This was a hybrid meeting, broadcast on Zoom.
Call to Order: Barb Bassett
Call to Order: 7:30 PM
Attendees: 26 viewers.
In person: 21
Linda Widdop moved to approve minutes of the last meeting and Marty Dellwo seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously.
Committee Reports
Membership – Barb Bassett for Rebecca Reicherter
Since the last meeting, two new members have joined the club:
Jasper Lan
Courtney Faber
Others who joined this Fall are:
David Eberly
Bull Gervasi
Karen Kirchhoff
Sydney Liu
Nicholas Nishiura
Zarah Khan
Field Trips – Linda Widdop
If you wish to lead a field trip, contact Linda: linda@techimpact.org
Upcoming field trips:
DATE | TIME | TRIP | LEADER |
12/14/24 | 8:30 – 11:00 | Pennypack on the Delaware | Holger Pflicke |
1/1/25 | 9:00 – 12:00 | Start the New Year off at Heinz | Cliff and Nancy Hence |
1/4/25 | 12:00 AM – 11:45 PM | Philadelphia Mid-Winter Bird Census | Tony Croasdale |
1/18/24 | 11:00 – 12:30 | Winter Gulls at Glen Foerd | Holger Pflicke |
Conservation
No report.
Nominating Committee – Art McMorris
Art McMorris (Chair) reported the Nominating Committee’s slate of nominees for the Jan. 9, 2025 election. The nominees are:
Officers (for 1-year terms):
President: Barbara Bassett
Vice President: Navin Sasikumar
Secretary: Manny Dominguez (Nilesh Shah chose not to be renominated)
Treasurer: Martin Dellwo
Councilors-at-Large (for 3-year terms):
Perri Strawn
Rob Karchnyak
No additional nominations were made from the floor.
Billings
Art says: “Go Birding!”
Cassinia
No report.
Communications
No report.
Announcements
Barb mentioned the dedication of the bench for Frank Windfelder at the Pennypack on the Delaware on Saturday, December 7th. Details were posted in the weekly newsletter.
Local Notes
Manny Dominguez reported seeing a Cave Swallow at the Northeast Water Treatment plant.
Patrick McGill noted that the group that had gathered for the Windfelder dedication saw a couple of Horned Larks, a Tree Sparrow and Peregrine Falcon during the walk to the bench. Photos of the bands on the Peregrine helped identify it as a hatch-year female banded in Westchester County, NY, on May 30, 2024.
Marty Dellwo reported sighting a Bay-breasted Warbler at Rittenhouse Square last Saturday. The bird was seen again on Tuesday.
Bert Filemyr described his sighting of a dark phase Pomarine Jaeger at Barnegat Light. Jason Weckstein saw the same bird separately.
Programs: Navin Sasikumar
Next programs:
- December 19th – Photo contest
- January 9th – Annual Members night (Discovery Center)
Evening Program
This evening’s program was presented by Amar Ayyash, a leading authority on Gulls in North America. Amar’s new book called, “The Gull Guide, North America”, was published in October this year. In his presentation, Amar covered a range of identification tips and rules of thumb, illustrating his guidance with a plethora of beautiful photographs.
You can watch the recording of the talk on the DVOC YouTube channel.





Adjournment
After the presentation and some questions, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM.