This was a hybrid meeting. We had a speaker and a live audience in the BEES classroom and the meeting was broadcast on Zoom and recorded and posted to YouTube.
Call to Order: President Barb Bassett
Call to Order: 7:30 PM
Barb introduced all the officers and councilors.
Attendees: 12 in-person; 22 on Zoom.
The minutes from the last meeting were approved.
Committee Reports
Membership – Barb Bassett for Rebecca Reicherter
No new members have joined since the last meeting.
Field Trips – Barb Bassett for Linda Widdop
If you wish to lead a field trip, contact Linda: linda@techimpact.org
Upcoming field trips:
| DATE | TIME | TRIP | LEADER |
| Feb 3 | 9:00 – 10:00 AM | Waterfowl at FDR Park | Holger Pflicke |
| Feb 10 | 8:30 – 10:30 | Pennypack on the Delaware | Holger Pflicke |
| Feb 10 | 9:00 – 11:00 | BirdPhilly and Philly Queers Birders Navy Yard Duck Watch | |
| Feb 11 | 9:30 – 11:00 | Winter Gulls at Glen Foerd | Holger Pflicke |
| Feb 17 | 9:00 – 11:00 | Great Backyard Bird Count Walk at Laurel Hill Cemetery (East) | Navin Sasikumar |
| Feb 17 | 9:00 – 11:00 | Great Backyard Bird Count Walk at West Laurel Hill Cemetery | Ken Walsh |
| Feb 29 | 9:00 – 12:00 | Bird Walk at Heinz NWR | Cliff Hence |
| Mar 9 | 8:00 – 1:00 | Late Winter Barnegat Light and Long Beach Island, NJ (joint trip with Wyncote Audubon Society) | Ken Walsh and Leigh Altadonna |
Conservation – Barb Bassett
Perri Strawn and Johannes Nelson have agreed to co-chair the committee. Both have a strong interest in conservation and will be meeting with committee members in the next few weeks to discuss the next steps. Anyone who wants to contribute can send a note to conservation@dvoc.org.
Billings – Art McMorris
The deadline for submission has passed. The judges are looking at all the entries.
Cassinia – Gregg Gorton for Holger Pflicke
Editing is underway.
Communications – Navin and Marty
If you are interested in the newsletter and are not receiving it, you can sign up here: https://dvoc.org/publications/weekly-digest/. You can also sign up to receive the newsletter even if you are not a member.
If you have changed your email or are contemplating changing it, please send a note to treasurer@dvoc.org.
Announcements
Barb asked the audience to communicate to everybody that they can participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count by just birding on that day. However, both the Laurel Hill Cemetery walks are great (see field trips above).
Local Notes
Judy Stepenaskie reported seeing a Red-shouldered Hawk at Bartram’s Garden but her search for the Painted Bunting was not fruitful.
Multiple people reported either seeing the Painted Bunting or missing it.
Manny Dominguez reported a sighting of a Barrow’s Goldeneye, seen across the fishing pier at Nockamixon, Bucks County and a Red-necked Grebe fly-by at the Navy Yard.
Patrick McGill reported that a Yellow-breasted Chat was hanging out at the BioPond on the UPenn campus. He also heard Woodcocks starting to peent and display at Heinz NWR by Frog Pond and Eastwick open space. He also reported a Red-breasted Merganser seen hanging out at Heinz in the past couple of days.
Barb Bassett mentioned that a Red-flanked Bluetail was still being seen in Ocean County, NJ. Many Baltimore Orioles have also been visiting orange and jelly feeders in the Cape May area. Dovekies were seen from the shore in Cape May County but some showed up dead on the beaches. Some of these specimens have made it to the Academy and will be added to their collection.
Programs: Navin Sasikumar
March 7: 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Game Night at Discovery Center
March 15: 7:15 – 9:30 PM
Robin Irizarry (Audubon Mid-Atlantic): “A healthier Watershed for Birds and People”
Academy of Natural Sciences, BEES Classroom, 3rd floor
More information on the Meetings page of the DVOC website for this and other upcoming meetings.
Evening Program
Campbell Simmons, a life-long birder and an Associate for Climate Resilient Communities and Policy at River Network, was the speaker for the evening. She emphasized the importance of centering environmental and climate action on people, ensuring that the members of the affected communities are engaged in creating solutions aimed at alleviating the issues plaguing their eco-system. She advocated for building relationships between people and nature and between solution providers and affected communities.
The meeting was recorded.
Adjournment
After the presentation and some questions, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00pm.