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 – 19 On Zoom – 11
The minutes from the last meeting were approved.
Committee Reports
Field Trips – Linda Widdop
If you wish to lead a field trip, contact Linda: linda@techimpact.org
Upcoming field trips:
| DATE | TIME | TRIP | LEADER |
| Mar 23 | 8:00 – 10:30 | Tacony Creek Park | Holger Pflicke |
| Mar 23 | 11:30 – 2:30 | In Search of Sandhill Cranes | Barb Bassett |
| Apr 2 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| Apr 3 | 8:00 – 10:00 | Thursday Mornings at Wetherill Park (Montco) | Martin Selzer |
| Apr 5 | 8:30 – 11:00 | Poquessing Creek Park | Holger Pflicke |
| Apr 9 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| Apr 10 | 8:00 – 10:00 | Thursday Mornings at Wetherill Park (Montco) | Martin Selzer |
| Apr 13 | 9:00 – 11:30 | Birding for Wellness with Holly Merker: Accessible Mindful Birding | Holly Merker |
| Apr 16 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| Apr 17 | 8:00 – 10:00 | Thursday Mornings at Wetherill Park (Montco) | Martin Selzer |
| Apr 17 | 7:00 – 8:30 | Independence Hall Spring Bird Walks | George Armistead |
| Apr 19 | 9:30 – 11:30 | Schuylkill Center with the Andora Library | Holger Pflicke |
| Apr 22 | 3:00 – 5:30 | Birding for Wellness: Forest Bathing with Birds | Holly Merker |
| Apr 23 | 4:45 – 6:45 | Pennypack Park with NE Regional Library | Holger Pflicke |
| Apr 23 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| Apr 24 | 8:00 – 10:00 | Thursday Mornings at Wetherill Park (Montco) | Martin Selzer |
| Apr 24 | 7:00 – 8:30 | Independence Hall Spring Bird Walks | George Armistead |
| Apr 26 | 9:30 – 11:30 | Malcom X Park with West Philly Regional Library | Holger Pflicke |
| Apr 27 | 8:00 – 10:30 | West Fairmount Park | Holger Pflicke |
| Apr 30 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| May 1 | 7:30 – 10:00 | Thursday Mornings at Wetherill Park (Montco) | Martin Selzer |
| May 1 | 7:00 – 8:30 | Independence Hall Spring Bird Walks | George Armistead |
| May 7 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| May 8 | 7:30 – 10:00 | Thursday Mornings at Wetherill Park (Montco) | Martin Selzer |
| May 14 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| May 15 | 7:30 – 10:00 | Thursday Mornings at Wetherill Park (Montco) | Martin Selzer |
| May 21 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| May 22 | 7:30 – 10:00 | Thursday Mornings at Wetherill Park (Montco) | Martin Selzer |
| May 28 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Wednesday Spring Bird Walks at Lorimer Park & Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| Jun 4 | 7:00 – 12:00 | Lakehurst Naval Air Station for Upland Sandpiper | Bob Horton |
Membership – Barb Bassett for Rebecca Reicherter
3 new members: Michael Liu, Maddie Evans, John Rateike
Conservation – Perri Strawn and Robert Karchnyak
Perri made some brief statements for the Conservation Committee, mentioning Rob Karchnyack installing an Eastern Bluebird nest box at FDR Park and his work with the Osprey nests. Perri is also looking into getting Philadelphia designated as a “Bird Town”. She then provided an update on the Philadelphia Tree Plan giving us the good news that the original money that was designated and blocked by the new administration, has been reinstated.
Billings – Art McMorris
Manny Dominguez, the winner of the 2024 Bob Billings Big Year Award gave a brief presentation highlighting some of the 283 species of birds he saw in the DVOC program area in 2024.
Art then mentioned that a new Composite Bird List is available on the Bob Billings Big Year page of the DVOC Website.
Cassinia – Holger Pflicke
No report.
Communications – Navin Sasikumar
No report.
Announcements
Gregg Gorton gave some brief statements on “Orni-studies” and how that program began.
Barb Bassett announced that the new Birds of Bucks County Field Guide, which DVOC donated to, was released. She mentioned raffling copies to members.
Navin Sasikumar announced that the City Nature Challenge will be held from April 25 – 28th.
Local Notes
Debbie Beer mentioned Wilson Snipe were being seen in the area.
Barb Bassett noted that she had an Orange-crowned Warbler along with Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Western Palm Warbler at Jefferson Road, Birch Creek, Gloucester County.
Navin Sasikumar noted that a female Painted Bunting was reported at a backyard feeder near Bartram’s Garden.
Patrick McGill had American Crows collecting nesting material on his street in Germantown Philadelphia County, and a Barred Owl in West Fairmount Park.
Sean O’Donnell had Northern Cardinals fighting over a shrub behind his house; lots of Crow pillaging of our stonecrops for nest material. (location not mentioned)
Nilesh Shah had a pair of mature Bald Eagles fly over his house on the 18th; Maple Glen, Montgomery County, and mentioned a report of a dead Bald Eagle in Whitpain Township on Stenton Avenue. He also noted that last Saturday, they had 21 species in Twining Valley Park in Upper Dublin township, including an immature Red-tailed Hawk, seen from about 20 feet, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and even a Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Programs – Navin Sasikumar
Next meeting will be on April 3, featuring Dr. Fengyi Guo – giving a talk on “Stopover Ecology and Conservation of Migratory Landbirds in the Eastern United States”
Evening Program
Tonight’s program was an Orni-studies presentation by Maria Andreina Pacheco and Violet Lange – “The Evolution of Haemosporidian Parasites in Birds and the Timing of Radiation of Passeriformes”
Maria Andreina Pacheco gave a detailed and highly informative talk on symbionts and parasites and how understanding the diversity of these species can help address diverse questions from the origin of infectious diseases to inferring the processes shaping regional biotas.
Violet Lange then gave a talk on her work using whole mitochondrial genomes to estimate the phylogenetic inference of passerines. She spoke about a few facets of her work which could help determine why certain families of birds are seeing accelerated rates of evolution. Hoping to discover what traits could be causing this, if there is one trait across families, or are if they are evolving independently.
Adjournment
After the presentation and some questions, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00pm.