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.
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, February, March, April, May, and June. 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
Bird Banding at Presque Isle
Bird banding is sponsored by Audubon PA at Presque Isle and Erie Bluffs State Parks. The 2010 season starts on April 15. The banding is rotated among three sites. You are welcome to come and watch.
Monday and Thursday: Erie Bluffs State Park, along the back of the corn field near the bluffs
Tuesday and Friday: Fry's Landing at Presque Isle State Park
Wednesday and Saturday: Niagara Boat Launch at Presque Isle
Check out our blog at: http://pispbirdbanding.blogspot.com
Ornithology at Hog island
This summer, enjoy world-class ornithology sessions at Audubon's spectacular Hog Island, located in Maine's Muscongus Bay. Taught by some of the country's leading birders and ornithologists, these dynamic sessions are for both beginners and experienced bird enthusiasts who seek field experience to learn more about the remarkable lives of wild birds. Two of these programs provide opportunities to work directly in the field with Project Puffin biologists on important seabird colony islands. Hog Island is an ideal home for sessions where learning, camaraderie, and great meals all come together in a beautiful setting.
For futher information see
http://www.projectpuffin.org/OrnithCamps.html.
Our Mission
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.
Next Meeting
"South Africa"
June 18, 2010
Ruth Swaney will present a pictorial introduction to "South Africa" at our June Meeting. It will include a safari in Hluhluwe-Umfolzi Game Reserve, depict life among the Zulu, and show ancient rock art of the Sani people. Please join us for our last program of the 2009-2010 season.
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.
"Wings, Sand & Song: Presque Isle's Habitat" Wins Award at the 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 has been awarded an Honorable Mention in Natural Sound at the prestigious 33rd annual International Wildlife Film Festival.
The International Wildlife Film Festival is the premier venue for wildlife filmmaking and filmmakers. It is an annual gathering where film, television, new media, science and conservation converge. Often called the "Sundance" of the wildlife film genre, IWFF was the first film festival of its kind in the world. Today, it has the distinction of being the word's longest running wildlife film festival, attracting nearly 10,000 people each year.
Tracy filming on Pine Tree Trail © Benjamin Koncewicz
In the spring of 2007 the Presque Isle Audubon Society commissioned Moonfire Film Productions to create a film that would highlight the birds, habitats and birding hot spots of Presque Isle in all seasons. The premier showing of the film would be at the first Festival of the Birds in May 2008. It turned out to be a challenging undertaking. Presque Isle has six distinct ecological zones and over 300 species of birds have been recorded there. With help from many volunteers from the Presque Isle Audubon Society and the PA DCNR the project was successfully completed on time. For more details about the film click here.
Currently "Wings" DVDs are available 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.
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.