This was a hybrid meeting, broadcast on Zoom.
Call to Order: President Barb Bassett
Call to Order: 7:30 PM
Attendees: 17 viewers.
In person: 3 (plus Barb, Navin)
Marty moved to approve the minutes of the last meeting and Gregg seconded the motion.
Committee Reports
Membership – Barb Bassett for Rebecca Reicherter
One new member joined since the last meeting: David Eberly
Field Trips – Linda Widdop
If you wish to lead a field trip, contact Linda: linda@techimpact.org
Upcoming field trips:
| DATE | TIME | TRIP | LEADER |
| Oct 5 | 8:00 – 10:00 | Discovery Center | Ken Walsh |
| Oct 5 | 8:00 – 9:30 | Fernhill Park | Holger Pflicke |
| Oct 5 | 8:30 – 10:30 | Dixon Meadow Preserve (w/LBA) | Troy Bynum |
| Oct 6 | 8:00 – 11:00 | FDR Park | Holger Pflicke |
| Oct 9 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Lorimer Park / Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| Oct 10 | 8:00 – 10:30 | Harriet Wetherill Park | Martin Selzer |
| Oct 12 | 6:00 – 7:30 | Big Sit at Heinz Refuge | Debbie Beer |
| Oct 12 | 7:00 – 12:00 | Cape May for Fall Migrants | Linda Widdop |
| Oct 12 | 8:00 – 10:30 | Pennypack Park | Holger Pflicke |
| Oct 13 | 8:30 – 10:30 | Fort Washington State Park (w/LBA) | Nilesh Shah |
| Oct 13 | 6:00 – 7:30 | Big Sit at Rose Tree Park | Debbie Beer |
| Oct 13 | 8:00 – 10:30 | Tacony Creek Park | Holger Pflicke |
| Oct 15 | 8:00 – 10:00 | Schuylkill Center for Env. Education | Sandy Grimwade |
| Oct 16 | 7:30 – 9:00 | Lorimer Park / Fox Chase Farm | Linda Widdop |
| Oct 16 | 8:00 – 10:30 | Harriet Wetherill Park | Martin Selzer |
Conservation – Perri Strawn
Judy Stepenaskie and Rob Karchnyak created strong interest in Chimney Swifts in the city because they led the field trip to the school. The committee is receiving a lot of positive feedback and reports of swifts around the city. The Philadelphia Inquirer article also helped highlight the Swift-watching event. Judy reported large gatherings in the past few days at multiple locations in the city.
Perri requested attendees to nominate conservation leaders in the community for the Rosalie Edge Award.
Billings – Barb Bassett
Barb reminded people to get their lists together for the Billings award.
Banquet – Navin Sasikumar
Navin reminded everyone to buy their tickets for the banquet, preferably early. Speaker will be the renowned cartoonist, Rosemary Mosco.
Authors are invited to bring their books and offer them for sale at the banquet.
A couple of libraries of past members are up for sale. Some of the books will be available at the banquet.
Cassinia – Holger Pflicke
Barb reminded everyone to respond to Holger if they want a hard copy. Otherwise, the issue will be sent electronically.
Communications – Navin Sasikumar
No report
Awards
Nominations are also open for the Witmer Stone and Julian K. Potter awards.
Frank Windfelder memorial bench
We are waiting for the bench to be ready for installation.
Announcements
No report.
Local Notes
Manny Dominguez reported that this summer eight Brown Boobies have been seen flying along the river at the Navy Yard. The birds have been seen by many birders on both sides of the river.
Marty Dellwo was looking for the Brown Booby at the Navy Yard when several Forster’s Terns were seen flying upriver. While everyone was looking at these birds, a Sabine’s Gull was seen moving upriver.
Earlier this week, due to the low cloud river at Cape May, Barb heard a number of species flying over and she identified several such as thrushes, Bobolinks, herons, night herons, warblers, etc.
Linda Rowan had an Eastern Phoebe and a Brown Thrasher in her yard in Levittown, Bucks County.
Rob Karchnyak found a Lark Sparrow at FDR Park. While looking for this sparrow, Peter Hamner saw a Red-headed Woodpecker in the same location.
Gregg Gorton reported seeing both pale-lored and dark-lored White-Crowned Sparrows in Patagonia, AZ. He recommended looking for this difference to birders who might see these sparrows in the Delaware Valley, because it is useful information for eBird.
Programs: Navin Sasikumar
On October 17th, Tina Morris will be the speaker. She has been involved in the Raptor re-introduction program. Her latest book is available for sale.
The annual photo contest will be on December 19th. All the details are on the club website. This year’s bird of the year is the Baltimore Oriole. Next year’s bird of the year is Chimney Swift.
Evening Program
Kojo Baidoo gave a talk on “Vulture Village: A Look into the Fascinating World of Black Vultures”. Kojo studied this species for his senior thesis project. He is currently the Interpretative Naturalist for the Cape May Bird Observatory. Kojo talked about the natural history of these birds, including topics such as sociality, nesting habits, behavior of juveniles, and aggression between birds. The talk attracted a lot of questions and comments from the attendees.
Adjournment
After the presentation and some questions, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM.