October 2012 Meeting Minutes

President Linda Orkin welcomed everyone to the meeting on October 8 at 7:30 pm. She asked whether any newcomers would like to identify themselves, and one person did, saying that he had come recently to participate in the Bartels Illustration Internship program. Then Linda thanked Marie Read and Joan and Bob Horn for providing refreshments and passed around a sign-up sheet to solicit cookies for future meetings.

This was the annual meeting of the club in which the election of officers and amendments to the by- laws were to be considered. The officers proposed were:

• • Linda Orkin, President

  • Paul Anderson, Vice-President

  • Becky Hansen, Recording Secretary

  • Colleen Richards, Corresponding Secretary

  • Susan Danskin, Treasurer

  • Bob McGuire, Director

The by-laws were:

• 1. Life membership in the club will be recognized after 30 years of membership.

  2. The job of secretary is split into two jobs - recording and corresponding secretary.

These items having been put into motion, seconded, and voted upon were all passed.

Susan Danskin gave the Treasurer’s report. Currently there is a shortfall of money due to the outlay of funds for the publishing of the Birding the Basin book. We expect to make up this money through sales, which have been going very well. The book is in its second printing. Also, Paypal is working out well for membership renewal. 53 people have not yet renewed.

The next meeting will be on November 12 and the speaker will be Scott Taylor talking about the Humboldt Current. Other upcoming lectures of interest include: The Birds of Paradise on Oct, 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the Statler Auditorium, Cornell; and William Shakespeare’s Biological Invasion by Irby Lovette on October 15 at the lab.

Paul Anderson reported that there had been five field trips since the last meeting, as follows:

• • Myers, Montezuma, led by Paul Anderson

  • Myers, Edwards Lake Cliff Preserve, Freese Rd., led by Bob McGuire

  • Freese Rd. (Share your place trip), led by Mark Chao

  • Cape May, led by Ann Mitchell

  • Local hot spots, led by Bill Baker. ( We did not have a report of this trip)

Ann Mitchell and Susan Danskin will be leading trips on October 20 and 27. Check the website for details. Linda then introduced Candace Cornell who is interested in having others join her on a Conservation Committee. She mentioned various projects which might be undertaken if people volunteered, e.g., cleaning up fishing line, censusing turkeys, working on grassland birds, and working on legislation pertaining to Short- eared Owls.

The club is planning to host the 2014 NYSOA annual meeting. Preliminary planning meetings have taken place. Articles for the newsletter should be emailed to editors Cyndy and Richard Tkachuck at cbceditor1@gmail.com. They will be in Costa Rica for the next two editions studying toucans and aracaris.

Susan Danskin read the Basin Checklist.

Paul Anderson introduced the speaker for the evening, Mark Morris, Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture at Cornell University. His talk was entitled “An Auspicious Occasion: Rome is for the Birds.” It is based on research he did while at his college’s Rome program. He talked about the ancient tradition of augury and how it was involved with the Romulus/Remus story of the founding of Rome. He also spoke of how the bird became the symbol for law not only in Rome but in many countries. And, he suggested that taking the auspices to determine a favorable site for a city might indeed be useful in that where birds thrive, so might people.

Respectfully submitted,

Becky Hansen