Visit us on Facebook
Welcome
Welcome to the Presque Isle Audubon Society web site. PIAS is a chapter of the National Audubon Society and a member of Audubon Pennsylvania serving northwestern Pennsylvania including Erie, Crawford and Warren counties. It is named after Presque Isle, a peninsula on the shores of Lake Erie near the city of Erie.
Our mission is to promote the conservation and protection of wildlife, plants, soil, and water in relation to human activity; to initiate and carry out plans and activities which would contribute to the conservation and protection of these natural resources; and to provide opportunities to become more aware and appreciative of our physical and biological environment.
Activities
The Presque Isle Audubon Society provides educational and recreational activities throughout the year which are centered around the natural world and open to the public. PIAS holds meetings on the third Friday of the month in September, October, November, January, February, March, April and May. A wide variety of field trips are offered throughout the year. PIAS publishes a newsletter, Tern of Events, every month except in January and July.
In addition to field trips and monthly programs, the Presque Isle Audubon Society is involved in other nature-related activities. PIAS conducts the Erie, PA Christmas Bird Count and hosts the "Festival of the Birds" in May. PIAS owns and maintains the 50-acre Laura Olsen Memorial Sanctuary in Crawford County, the 33-acre Fern Wood Sanctuary near Fairview, and is co-owner (with the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania) of the 89-acre Titus Bog Sanctuary in Erie County. PIAS maintains a collection of nature books at the Nash Library of Gannon University and was instrumental in establishing the Presque Isle Research Library at Presque Isle State Park.
The Presque Isle Audubon Society provides volunteer services to the Erie National Wildlife Refuge and co-sponsors a biennial nature photo contest with the Refuge. As part of the Important Bird Area Program, PIAS monitors breeding birds at Roderick Reserve.
Erie National Wildlife Refuge, Pool 9
PIAS is a member of the Erie County Environmental Coalition. The Society is also a member of the annual Allegany Nature Pilgrimage held at Allegany State Park, NY in June. PIAS participates in the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's Adopt-A-Highway program. The Society's Education Committee provides free subscriptions to Audubon Adventures to numerous classrooms and school libraries in northwest Pennsylvania.
Allegany State Park, NY
"Wings, Sand & Song: Presque Isle's Habitat,"
Award Winning Documentary Available on DVD
Awarded an Honorable Mention in Natural Sound at the prestigious 33rd annual International Wildlife Film Festival, the documentary film "Wings, Sand and Song: Presque Isle's Habitats" created by filmakers Tracy Graziano and Benjamin Koncewicz of Moonfire Film Productions is now availble on DVD. DVDs can be purchased at PIAS monthly meetings, at the Big Green Screen Theatre concession stand at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, and at the Erie Wild Birds Unlimited store. You may also mail order. Click here for an order form.
Tracy filming on Pine Tree Trail © Benjamin Koncewicz
As you watch the film you will journey through the unique habitats of Presque Isle during all four seasons to view some of the most intimate moments of bird life: watch a Yellow Warbler build her nest, a Killdeer clutch hatch and take their first steps, Baltimore Oriole fledglings fed by their parents and a multitude of other species who call Presque Isle State Park their home - either for a brief moment during migration or all year long. For more details about the film click here.
2012 Festival of the Birds at Presque Isle
Plan ahead! The 2012 Festival of the Birds at Presque Isle will be held the weekend of May 11-13.
Check out our festival webpage at www.presqueisleaudubon.org/festival.
The weekend format will be basically the same as previous years, especially on Friday and Sunday, but there will be some changes on Saturday that repeat participants may find especially interesting.
Some workshops will include an inside session to be followed by a hands-on outside session where the theory or knowledge can be applied.
We also plan to conduct off-site field trips to Scott Park (located around the corner from the TREC) and to Erie Bluffs State Park (a site located on Route 5 heading west).
Field trips located on Presque Isle will begin at a designated trail but will be conducted on any trail where the birds are most plentiful. We also want to limit the size of each field trip so that everyone benefits from the leaders' expertise.
The keynote speaker at the Saturday night dinner this year is Julie Zickefoose, writer, artist and naturalist. Check out her website at http://www.juliezickefoose.com/.
Next Meeting
"How Nature Speaks to Me"
February 17, 2012
Our February meeting will feature Toni Kelly, watercolor and mixed media artist and calligrapher. She says that nature speaks to her, and through her art she tries to tell nature's story with color, texture, image and words. She loves to experiment with her art and allows herself to be guided through intuition and exploration. Her presentation will highlight sketchbook drawings and text of her interpretations from nature walks at Presque Isle. She will also show photographs which have a big part in her creations, such as the Letters to Chloe series which combines imagery and calligraphy.
Kelly's work has been seen in juried exhibits and found in local galleries and private collections. She is a member of the Northwest PA Artist's Association and the Pittsburgh Guild of Calligraphers. She volunteers at the bird banding stations with Audubon PA and is an active member of Presque Isle Audubon.
Place: Tom Ridge Environmental Center
Address: 301 Peninsula Drive, Room 112
Social: 7:00 pm
Program: 7:30 pm
FREE and open to the public.
Results of the 2011 Erie Christmas Bird Count
The 2011 Erie Christmas Bird Count was held on Saturday, December 17. Thanks to all twenty-nine people who helped make this year's count another memorable one. There were some first time participants which was nice to see. At the end of the day we met at Hoss's for dinner and to tally our count.
The final results included 71 species for count day and another 4 species for count week. We counted 11,869 individual birds. It was generally good weather with temperatures in the 30s and some light snow. The highlight of the count was an immature male Snowy Owl that was very cooperative as we admired him through binoculars and scopes and got to take some photos while he was perched on a snag.
Click here for the complete results of the 2011 Erie Christmas Bird Count in PDF format.
Count Compiler, Chuck Gehringer
2012 Hog Island Programs
Registration for the 2012 ornithology
sessions on Audubon's famed Hog Island opened October 17, and if this year
is any indication, they will fill up very quickly.
After years of being one of the instructors at Hog Island, I'm honored to be running most of the ornithology program at the island
next year. We'll have two seabird ecology and restoration sessions;
our ever-popular Field Ornithology week; the addition of a second week
of "Joy of Birding"; two sessions of "Coastal Maine Bird Studies" for
teens ages 14-17; and an exciting fall migration week in September
that will include two days on Monhegan Island, one of the best migrant
traps in the East. (Besides the ornithological programs, there will be
an educators' week and an Audubon chapter leaders' week.)
The avian sessions are taught by some of the best birders and
ornithologists in the country, including Pete Dunne, Kenn and Kimberly
Kaufman, Steve Kress, Sara Morris, Peter Vickery and many more.
The best housing options fill up fast, as do the programs as a
whole, most of which had long waiting lists this year. There is a $50
early bird discount for registrations by Dec. 15. For information,
videos, photo galleries or to register, go to
http://projectpuffin.org/hogisland. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at scottweidensaul@verizon.net.
Scott Weidensahl