We'll be at the Bethlehem Area Public Library community room, and we'll be combining the bird count with a book launch celebration!
**REGISTRATION REQUIRED at www.bapl.org/backyard-bird-count or call 610-867-3761 to reserve your spot.**
Please join Lehigh Valley Audubon Society on Zoom as James Wilson, Recreation Specialist with the Northampton County Parks and Recreation, discusses his work with the Barred Owl Nestbox Monitoring Project.
Barred Owlets Photo Credit: Jim Wilson, Friends of Minsi Lake
We will learn about the purpose and importance of projects like this, along with results of their work.
LVAS has been documenting our local birds for over ninety years and published data in a book, Birds of the Lehigh Valley and Vicinity. The fully revised 3rd edition is now available in our online Shop!
Photo of a male Ruddy Duck by Dave DeReamus
We'll scan the lake from a few vantage points for waterfowl, while keeping an eye on the nearby fields and forests for other birds. A scope is not needed, but if you have one please bring it along.
Where: Beltzville State Park, 2950 Pohopoco Dr · Lehighton, PA
Meet at: Beltzville State Park, Parking Lot A for Pavilion #4, located at 40.861464, -75.624825
Leader: Rob Bergstresser (570-657-0990); For questions, please contact Rob
LVAS Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/lehigh-valley-audubon-society/events/312541838/?eventOrigin=group_upcoming_events
Location via Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/place/40%C2%B051'41.1%22N+75%C2%B037'28.9%22W/@40.86142,-75.6247,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d40.86142!4d-75.6247?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDEwNy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
A Few Basic Field Trip Guidelines:
• Cell phones should be on silent or vibrate mode.
• Keep voices low while birding to minimize disturbance of the birds and allow others in the group to hear the birds and learn their songs.
• Keep pace with the trip leader. Please do not jump ahead or fall behind.
• Bring your binoculars.
• Beginners and experienced birders all welcome!
• Have fun!
Never miss a guided walk or other LVAS event; become a member of our chapter!
Saturday, January 10, 2026 dawned with a threat of rain. Luckily, the rain held off until just after Lehigh Valley Audubon Society’s 12th annual CBC4Kids was over!
Eleven children from ages 4 to 10 spent time in our classroom at Muhlenberg College learning the purpose of bird counts, how to identify birds, and how to use binoculars. Then everyone piled into cars for a short drive to three local parks, and the three teams got to work spotting and recording birds.
One of 3 bird counting teams of children who participated in Lehigh Valley Audubon Society’s 12th annual CBC4Kids on January 10, 2026
Altogether, the Crazy Crows, the Nutty Nuthatches, and the Mysterious Marshmallow Mallards counted 411 birds of 22 different species. Highlights included a Merlin, five species of duck, several Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a Mute Swan strolling down the middle of the road.
The morning concluded with snacks, a tally of the birds recorded, and a visit to the ornithology museum of Muhlenberg College. Kids left with a National Geographic bird book for children and other fun and educational materials. We hope they also left with the start of a lifetime habit of appreciating and conserving birds.
This year, LVAS volunteer Kelly Patla accompanied Team Nutty Nuthatches in the field and provided a video for us to enjoy. Watch the video here!
Event organizers: Barbara Malt and Chad Schwartz.
We thank everyone who contributed as helpers in the classroom and in the field: Peter Saenger, Dan Pokras, Mark Boyd, Jon Levin, and Kelly and Nathan Patla.
And thanks to all of our LVAS members who support this program and others with your membership dollars and donations!
Article written by Barbara Malt and published January 2026 in THE OSPREY VOLUME 50 • NUMBER 1.
THE OSPREY is the Quarterly Newsletter of The Lehigh Valley Audubon Society, provided first only to LVAS members.
Get all the latest news and event notifications by joining our Chapter of the The National Audubon Society.
We begin the new year with a few glimmers of hope for birds, the environment and us. By taking a couple of simple actions, each of us can make those glimmers a little bit brighter:
1) Oppose -- no later than Friday, Jan. 23 -- a federal plan to vastly expand off-shore oil drilling, including in the high Arctic. More than 200 bird species nest in the Arctic; oil spills and habitat disruption from oil rigs are only two of the ways this plan could prove devastating for birds. You can voice your opposition using forms from Earthjustice or the Center for Biological Diversity. As always, be sure to personalize your comment by changing some of the words or adding your own thoughts.
If, like me, you sometimes feel your comments will fall on proverbial "deaf ears," take heart: These comments don't just tell the government how you feel; they also help build a case that environmental litigators will use to try to stop the most destructive Trump administration policies in the courts.
2) Oppose the Senate version of the SPEED Act, a measure that would gut the National Environmental Policy Act, fast-tracking drilling / mining and other potentially destructive projects by eliminating environmental and judicial review and cutting the public out of the decision-making process. Unfortunately, Lehigh Valley Congressman Ryan Mackenzie voted for the SPEED Act To try to make sure it doesn't become law, use this American Bird Conservancy link to contact your Senators.
3) Closer to home, urge your Pennsylvania lawmakers to make our state the first in the nation to ban the highly toxic herbicide Paraquat, which is deadly to birds. A House bill to ban Paraquat -- HB 1135 -- has already been introduced, and a version with bipartisan support is being prepared in the Senate. For more information and to contact your lawmakers, click here.
Now, for a little good news: The U.S. House and Senate passed a 2026 limited spending package that mostly continues current funding levels for several agencies important to birds -- the Department of Interior, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. While far from perfect -- the bill cuts climate research and does nothing to solve chronic agency under-funding, for example -- it is a significant improvement over Trump's request for drastic cuts in environmental programs.
All of our federal lawmakers voted for this funding bill. When Rep. Mackenzie voted yea, however, it included almost 150 anti-environment riders -- all thankfully removed by the Senate. If you feel motivated to thank Mackenzie for his vote on the bill, be sure to also mention that you were grateful the Senate dumped all the riders, and that you were disappointed in his support of the SPEED Act.
-- Liz Brensinger, Conservation Chair
