October 2013 Meeting Minutes

President Linda Orkin welcomed all to the meeting at 7:30 p.m. on her last evening presiding as president of the club. Richard Tkachuck introduced his brother visiting from Chicago. Thanks were offered to Jody Enck and Meg Richardson for providing cookies. A sign-up list for next month was circulated. Tonight is the annual meeting which includes the election of officers and treasurer’s report.

The nominating committee presented the following

slate of officers:

• Paul Anderson, President

• Linda Orkin, Vice President

• Colleen Richards, Corresponding Secretary

• Becky Hansen, Recording Secretary

• Susan Danskin, Treasurer

• Donna Scott, one new director for a three year term

Linda asked whether anyone wished to nominate anyone else; and with no response, she called for a motion to accept the slate. The motion was put forth, seconded, voted upon, and accepted as proposed. The new officers will begin their terms on November 1.

Susan Danskin gave the Treasurer’s Report. Currently there is $17,864.72 in the account. Full details can be found in the treasurer’s report on the club website.

Next month’s meeting will be on November 11. The speaker will be Elizabeth Derryberry presenting a talk called “Songbirds Rise Above the Din.”

The next Monday night seminars are:

• October 21: Ron Mumme, Warbler Plumage Patterns that Make Capturing Insects Easier

• November 4: Harry Greene, Natural History, Aesthetics, and Conservation

• November 18: Charles Eldermire, Behind the Scenes With Bird Cams

The two November seminars will be live streamed. There have been two field trips since the last meeting: 

• September 29: Bob McGuire took 13 people to the lab, Park Preserve, and Freese Road Gardens, 

• October 6: Mark Chao took a group to the Freese Road Gardens, where a large number of Lincoln’s Sparrows was seen along with many other more common sparrows.

Upcoming field trips include:

• October 19: Ann Mitchell, going where the birds are

• November 2: Jay McGowan, all day trip around the lake, bring scopes As always, check the bird club calendar online for details.

Robyn Bailey of the conservation committee is organizing a joint work party along with Lansing Pathways to install nest boxes at Salt Point on October 19 at 9 am.

Susan Danskin read the bird list of the Cayuga Basin. She also mentioned she was available to collect dues.

Jody Enck introduced himself and discussed his plans to get young people more interested in birding. If anyone would like to participate in this please contact him at jwe4@cornell.edu.

The speaker was Bob Beck, author, naturalist, educator, environmentalist, whose talk was entitled: “An Environmental Success Story: Saving an Ecological Treasure through Resolute Teamwork.” He shared the story of his experiences in leading the protracted fight against proposed gravel mines next to pristine wetlands, which ended in the formation of the O D Von Engeln Preserve at Malloryville. He also had available for signing his new book entitled “The Journey at Malloryville Bog: Commitment, Teamwork and Tenacity in Defense of Land and Nature.”

Respectfully submitted,

Becky Hansen, Recording Secretary