and eastern PA (see
attached map). In the third atlas, they have spread into parts of northern
and northeastern PA. The Pennsylvania Game News recently included an
article about Hooded Warbler by Ronald Mumme from Allegheny College in NW
PA, who has studied this species over a long time and is lead author of the
Birds of the World account for Hooded Warblers. In his Game News article,
Ralph thought that the Hooded Warbler expansion in PA was near an end, but
that is not true in Sproul.
This is the one species that I find especially interesting because they
didn’t occur in Sproul during the second atlas except at lower elevations
along the West Branch of the Susquehanna. Now, it is especially noticeable
when I hear one singing. I have recorded it 26 times during the third atlas
in Sproul, mostly finding in or near valleys that logically lead from
places where they have been established at lower elevations. One aspect
that I find interesting is that I only occasionally find them singing at
the same place in Sproul seven or more days apart, as if the male cannot
quickly find a mate and so moves around prospecting. When I first started
birding in the Rothrock area during the 1980s, Hooded Warblers were already
established in areas with lots of mountain laurel and they have multiplied
several-fold since then. Because of abundant mountain laurel, I expect that
Hooded Warbler expansion in Sproul and Black Moshannon will be similar to
what has happened in Rothrock and Bald Eagle SFs over many decades.
Date: 7/18/26 8:56 am From: Jeff Gallo <psugallo...> Subject: American Barn Owl
Good morning. Wondering if anyone is aware of a known Barn Owl location in Maryland (or southern PA) that they would be willing to share privately via an individual email?
Attempting to photograph (from a safe distance) during an upcoming trip. Will be discreet and respectfully remain at a distance.
