This was a hybrid meeting, broadcast on Zoom. We had a speaker and a live audience in the BEES classroom and the meeting was broadcast on Zoom.
Call to Order: President Barb Bassett
Call to Order: 7:30 PM
Attendees: 20 in person, 14 on Zoom
The minutes from the last meeting were approved.
Committee Reports
Field Trips – Linda Widdop
If you wish to lead a field trip, contact Linda: linda@techimpact.org
Upcoming field trips:
| DATE | TIME | TRIP | LEADER |
| Apr 5 | 8:30 – 11:00 | Poquessing Creek Park | Holger Pflicke |
| Apr 9 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| Apr 10 | 8:00 – 10:00 | Thursday Mornings at Wetherill Park (Montco) | Martin Selzer |
| Apr 13 | 9:00 – 11:30 | Birding for Wellness with Holly Merker: Accessible Mindful Birding | Holly Merker |
| Apr 16 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| Apr 17 | 8:00 – 10:00 | Thursday Mornings at Wetherill Park (Montco) | Martin Selzer |
| Apr 17 | 7:00 – 8:30 | Independence Hall Spring Bird Walks | George Armistead |
| Apr 19 | 9:30 – 11:30 | Schuylkill Center with the Andora Library | Holger Pflicke |
| Apr 22 | 3:00 – 5:30 | Birding for Wellness: Forest Bathing with Birds | Holly Merker |
| Apr 23 | 4:45 – 6:45 | Pennypack Park with NE Regional Library | Holger Pflicke |
| Apr 23 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| Apr 24 | 8:00 – 10:00 | Thursday Mornings at Wetherill Park (Montco) | Martin Selzer |
| Apr 24 | 7:00 – 8:30 | Independence Hall Spring Bird Walks | George Armistead |
| Apr 26 | 9:30 – 11:30 | Malcom X Park with West Philly Regional Library | Holger Pflicke |
| Apr 27 | 8:00 – 10:30 | West Fairmount Park | Holger Pflicke |
| Apr 30 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| May 1 | 7:30 – 10:00 | Thursday Mornings at Wetherill Park (Montco) | Martin Selzer |
| May 1 | 7:00 – 8:30 | Independence Hall Spring Bird Walks | George Armistead |
| May 7 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| May 8 | 7:30 – 10:00 | Thursday Mornings at Wetherill Park (Montco) | Martin Selzer |
| May 14 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| May 15 | 7:30 – 10:00 | Thursday Mornings at Wetherill Park (Montco) | Martin Selzer |
| May 21 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| May 22 | 7:30 – 10:00 | Thursday Mornings at Wetherill Park (Montco) | Martin Selzer |
| May 28 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| Jun 4 | 7:00 – 12:00 | Lakehurst Naval Air Station for Upland Sandpiper | Bob Horton |
Membership – Barb Bassett for Rebecca Reicherter
2 new members
Conservation – Perri Strawn
Perri announced that the annual clean-up of Darby Creek at John Heinz NWR, will be on April 12th. Rob then mentioned that a clean-up was also happening at FDR Park on the same date.
Billings – Art McMorris
Go Birding!
Cassinia – Barb Bassett Holger Pflicke
Holger reported the cost, and council approved the money for the publication of the new issue.
Communications – Navin Sasikumar
No report.
Announcements
Barb Bassett announced that the Gloucester County Nature Club will be holding it’s 25th annual Bird Quest event on May 3rd. She also mentioned that the CMBO spring watch has started and will schedule a trip there. Lastly, she announced that the Subaru Earth Day celebration is on Tuesday April 22, and that if anyone was interested in tabling the event to please contact Barb or Linda Widdop
Debbie Beer announced that Team Raven LunaChicks will again be participating in the World Series of Birding to raise money for NJ Audubon and DVOC.
Navin announced that the City Nature Challenge will be held from April 25-28th
Local Notes
Perri Strawn had a Say’s Phoebe at Dixon Meadow in Montgomery County.
Barb Bassett noted that there was a Black-necked Stilt at the South Cape May Meadows. Yellow-throated Warblers are in at Belleplain and Davies Sports Park, Cape May County.
Marty Dellwo mentioned chasing the Gray-breasted Martin that was recently seen in Staten Island, NY, he also chased some European Goldfinch that have been seen at Bryant Park in New York. Locally he mentioned that an Eastern Whip-poor-will was heard singing at Eastwick outside of John Heinz NWR.
Patrick McGill had a pair of American Crows copulating and nest building on his block in Germantown.
Debbie Beer had two Pine Warblers in her backyard in Delaware County. She also had 4 Pectoral Sandpiper and Wilson’s Snipe on Hog Island Road in Delaware County.
Manny Dominguez had a Little Gull mixed in with a group of Bonaparte’s Gulls flying past the Navy Yard.
Rob Karchnyak had a group of Wilson’s Snipe at the new FDR wetlands and also the FDR Red-headed Woodpecker was seen now sporting a full red head.
Programs – Navin Sasikumar
Next meeting will be on April 17, featuring Erin Poole and Haley Phillips– giving a talk on the Pennsylvania Game Commission, “Your State’s Wildlife Agency”
May 29th special event will be Dexter Paterson speaking at the Academy
Evening Program
Tonight’s speaker Dr. Fengyi Guo (Freda) gave a talk titled “Stopover Ecology and Conservation of Migratory Landbirds in the Eastern United States”
Dr. Fengyi Guo is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and a Rose Fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Her talk focused on her research in bird migration and conservation using radar data to identify and characterize stop over hotspots used by migratory landbirds in the eastern United States. Her research assessed how migratory birds negotiate migratory barriers, like the Gulf of Mexico and the Corn Belt, and how this data can be used to focus conservation efforts.
Adjournment
After the presentation and some questions, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00pm.