Academy of Natural Sciences is closed due to COVID-19. Zoom Meeting
7:00 PM Pre-Meeting to assist with any technical issues and have attendees ready for official meeting at 7:30 PM. Instructions for meeting registration and how to use Zoom were announced on website and weekly digest.
Participants were asked to share their local notes in the chat.
Call to Order: President: Linda Widdop
Call to Order: 7:28pm
Linda welcomed all to the meeting. Minutes from last meeting were approved. The meeting timing is 7:30 – 8pm club business, 8-9pm program and questions, followed by a virtual “Cherry Street” at 9pm.
Registrants: 70, including 22 non-members (some had more than one person per device)
Committee Reports:
Membership Committee: Bonnie Witmer
New Members: Heather Bickley, Rebecca Sameroff, Dwight Molotsky, Brittany Grabois, Susan Sherman, Denise Burkhardt
New Applications: Judy and Ken Foulke, Peter Hamner
Conservation: Anne Bekker
Please send nominations for the Rosalie Edge Award This is to be awarded to a *non-DVOC member* who has made significant contributions to conservation. Send the name and a brief write-up to Anne.sarah.bekker@gmail.com by 10/9.
The new boat launch which is part of the East Falls River Landing project (partnering with Audubon PA and the East Falls Development Corporation). will be worked on next Fall.
Billings: Art McMorris
Art is coordinating the Billings family for a future Zoom meeting to present the 2019 award to Barb Bassett who had 289 species in the DVOC area. Rules are on the website. Get out and go birding!
Banquet: Lauren Diamond
This year’s virtual banquet will be held on November 19th, with speaker Peter Kaestner, an ornithologist whose life list is over 9,000. More details coming soon!
Cassina: Linda Widdop for Matt Halley/Holger Pflicke
All members should have received the latest edition of the Cassina. Matt Halley has retired as Editor. Holger Pflicke will be the next editor. It is not too soon to start thinking of the next articles. If you would like to join the bi-annual editorial board, contact Holger.
Field Trips: Linda Widdop
The DVOC is holding off any further field trips due to COVID-19 restrictions and will review what other organizations are doing.
Youth Birding: Katrina Rakowski
The DVOC Youth Birding initiative is on hold for now. The suggestion was made to add a question to the membership application if interested in joining the Youth Birding group. Eventually information will be added to the website.
Programs: Gregg Gorton
October 15, 2020 at 7:30 pm via Zoom; meeting opens at 7pm
85 Years and Counting: Discovery about Migration and Raptors from Hawk Mountain.
Speaker: Laurie Goodrich. Laurie was the winner of last year’s Rosalie Edge Award. More information at https://dvoc.org/wp/activities/meetings/
Announcements:
The Photo Contest will be held during the second December meeting, 12/17. Get your photos ready now. We are looking for a coordinator and three judges. If interested, please contact Gregg at homoaves@gmail.com
Jason Weckstein : The Academy of Natural Sciences is hosting its annual members night as a members week: https://ansp.org/get-involved/membership/members-night/ If you aren’t a member you can put my name in for the member number to register for the virtual and live online events
Luc Jacobs : Wildside Nature Tours https://wildsidenaturetours.com/ has a number of free webinars that you can register for on their website. They are about birding and photography.
Nathaniel Sharp : https://hogisland.audubon.org/programs/lecture-series
Lauren Diamond : The Big Sit at Exton Park: 10/10/20 7a-7p https://www.facebook.com/events/807260613345787
Debbie Beer : Big Sit at Heinz Refuge is Sunday, Oct 11. pre-registration required to manage limited capacity on the observation deck. Email debbeer1023@gmail.com if interested. The deck is filled until 11am,
although people can stand outside deck and still participate.
Rob Bierregaard: The Julian K. Potter Award committee is seeking nominations for this year’s award. The award is presented at the annual banquet to one or more DVOC members in recognition of outstanding contribution to field ornithology. Previous winners and a link to more about Julian Potter can be found on the DVOC website.
Linda Widdop: The Edge, Potter, and Whitmer Stone Awards will be presented at the Annual Banquet.
Holly Merker (via Linda Widdop): Hawk Mountain is open for visitors.
Local Notes
Marty Dellwo: Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and Bay-breasted Warbler, in Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA.
Bonnie Witmer : Black throated blue, Black throated green, Black and white warbler, American redstart, magnolia warbler, Red tailed hawk with prey, Ruby throated hummingbird still feeding on flowers in our yard Chester County, PA
Sara Busch: congrats to Navin on his Bioblitz results this last weekend!
Barb Bassett: New yard bird – flyover Black-crowned Night-heron Clarksboro, Gloucester County, NJ
Barb Bassett: Black-throated Gray Warbler, Cape May Point, Cape May county, NJ.
Alan Crawford, Barb Bassett: Missed the Allen’s hummingbird in Ocean City, Cape May county, NJ
Hudson Moore: Rose breasted Grosbeak, Black-throated Green Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Northern Parulas,
Ed Edge : Albino house sparrow Greys Ferry, PA
Alan Crawford, Marty Dellwo: The Yellow-green Vireo banded in the South Cape May Meadows was a Hatch Year (HY) bird.
Linda Widdop : For migration predictions check out birdcast.info from Cornell and windy, a wind/weather app.
Evening Program:
The Cassatt Preserve: The Headwaters of Birding at the YMCA
Brian Quindlen, teacher and club member, took us through the amazing history of the Cassatt Preserve and YMCA. This is where BQ learned his love of birds. The Preserve is open to the public. There is an Environmental Education Center with bird feeders and a wildlife garden. BQ showed his early years of birding and participation in the World Series of Birding.
Adjournment
Linda Widdop adjourned the meeting at 9:10 pm.
All were invited to continue the conversation at a virtual Cherry Street Tavern. There were about 20 participants until 10pm.