7:30 PM Academy of Natural Sciences (Commons)
Meeting called by President Martin Dellwo
Vice President: George Armistead
Secretary: Linda Widdop
Attendees: 31
Guests: Connie Shafer, Liz Armistead, Joe Wunderle
Opening Remarks Martin Dellwo
Marty Dellwo calls the meeting to order and welcomes members and guests.
Minutes from last meeting approved by membership
Committee Reports
Membership: Bonnie Witmer
Bonnie welcomes new members : .
Leigh Altodona – Wyncote PA
Leigh Ashbrook – Conshohocken PA
Eileen Murphy – Flemington NJ
Kyle Chelius – Mullica Hill NJ
Ned Levi – Phila PA
Cassinia: Matt Halley
Next issue is at printer. Artwork by Katrine Rakowski. Asking for submissions for issue #77 starting with 2017. Contact Matt if you have ideas for articles.
Conservation: Anne Reeves
Looking ahead to a fundraiser in spring – guest bartending event to raise funds for conservation. More details to come.
Banquet Committee: Navin Sasikumar
Website is updated with registration page to purchase tickets. Neil Hayward will be speaking on big year record.
Witmer Stone Committee: Gregg Gorton
Committee seeks nominees for the award. Nominations will be closed on Oct 15th.
Field Trips: Tony Croasdale
Tacony Creek Park Birdwalk, September 23, 8am-10:30am
Hosted by the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership. Join us for a free walk led by expert birder Martin Selzer of Wyncote Audubon.
Andorra, Heinz NWR, Militia Hill, Mill Grove, Valley Forge
September 29, 2017 @ 7:30 am – October 1, 2017 10:00 am
Multipe Locations
DVOC/BirdPhilly are hosting bird walks for the American Birding Expo at Andorra Meadow, John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge,John James Audubon Center Mill Grove, Valley Forge National Historic Park, and Fort Washington State Park’s Militia Hill Hawk Watch. For more info and to register for the expo:
Details can be found at http://dvoc.org/activities/field-trips/
Upcoming Meetings: George Armistead
Oct 5th – Joint meeting with Wyncote Audubon. Meeting in Auditorium – Bird/Window collisions
Oct 19th – Matt Halley – Audubon presentation using new information
Meeting schedule and details can be found at http://dvoc.org/wp/activities/meetings/
Announcements
Harry Armistead reports on Dorchester County MD fall bird count with 166 species
Local Notes
Linda Widdop – Woodstork in Cape May
Win Shafer – Sedge Wren at Gwynned Preserve
Matt Halley – reports a shipment of dead birds from Puget Sound contained interesting birds including first Washington state record of Wood Thrush.
Art McMorris – summarized peregrine season had 50 pair (new high in recovery period) with 108 young (37 pairs successful) New cliff nest found in northern PA. Art asks members to report any cliffs with nesting possibilities including peregrines in area or whitewash etc.
Art McMorris – Olive-sided Flycatcher in northern PA
Katrina Rakowski– nighthawks in Germantown. Counted about 80 birds on one evening.
Michael O’Brien – reports nighthawks returning this year in summer near the senior home.
Gregg Gorton – Heinz had an interesting flycatcher that looked like Olive-sided but not confirmed.
Holger Pflicke – reports possible Kirtland’s Warbler at Lemon Hill. Reports field marks including tail pump, no pattern on tail like Magnolia, gray head, yellow throat, no wingbars. Other people looked but could not confirm ID.
Program: Lisa Kiziuk – The Motus: Building a Northeastern Wildlife Tracking Network
After more than a century of research, our understanding of the movement ecology of migratory animals is still surprisingly rudimentary. Yet understanding how animals move across the landscape is critical to preserving them in a rapidly changing world. A new generation of miniaturized VHF radio telemetry technology, coupled with a rapidly expanding network of automated receiver stations through the Motus Wildlife Tracking System (Motus), has the ability to bring greater precision and efficiency to the study of migratory species. However, the greatest drawback to the current Motus array is its limited geography and coastal nature.
Adjournment
Martin Dellwo Adjourns the meeting at 8:50 PM. About a dozen members gathered at Cherry Street Tavern to continue the discussion.