November 2013 Meeting Minutes

Cayuga Bird Club Meeting Minutes

Nov. 11, 2013

New president Paul Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:30. He thanked the cookie providers of the evening, Lynn Rich and Becky Hansen, and enlisted Anne Mitchell and Marie Read for next month. He welcomed newcomers to the area. People mentioned interesting birds they had encountered the past week—Nelson’s Sparrow, Forster’s Tern, Green Heron, 31 Sandhills Cranes. 

Charles Eldermire will be the speaker at the next Monday night seminar at the lab, Nov. 18. He will talk about what happens behind the scenes at the webcams for the Great Blue Herons and Redtail Hawks.

Field trip reports were presented for the last two field trips:

—Anne Mitchell led a trip on Oct. 19, which began at Stewart Park and went up to Montezuma. Highlights included Ruddy Ducks, Rusty Blackbirds, Killdeer, Ringnecked Ducks, Glossy and White-faced Ibises, and American White Pelicans.

—Jay McGowan led a trip on Nov. 2 up and down the east side of the lake. Highlights included a Black-throated Green Warbler, the ibises at Montezuma, Brant, sandpipers, Dunlin, and the bakery at the corner of routes 34b and 90. The next field trip will be led by Bill Baker on Nov. 17, going wherever the birds are. As always, check the website for more details.

Beginner birdwalks, now co-sponsored by the bird club and the lab, meet every Saturday and Sunday morning at 9 am at the lab entrance.

Kathy Strickland read the bird list of the Cayuga Basin. 

The speaker of the evening was Elizabeth Derryberry, Asst. Prof. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University. Her talk was titled “Songbirds Rise above the Din.” She spoke of her research into the evolution of the birdsong of White-crowned Sparrows comparing rural and urban populations in the San Francisco area. 

Respectfully submitted,

Becky Hansen