CANCELLED - Field Trip: Bird Walk at Piney Run Park with Pete Givan

Photo credit: Melissa McMasters

This field trip has been cancelled. It's going to be too hot for us...and the birds!

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Join us for a birding field trip at Piney Run Park with Pete Givan! Piney Run’s lake is surrounded by 550 acres of fields, forest and open spaces which contain over 5 miles of hiking trails. We can hope to see Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Indigo Bunting, a variety of flycatchers and vireos, and maybe a Scarlet/Summer Tanager.

What to bring: Bring your field guides, binoculars, sunscreen, and water bottles.

Please note that there is an additional $5 resident/$10 non-resident park entrance fee so carpooling is encouraged: Please email Emily at eglaeser@marylandnature.org and she can put you in contact with others who would like to carpool.

About our leader: Mr. Givan began to take an interest in birding when he was growing up. His mother was an amateur birder and that affinity was passed on to him. He casually identified birds in his youth and then came college and the military where he moved away from that activity. It wasn't until his forties when he began birding again. In 1997 he began working for the Wild Bird Centers which focus on backyard birding. He took it a step further and began leading local bird walks. His birding circle which consists of around 60 people has birded not only locally, but along the Eastern Shore, Cape May, and Western Maryland. Now that Mr. Givan has retired from running a Wild Bird Center storefront he hopes to expand his birding areas to include many more states throughout the country.

One of Mr. Givan’s goals while running his store was to get young folks interested in birding. One young man (Cameron) has birded with him for the last 5 years. He is now 17 and a birding phenom. Mr. Givan has sponsored him to go to a couple of birding summer camps to learn more about bird behavior and bird habitat which are just as  important in making a proper identification. Needless to say, Mr. Givan is a valuable asset to the birding community and we can’t wait to get out in the field with him!

Mr. Givan, like most of the other people who lead NHSM field trips, is a volunteer, so your money will go directly to support the programs, the nature collections, and the building that make this kind of nature education possible. Donate or become a member of the Natural History Society of Maryland by visiting https://marylandnature.org/support-maryland-nature/.