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> January 22, 2009 Minutes
Minutes of the DVOC
January 22, 2009
The meeting was called to order at 7:35 PM by Rick Mellon, sitting in for President Paul Guris. There were 25 members and 4 guests present.
Guests Eric Ahern, Scott Ahern, Lamar Corls and Stan Shur were introduced.
Correction to last minutes of January 8th: Frank Windfelder reported that the
CBC Reports were compiled by Frank and reported on at the meeting by both Frank
and Debbie.
Committee Reports:
Membership:
Chair Connie Goldman announced the receipt of an application for membership
from Wong Kong of Sicklerville, NJ. This person did not include any information
about himself. Connie will contact him for a bio and then submit the application
to Council. Tony Croasdale said he has spoken by phone to this person; Frank
Windfelder reported this birder was on at least one DVOC field trip with him.
No other committees had new information to report.
Field Trips:
Frank Windfelder reported on the 1/17/09-1/19/09 trip to Montauk NY with co-leaders
Chris Walters and Erica Brendel. Among species seen were American Woodcocks,
Snowy Owls and an impressive flock of 23 Lapland Longspurs at Jones Beach along
with other barren ground birds. A somewhat surprising miss on the trip this
year was Razorbill.
Bert Filemyr reported on the 1/17/09 combined Wyncote Bird Club/DVOC trip to
Cape May with leader Martin Selzer. The trip started at the Villas site, where
75 Rusty Blackbirds were seen. Also notable for the trip were the Rufous Hummingbird
at a feeder in the Cape May area, and an Eared Grebe. The day ended with a good
sighting of 4 to 5 Short-eared Owls at Jakes Landing.
Upcoming Field Trips:
Tom Reeves invited participants on his 1/24/09 Conowingo Dam and Perryville,
MD area trip for the coming weekend.
Tony Croasdale announced his upcoming 1/25/09 field trip to Husted Landing to
target the Sandhill Crane flock in Southern NJ. Habitats to be visited will
include stubble fields and salt marsh with specific spots to include Bivalve
and Turkey Point, with the cranes expected to be seen as they come in to roost
later in the day. The trip will end at Jakes Landing at dusk with the Short-eared
Owls as primary target there.
Adrian Binns announced that on Feb 1st Debbie Beer will lead the trip to Roosevelt
Park in Philadelphia. In addition to a general search for wintering birds, the
focus will be on waterfowl in the open water there.
Adrian also announced that Colin Campbell will lead a trip to Delaware City
on Feb. 7th. Birds on the Delaware River and the areas freshwater ponds will
be explored.
Programs:
Frank Windfelder announced upcoming programs including:
Feb. 5th – Mary Gustafson “Don’t Just Blink – Look Twice,
Texas Style” – double-checking bird IDs.
Feb 19th – Jeff Hall “Behaving Beautifully” – behaviors
of Florida birds captured in photography.
March 5th – Jeff Gordon – “Kingfishers and their Allies.”
April 2nd – Bill Evans – topic not yet announced, but a popular
speaker.
Announcements:
Adrian Binns announced that he had with him the new Nikon 50mm compact field
scope. Weight is just 18 oz, making it ideal for travel. Price is under $700.
Paul and Anita Guris are now Nikon dealers, if anyone is interested.
Tony Croasdale announced that he’s working on an offering of a DVOC trip
to Belize for January 2010. He has contacts that are starting up an Eco-lodge
there and are looking to draw birders in. It is to be an environmentally sensitive
operation, with solar and micro-hydroelectric power sources and composting toilets,
etc. Birds likely for the trip include Tody Motmot, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Emerald
Toucanet and many others. A relative who is a travel agent will help keep costs
low.
Bert Filemyr announced that the Conservation Committee is looking for suggestions
for our DVOC conservation grant for 2009. Contact Debbie Beer.
Bert also announced that dues are due! 2009 Directories are here. Take yours
and take those of your friends; otherwise they will be mailed.
Bert announced he had acquired colorful bird postcards that could be appropriate
for education, available to the first taker – Josh Robeson took them!
Frank Windfelder reported on plans underway for oil company clean-up and preservation
for nature of an old spill site in Camden. There was a link to the article about
this in last Sunday’s (1/18/09) DVOC list-serv Digest.
Local Notes:
Cindy Ahern reported Pine Siskins, Black Vulture and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
at her home in Meadowbrook. She had a Chipping Sparrow visited for a week there.
A Bald Eagle flew over her house.
Phil Witmer also has Pine Siskins in Havertown. At Bartram Gardens he witnessed
a Cooper’s Hawk go after a Cardinal. He saw a Great Blue Heron out of
its usual habitat, walking around on a baseball field.
Linda Rowan reported the dead White-winged Crossbill found outside the Silver
Lake Nature Center in Bucks County. No flock of live crossbills has been spotted
there.
Bert Filemyr reported a flock of 25 siskins at his feeder in Abington.
Frank Windfelder reported that on 1/16 Chuck Hetzel had a large flock of siskins
at his home near Schuylkill Valley Nature Center and that Chuck heard flyover
crossbills there.
Steve Kacir reported 30 White-winged Crossbills at Valley Forge National Historic
Chapel. Redpoll was also seen.
Doris McGovern reported on the Philadelphia Mid-winter Census coordinated by
Keith Russell. Possible smaller numbers than the average, though this has not
yet been confirmed by final reports. Of note were the sighting of Orange –crowned
Warbler and Long-eared Owl during that week, though not on count day. So far,
95 species have been reported. Al Bilheimer saw, in the Chestnut Hill section
of the count, 8 Screech Owls and 2 Pileated Woodpeckers.
Tom Bailey reported Rough-winged Swallows continue at the water treatment plant.
There was a discussion about the number of birds there being in proportion to
the number of midges. Workers at the plant report swarms of midges at times.
Rick Mellon reported a single crossbill identified in the Water Gap area of
PA. He stopped at Lake Nockamixon, finding 20 crossbills there. He noted that
they can be concealed in the treetop while feeding and may make no vocalization
then. Listen for a sound of “light rain” as debris falls away as
they eat.
Ornithological Study:
Adrian Binns displayed a few remarkable photographs of birds with formed ice
built up on their bill, breast feathers or other parts. While no definitive
explanation was available, the photos stimulated discussion about the rarity
of sightings like these, and why it may have happened to these individual birds.
Program:
Cindy Ahern presented her program about Tri-state Bird Rescue. Her interesting
PowerPoint and poster display focused on the organizations multiple roles in
rehabilitation of birds brought in as the result of nesting failures, injuries
and oil spills.
The meeting was adjourned by 9:30pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Connie Goldman,
Sitting in for Art McMorris, DVOC Secretary