This is the first in-person/hybrid meeting since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zoom Meeting: Instructions for meeting registration were announced on the website and weekly digest.
Call to Order: President Gregg Gorton
Call to Order: 7:30 PM
Attendees: 17 in-person (including speaker), 37 virtual (excluding in-person attendees who were running Zoom)
The minutes from June 02, 2022 were approved.
Committee Reports
Membership Committee: Linda Timlin
No reports
Field Trips – Linda Widdop
Email Linda Widdop, linda@techimpact.org, if interested in leading any field trips.
Upcoming field trips:
- Tuesday mornings through October @ 07:30 am – 09:00 am – Lorimer Park with Linda Widdop. First walk of the season had 0 participants
- September 16 @ 06:00 pm – 08:00 pm – Evening River Watch at Navy Yard with Holger Pflicke
- September 17 @ 07:30 am – 10:00 am – Pennypack Park Verree Road with Patrick McGill
- September 17 @ 08:00 am – 12:00 pm – Bartram’s Garden with Ben Filreis
- September 17 @ 08:00 am – 11:00 am – John Heinz NWR with Gregg Gorton
- September 17 @ 08:00 am – 10:30 am – Tacony Creek Park with Holger Pflicke
- September 18 @ 07:30 am – 09:30 am – Fisher Park with Peter Hamner
- September 18 @ 07:30 am – 09:30 am – Carpenter’s Woods with Ed Edge
- September 18 @ 08:30 am – 10:30 am – South Cape May Meadows with Barb Bassett
Conservation – Gregg Gorton
Gregg Gorton announced that Oakwell Estate near the Villanova area is slated to be destroyed to create playing fields for a middle school. A letter has been drafted to the school district conveying opposition to the plan.
Billings – Art McMorris
Go Birding! The Billings award is given each year to the DVOC member who observes the most birds for the year in the Billings area. You have to be a member at the beginning of the year to compete in that particular year.
Banquet – Navin Sasikumar for Lauren Diamond
The in-person banquet is returning this year. This year the banquet is on November 17th (third Thursday in November) at the Sheet Metal Workers International Association Hall. More details will be on the website soon. We will be checking vaccination cards at the door to ensure a safe banquet for everyone.
Communication – Navin Sasikumar
No report
Awards – Gregg Gorton
The Witmer Stone, Julian Potter, and Rosalie Edge awards will be given at the Banquet. The committee chairs for each will be putting out a call for nominations soon.
DEI – Navin Sasikumar
In Color Birding is starting an initiative to fund transportation for school children to take them to green spaces in the city. They are looking to raise $6000 to fund 10 trips. DVOC is donating $2000 towards that effort.
Announcements
Victoria Sindlinger brought a new gavel to commemorate the return of in-person club meetings! She presented the new gavel to DVOC president, Gregg Gorton.
Bob Horton said that Willistown Conservation Trust is banding passerines at Rushton Woods until the end of October. Thursdays are open to the public. Northern Saw-whet Owl banding starts after that. There is usually an evening reserved for the DVOC to observe the owl banding. Please keep an eye on the DVOC website for more info.
Local Notes
Bert Filemyr had 10 Broad-winged Hawks over this house in Montgomery County the evening of the meeting.
On the Telegram app, Mike Grubb reported having over 500 Broad-winged Hawks over Pennypack Park the same evening.
Rob Karchnyak had a Red-headed Woodpecker at FDR Park on September 14th.
Linda Widdop reported seeing two Merlins sitting in a tree at Lorimer Park earlier in the week. And the next day, there were two American Kestrels at the same tree.
Ken Walsh had a Philadelphia Vireo at the powerline cut near Media yesterday.
Linda Widdop reported that a Swainson’s Warbler was banded at the Meadows recently. There has been a continuing Swainson’s Warbler at Cape May the past 4 years and it would be interesting to see if that bird is the same as the one that was just banded.
George Armistead reported a flyover Connecticut Warbler over his Roxborough yard on the morning of September 15th. George also reported that Liam Hart had 531 Broad-winged Hawks over Germantown the same day.
Patrick McGill had three Red-breasted Nuthatches and about 50 Broad-winged Hawks at SCEE the evening of the meeting. Patrick also reported a Connecticut Warbler at FDR Park on the 14th.
Linda Rowan reported that she is still seeing Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in Levittown, PA.
Karyl Weber reported documenting a new grass at John Heinz NWR – Walter’s Barnyard Grass – a few years ago. She realized this year that Bobolinks love this grass and said that she estimates that there have been close to about 200 Bobolinks buried in the grass the past week.
Programs: Barb Bassett
Barb announced that the next meeting will be on October 6th when Dr. John Rumm will talk about the history of bird watching. In this lively presentation drawn from extensive primary and secondary research, Dr. Rumm – who proudly calls himself a “bird watcher” – traces the changing meaning of “bird watching” and the rise, fall and resurgence of “bird study” from the late 1800s to the early 21st century.
More information on the Meetings page of the DVOC website for this and other upcoming meetings.
Evening Program
Bert Filemyr entertained us all with a fun presentation on chasing birds. He talked about the various birds he has chased and the places he has visited in his quest for rare and vagrant birds. He regaled us with stories and anecdotes from some of those chases.
Adjournment
After the presentation and questions, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 pm. Some of us had post-meeting drinks at Cherry Street Tavern.
