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Presque Isle

Erie National Wildlife Refuge

Allegany State Park

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 and Crawford 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.

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, PIAS is involved in other nature-related activities. 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. PIAS is a member group 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. We participate in the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's Adopt-A-Highway program. Our Education Committee provides free subscriptions to Audubon Adventures to numerous classrooms and school libraries in northwest Pennsylvania.

PIAS holds regular monthly programs on the third Friday of each month from October through June, excluding December and January. These meetings are FREE and open to the public.

Place: Tom Ridge Environmental Center
Address: 301 Peninsula Drive, Room 112
Social: 7:00 pm
Program: 7:30 pm

We welcome the new PIAS officers for 2008-2009:
PRESIDENT - Janet Price
VICE PRESIDENT - Mary Birdsong
SECRETARY - Bonnie Ginader
TREASURER - Kel McDonald

Executive Board Meetings are the third Tuesday of every other month. The dates for 2008-2009 are: Sept 16, Nov 18, Jan 20, Mar 17, May 19, July 21. All members are encouraged to attend at 7 p.m. at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, Room 212, 301 Peninsula Drive, Erie.

The PIAS By-Laws are posted here in PDF format. Click on the underlined name.

Eighty species were tabulated on the 2008 Erie (Presque Isle) Christmas Bird.

Highlights included:
Black Scoter
Rough-legged Hawk
AMERICAN AVOCET
Little Gull
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Glaucous Gull
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Northern Mockingbird
Lapland Longspur
Common Redpoll
Pine Siskin

Click here for a complete list of species, total numbers and list of participants (in PDF format). A big thank you to all those who participated this year.

Chuck Gehringer, Count Compiler, 814-490-4748, chuck58@hotmail.com

PIAS contracted to have a film produced in conjunction with our Festival of the Birds. It was to be a unique offering and a great way to advertise the festival. Tracy Graziano, owner of Moonfire Productions, did the filming. We wanted her to capture the various habitats and occupants of Presque Isle State Park in all four seasons. It took a complete year but she and her husband/helper, Ben Koncewicz, did just that.

"Wings, Sand and Song" journeys 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.

We have had a number of DVDs made of the film so we could share the moments with others. We currently have them available at our monthly meetings and at the Nature Shop at the TREC. If you purchase a DVD from PIAS the cost is $15. Or if you use the order form and want it mailed, the cost will include shipping at $5.95.

Click here for the order form.

Go to our Conservation Page to read a short summary about the pros and cons of commercial wind farms.