Minutes – June 3, 2021 Delaware Valley Ornithological Club

Academy of Natural Sciences is closed due to COVID-19. Zoom Meeting: Instructions for meeting registration and how to use Zoom were announced on website and weekly digest.

7:00 PM The Pre-Meeting focused on bird sightings.

Call to Order: President Linda Widdop

Call to Order: 7:32pm
Registrants: 29

Linda welcomed all to the meeting and introduced the officers. This is the last meeting until the third week of September. As a reminder, meetings are held on the first and third Thursdays of the month. We are hoping to move back to the Academy of Natural Sciences in the Fall. We are also hoping to have an in-person banquet. The Annual Banquet will be held on November 18th.

Minutes from the last regular meeting on May 20, 2021 were approved.

Committee Reports:

Membership Committee: Gregg Gorton for Bonnie Witmer

New Members: Jed Campbell, Stacey Hefferman, Ryan Kipp, Rebecca Syring, Susan Nicholas, Mandi Baffone and Justin Vavala, Judy Leigh, Laila Reilly, Terry Kirk

New Applicants: Melanie McMenamin, Lori Glaudulich, Rebecca Reicherter, Judith Kurnick, Michael Clemmons (Surprise gift applicant)

Field Trips: Linda Widdop

Field Trips are starting up again. Look for new trips added to the schedule on our website: DVOC Field Trips. Read about the completed field trips.

Participants must follow all the COVID-19 Guidelines as posted on the website and must sign a participant release to attend the field trip.

Philadelphia Flower Show: Linda Widdop

Subaru America is a major sponsor of the event and will have a display at the Boat House. DVOC members that will be leading the bird walks throughout the week will be receiving an email from Subaru with instructions. The 20 minute “walks” are really just leading a group to the dock area next to the Boat House to observe any birds in the area. Subaru will have 15 backpacks with binoculars and field guides available for participants. Walks have been scheduled every hour on the schedule below.

Flower Show Shifts:
Sat June 5: 9:00 – 12:00 or 1:00 – 4:00 Show opens at 8:00 and closes at 5:00.
Sun June 6– Sun June 13: 11:00 – 2:00 or 3:00 – 6:00 (show opens at 10:00 and closes at 7:00)

Thank you to the volunteers who have committed to either morning or afternoon shift(s).

Please contact Linda Widdop if anyone is still interested in participating. We could use more volunteers. linda@techimpact.org

Programs: Gregg Gorton

The speaker for the next program on September 16th will be: Andy Mack

Speciation, Biogeography & Some of the Lesser-known Endemic Birds of New Guinea

More information at https://dvoc.org/wp/activities/meetings/ for this and other upcoming meetings.

Local Notes (from the chat)

Linda Widdop: Report on Edwin B Forsythe trip on 5/22. The group was treated to point blank views of Curlew Sandpiper and great looks at 2 Red-necked Phalaropes. https://dvoc.org/blog/forsythe-nwr-shorebird-trip/

Steve Mattan: Southampton, NJ (My Yard): 4 Prothonotary Warblers; Black and White Warbler; Louisiana Waterthrush; 4 Eastern Phoebes have fledged. Southampton, NJ (Not my yard): Red-headed Woodpeckers and Red Crossbills on South Park Road.

Navin Sasikumar: We had a bunch of cicadas in Haverford on Monday. We only found one of the 3 species though.

Stephanie Petro-McClellan: I spotted a Gregg Gorton and Jason Weckstein at Shortridge Memorial Park along with Cedar Waxwings. I found a dead screech owl baby in East Falls, Jefferson campus. I will bring to the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Karyl Weber: Jon Crawford and I saw a melanistic all-black Osprey yesterday (6/2) in the Cape May area, at the Dennis Creek WMA on Conswell Road.

Patrick McGill: Black Tern in breeding plumage at Heinz last Sun and Mon – 5/30 and 5/31.

Barb Bassett Eastern Whip-poor-will in Gloucester County, NJ on 5/23. There was an Olive-sided Flycatcher on Tyler Lake, Gloucester County on 5/24 and 5/25. Cape May Memorial Day weekend: Mississippi Kite, Willow Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, Sooty Shearwater, Arctic Terns, Black-headed Gull and Heermann’s Gull.

A note on the Heermann’s Gull: Many birders, including DVOCers enjoyed the first state record of a Heermann’s Gull from 5/30 to 6/4. It frequented the bayside and the last eBird record including photos, was on Delaware Ave at Cape May Harbor on 6/4. It was first found by Carl Engstrom at Coral Ave., Cape May Point and then refound by Julian Grudens at Sunset Beach. It appeared to be the same bird that had been working it’s way along the East Coast, presumably rode the strong northeast winds down from Massachusetts to NJ.

Heermann’s Gull in pouring rain at Sunset Beach, Cape May, NJ

Announcements

Navin Sasikumar: The website has been updated and made easier to navigate with a color coded calendar and buttons for major sections.

Navin Sasikumar: Last meeting I mentioned birds and mammals are getting trapped in sticky tape used to catch spotted lanternflies. Since then, I made a flyer and website that you can share with family, friends, and neighbors. https://nostickytape.files.wordpress.com/2021/05/say-no-to-sticky-tape-2.png The full website is: bit.ly/slftape

Bob Horton: For those that own a Subaru vehicle, there is a Badge of Ownership program. These badges can be displayed on your vehicle. Recently Subaru has added a Birding Watching icon.