The Lancaster County Bird Club (LCBC) will offer a field trip to Chestnut Grove Natural Area in Conestoga on Saturday, Dec. 7, with an 8 a.m. start. The field trip is free and open to the public. Target birds are winter residents including several species of sparrows. Those who plan to attend should contact leader Sarah Gotwols by calling or texting 717-940-3804 or emailing sarahann71880@gmail.com by 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6. If necessary, weather-related cancellations will be made the day prior to the event and registered participants will be notified.

Additionally, the club will meet on Thursday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. at the North Museum of Nature and Science, 400 College Ave., Lancaster.

Stefan Karkuff from the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) will present "PGC's Initiatives for Recovering PA's Birds." Many of Pennsylvania's bird species are in decline, and the PGC is working on several statewide initiatives to help reverse these trends for some species. Karkuff will discuss many of the ongoing recovery projects in detail, from kestrel and barn owl efforts to habitat management for grassland species. He will preview some of the upcoming projects that are just taking flight, including recovery of aerial insectivores, GPS tracking state-endangered species, and nightjar surveys.

Karkuff grew up in Cumberland County, where he became enthusiastic about birding as a young teenager. He attended Ithaca College for his undergraduate studies and then went to the State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse to earn a master's degree in conservation biology. After graduate school, he returned to central Pennsylvania as a Pheasants Forever biologist working with local farmers to create wildlife habitat on private lands, mainly by converting cropland to grassland habitat. In 2022 he took a position with the PGC as the avian recovery biologist working on statewide initiatives to recover Pennsylvania's declining bird species.

The program is free and open to the public. For more details, call 717-856-3851 or 717-725-2717 for questions.

Information about the LCBC is available at http://www.lancasterbirdclub.org, http://www.facebook.com/lancasterbirdclub, and http://www.instagram.com/lancasterbirdclub.