Meet at the Gristmill parking lot off Beatty County Road.  After wetlands hike, drive to WPNR in front of barn. 

Times: 

·        8:30 am – St Vincent Wetlands Walk

·        10:45 am – Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve Walk

·        12:00 Noon - WPNR Barn – Guest Speaker and Brown Bag Lunch

Leader: Denny McCarthy, dennymccarthy@comcast.net, 412-913-9064

Directions: Located on and adjacent to the St Vincent College campus just north of Rt 30 near Latrobe, PA.  For the Gristmill, from the Arnold Palmer airport crossroads, turn north on Rt 981.  Turn left at the first traffic light, go straight through the small traffic circle, and keep bearing right past the gristmill to a small dirt lane on your right.  Turn right and go down the lane into the parking lot.  For WPNR, return to Rt 981, and turn right.  Turn right on Old State Highway 981, and right on Walzer Way.  Address is 744 Walzer Way, Latrobe PA.  15650

Description:  Everyone invited to 1, 2, or all 3.  Price is the same!

1.      On the beautiful St Vincent College campus near Latrobe, we will tour 3 separate but connected wetlands, originally set up to treat iron oxide pollution. There are also flows to lakes and streams.  Waterfowl, shorebirds, and sparrows predominate. 

2.      Next at Winnie Palmer, we will tour varying ecosystems with all sorts of wildlife along connecting trails which include a picturesque wetlands boardwalk.  There are also a number of bird feeders behind the barn for close up viewing. 

3.      Jim Kellam, Biology Professor at St Vincent, will be our guest speaker.  We will meet in the barn’s downstairs classroom.  This classroom is also accessible from the outside.  If you like, please bring a brown-bag lunch to enjoy during his talk.  He will discuss various ornithology research projects that he and his students are conducting at Saint Vincent College, including:

·        Downy Woodpecker sensory perception,

·        Red-bellied Woodpecker nest locations,

·        Tree Swallow reproduction near abandoned mine drainage treatment ponds,

·        American Crow identification of human faces, and

·        Bird diversity at Saint Vincent Lake.