Delaware Valley Ornithological Club
Time: 7:38pm (in BEES Conf Rm)
Call To Order:
President: George Armistead
VP: Linda Widdop; Secretary: Gregg Gorton
Minutes from last meeting approved as submitted.
Attendees:
Members present: 22; Guests: John Lemonick, Bob Michener
Reports from Council:
none
Committee Reports:
Membership Committee:
Bonnie Witmer
New Members: none
New applications received: none
Cassinia:
Matt Halley
–>Please send any written submission to Matt for consideration by the December 31, 2018 deadline.
Conservation Committee:
George Armistead
Ann Reeves, the Chair, has stepped down. We thank her very much for her excellent service. Holger Pflicke & Ann Bekker will be the new Co-chairs, and we appreciate their volunteering to take charge!
Banquet:
Lauren Diamond
The date is November 15, [email protected]:00pm
Speaker: Kevin Karlson (and possibly Pete Dunne)
Field Trips:
Linda Widdop
CANCELLED: Tannersville Cranberry Bog
May 19, 2018 @ 7:30 am – 12:00 pm
Trip Leader: Cindy Ahern
Tacony Creek Park
799 E Tabor Rd – Philadelphia
May 19, 2018 @ 8:00 am – 10:30 am
https://ebird.org/hotspot/L3067523
Trip Leader: Keith Russell
Free to all members and non-members
Join us for a FREE walk led by expert birder Keith Russell of Audubon Pennsylvania. Expect some good bird spotting during the Spring migration, in addition to our great year-round birds.
Amico Island Park
81 Norman Ave – Riverside
May 20, 2018 @ 8:00 am – 12:00 pm
Trip Leader: Sandra Keller
Free to all members and non-members
Sandra’s Burlington County series of trips will hit Amico Island in May. May is migration month and hopefully the weather cooperates. If not a good migration day, we can switch locations easily and explore Taylor’s Refuge which is near here. Here is a link to the site – with a trail map.
http://www.co.burlington.nj.us/926/Amico-Island-Park
The site says the park opens at 8:00 AM so we will start then. Please meet in the parking lot. Plug in 81 Norman Ave. Riverside, NJ to maps to get there.
Please RSVP to Sandra if you are coming. Note that she will also change the start time to 7:00AM if she learns the site is open earlier. Email: sandrakeller@verizon.net.
John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum
May 26, 2018 @ 8:00 am – 11:00 am 8600 Lindbergh Blvd., Philadelphia, PA
Trip Leader: Navin Sasikumar
https://ebird.org/hotspot/L504403
Free to all members and non-members
Join Navin Sasikumar for the end of spring migration and the beginning of the breeding season for many song birds. This is a good time for shorebirds and warblers.
Susquehanna & Havre de Grace State Parks
May 27, 2018 @ 7:00am-noon
Trip Leaders: Todd Fellenbaum and George Armistead
Meet at Susquehanna State Park entrance
Free to members and non-members
Lakehurst Naval Air Station
June 21, 2018 – NOTE THAT THIS TRIP is FULLY BOOKED
Trip Leader: Bob Horton
–>Please contact Linda if you want to lead a trip outside Philadelphia: Linda@techimpact.org
–>Please contact Tony Croasdale if you want to lead a walk inside Philadelphia (for DVOC’s BirdPhilly initiative): Tony.croasdale@gmail.com
(Details for all walks/trips can be found at http://dvoc.org/activities/field-trips/ )
Programs:
Linda Widdop
June 7, 2018@ 7:30pm-9pm (in BEES Conference Room)
Peregrine Falcons at St. John the Baptist Church in Manayunk
Speaker: Judy Stepenaskie
THIS IS THE FINAL PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
Details and Meeting Schedule can be found at http://dvoc.org/wp/activities/meetings/
Announcements:
Matt Halley: Gave a shout-out to Doris McGovern, who is the eBird reviewer for Philadelphia County, which is a thankless–and wholly volunteer–task. We should acknowledge that and thank her!
(He noted that Al Guarente–another DVOC member–is the Delaware County Reviewer.)
Matt Halley & Holger Plicke: There will be another Philadelphia Breeding Bird Census in June this year. Please sign up for sites on the google.doc that Holger Pflicke (compiler) will send out to everyone. We need as many sites covered as possible, but any birding you do in Philadelphia (eg from your living place!) in June can be eBirded and sent to Holger. Please take careful note of Breeding Status, and add ample notes!
Local Notes:
Marty Dellwo: Saw Common Yellowthroat, Cedar Waxwing and Common Nighthawk from his place in Philadelphia.
Matt Halley: Was at Bartram’s Garden with George Armistead and they had Mourning and Wilson’s Warblers singing. At Heinz, Matt found 2 American Redstart nests and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird Nest, and heard Gray-cheeked Thrush singing.
Linda Widdop: Had a Hooded Warbler at Pennypack Environmental Center; and a Barred Owl was also found there by Pete Kurtz. She also got a photo of the Swainson’s Warbler in Cape May. This comment led to some discussion as to whether that species may be breeding in Southern Delaware, as it used to.
Katrina Rakowski: Was one of the members of the DVOC/ABA World Series of Birding Team that found 129 species during the Carbon Footprint Challenge, including the singing Swainson’s Warbler.
Ann Bekker: Noted that “lots of Summer Tanagers seem to be
showing up this year, including one at Roxborough Reservoir on May 6, one at Carpenter’s Woods on May 8, and a total of 6 in Philadelphia, so far this year.
Barb Bassett: Saw a Magnificent Frigatebird from her house at Cape May Point.
George Armistead: Found a calling Yellow-bellied Flycatcher in his small yard at 18th & Federal Streets, Philadelphia, and photographed it. Until it called, and since he had been otherwise occupied, he had barely noticed it out of the corner of his eye and had figured it was a Least Flycatcher. He also heard hundreds of thrush flight calls one night.
Holger Plicke: Said he had recorded approximately 650 nocturnal thrush night calls and approximately 1800 warbler flight calls one night from his listening station at his home on S. Warnock Street.
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Program Speaker:
Tom Reider
The Physics of Flight
Tom gave a quite delightful and hands-on talk, with assistance from his wife, Charmaine. He incorporated props such as model planes, feathers, model birds, and pieces of paper in order to demonstrate various principles of physics relevant to flight, and at one point he had volunteers pretending to be geese flying in formation, which was a quite moving moment for all.
Tom used many props to illustrate the ideas he presented.
Volunteers simulated Canada Geese in flight!
Meeting Adjourned:
9:00pm
After Meeting at Cherry Street Tavern:
As usual, some members enjoyed beverages and bird-chat and may have still tried blowing air across scraps of paper to test for aerodynamic properties.