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: In person – 20 On Zoom – 24
The minutes from the last meeting were approved.
Committee Reports
Field Trips – Manny Dominguez for Linda Widdop
If you wish to lead a field trip, contact Linda: linda@techimpact.org
Upcoming field trips:
| DATE | TIME | TRIP | LEADER |
| Feb 21 | 12:00 – 1:00 | Lunch with Ducks – Phila Navy Yard | Manny Dominguez |
| Feb 22 | 8:30 – 2:00 | NEW DATE – Barnegat Inlet Bird Walk – Joint Trip with Liberty Bird Alliance (Wyncote Audubon) | Linda Widdop and Leigh Altadonna |
| Mar 2 | 10:00 – 11:30 | Winter Gulls at Glen Foerd | Holger Pflicke |
| Mar 9 | 8:30 – 10:30 | Pennypack on the Delaware | Holger Pflicke |
| Mar 23 | 8:00 – 10:30 | Tacony Creek Park | Holger Pflicke |
| Apr 17 | 7:00 – 8:30 | Independence Hall Spring Bird Walks | George Armistead |
| Apr 22 | 3:00 – 5:30 | Birding for Wellness: Forest Bathing with Birds | Holly Merker |
| Apr 24 | 7:00 – 8:30 | Independence Hall Spring Bird Walks | George Armistead |
| May 1 | 7:00 – 8:30 | Independence Hall Spring Bird Walks | George Armistead |
Membership –
No new members.
Conservation – Perri Strawn and Robert Karchnyak
Rob Karchnyak discussed the idea of building Osprey nest platforms down along the lower Schuylkill river. He mentioned the possibility of crowd-sourcing to generate the funds and speaking to the company redeveloping the area to help cover the cost. He estimated it would cost about $300 in parts, per platform.
Billings – Art McMorris
Bob Billings Big Year Award Winner. DVOC congratulates Manny Dominguez, the winner of the 2024 Bob Billings Big Year Award. Manny saw 283 species of birds in the DVOC program area in 2024, including three species new to the count. The award will be presented to Manny at a DVOC meeting in the near future, with members of Bob Billings’s family present, and Manny will give us a brief talk about his Big Year effort.
Cassinia –
No report.
Communications – Navin Sasikumar
No report.
Announcements
Barb announced that the Academy of Natural Sciences would be hosting a “Dinos after Dark” event on Friday, Feb. 28. DVOC agreed to have a table at the event and asked for folks to volunteer to table the event.
Art announced that the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl.
Local Notes
Linda Rowan noted that the creek behind her house, in Levittown Bucks County PA, finally thawed out. The first birds seen on it were a pair of Mallards and a male Hooded Merganser. Her pair of Red-tailed Hawks were seen sitting together in a tree near their nest.
Barb Bassett saw two Bald Eagles interacting over the Super Bowl parade. Her raptor counts at Turkey Point saw mainly Northern Harriers, Bald Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, and a dark morph Rough-legged Hawk.
Navin Sasikumar noted that the Great Backyard Bird Count at Laurel Hill cemetery had 32 species on the East side and 25 on the West side.
Rob Karchnyak mentioned he heard the Peregrine Falcons chattering in Manayunk.
Bert Filemyr noted that at the Cape May Northwood Center, he had 12 Fox Sparrows under the feeders. For the past 10 days in his yard, he also had a Blue Jay perfectly imitate a Red-shouldered Hawk, but then saw a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk stalking his feeders.
Martin Dellwo saw some Horned Grebes at Pennypack on the Delaware (POD) as well as a small flock of American Tree Sparrows. He also flushed an American Woodcock. At Rittenhouse Square, he had a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches, an adult and an immature Cooper’s Hawk, Hermit Thrush, Tufted Titmouse and a Downy Woodpecker.
Debbie Beer noted that the Great Backyard Bird Count Pennsylvania tallied 137 species, Philadelphia ranked 4th with 93 species, Delco, 80 species, and that Southeast Pennsylvania was in the top 8!
Programs – Navin Sasikumar
Next meeting will be on March 6, featuring Nicole Jackson (remote) giving a talk titled: “From Birds to Balance: Finding Peace in Nature”
Evening Program
Ethan Kang – A Young Birder’s Take on Birding
Ethan Kang gave a spirited and entertaining talk detailing advancements in technology for today’s birders. He touched on topics such as Merlin, eBird, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and how these things apply to the birding world.
Ethan also spoke of new frontiers in the birding world such as Nocturnal Flight Call (NFC) monitoring, BirdCast, and messaging apps, and how these tools are inspiring the next generation of birders through information, entertainment and conversation.
Adjournment
After the presentation and some questions, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45pm.