7:30 PM Academy of Natural Sciences
Meeting called by President Phil Witmer
Secretary: Linda Widdop
Attendees: 26
Guests: Lauren Diamond
Opening Remarks Phil Witmer
Phil Witmer welcomes members and guests to the meeting. December 1st meeting minutes were approved by members in attendance.
Committee Reports
Membership: Bonnie Witmer
Bonnie Witmer announces new member Tom Reed. A membership application from Todd Alliger is announced.
Field Trips: Navin Sasikumar
Navin announces a field trip to Mt. Moria Cemetery on January 7th. Meet in the parking lot at 3 PM.
Nominating: Art McMorris
Slate of officers and councilors are announced:
President – Martin Dellwo
Vice President – George Armistead
Secretary – Linda Widdop
Treasurer – Bert Filemyr
Councilors at Large – Gregg Gorton and Tony Croasdale will rotate off of council. Nominating Barbara Bassett and Navin Sasikumar.
Floor is open for nominations – no nominations suggested
Billings Big Year: Art McMorris
Art describes the Bob Billings Big Year competition. Full information on the Bob Billings Big Year is on the DVOC website: under the “About” tab, go to “Committees”. Participants must sign up by March 31.
Upcoming Meetings
January 5th 2017 – Annual Meeting – held at Jenkins Arboretum with refreshments for the 4th year. Bonnie will coordinate food and beverage. Registration form now posted on the DVOC website. Please use this form to let Bonnie know if you will attend and if you will bring any food or beverage.
Bert Filemyr will do a short presentation on “The Strange Case of Club Member Charles J. Pennock”
Announcements
Jack Creighton announces that he wants to organize an art show for DVOC members in 2017. Details will be provided at a later date.
Phil Witmer announces that nominations for Honorary Members and Fellows should be submitted to him before the Annual Members Meeting in January. Bert Filemyr explains that “Honorary” should be thought of as “Honored”. Nominate
Rick Mellon asked a question he heard many years ago: What bird breeds within sight of the Empire State Building in New York City, yet has never been recorded in New York State? Answer: Carolina Chickadee. Although this may no longer be true, it’s an interesting question which helps illuminate the species’ identification. Rick explained that he never has problems identifying chickadees in the Pocono Mountains, the northern tier of Pennsylvania and points north. Granted only Black-caps are found up north, but if you know the northern Black-caps and the southern Carolinas (south Jersey, Delaware and points south), you know they are obviously different. The gestalt is truly distinctive. To Rick, each species mimics its winter habitat: north of the 30 inch annual snow fall line, black-caps inhabit brilliant, contrasting snow covered woods with deep shadows. South of the snow line, most of the woods are drab gray with little contrast – Carolina country.
In between we have hybrids and occasional invasive Black-caps. In his opinion, the two species are easily identified at a glance. So why the arguments about which species we’re looking at? If you have to look twice, it’s a hybrid.
Local Notes/Sightings
Mike O’Brien reports 2 Black Vultures roosting at the Senior Center in Philadelphia.
Linda Widdop reports Black-capped Chickadee at the feeder in Rydal PA.
Barbara Bassett reports Cackling Geese in Clarksboro NJ
Annual Member’s Photo Night
Martin Dellwo hosts the annual photo night. Winners are listed on the main DVOC website.
Adjournment
Phil Witmer Adjourns the meeting at 9:10 PM