September Meeting Minutes

Minutes: Cayuga Bird Club, Sept. 8, 2014

President Paul Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm. He welcomed all to the first meeting of the new year particularly one newcomer, Donna, who said she was both a new member and a new birder. He thanked Becky Hansen for bringing cookies. Treasurer Susan Danskin reminded all that dues are now due ( $15/family, $10/student), and she was available to accept them. Various people mentioned recent interesting sightings including an Osprey, an eagle and a Yellow-breasted Chat. 

The next meeting will be on October 13 and will feature a talk by Julie Zickefoose entitled, “The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birds. The next Monday night seminar will be on September 15 at 7:30 with a talk by John Fitzpatrick called, “Martha’s Question: have you learned anything from my passing? Reflections on the centenary of the passing of the last passenger pigeon.” 

There are no recent field trip reports. However,recently, some people have gone onto the dikes at Knox-Marsellus marsh which have been open periodically with permission from Montezuma. The next opportunity for this will be on September 21 at 7:30 a.m. in an excursion led by Paul Anderson during the weekend of the NYSOA meeting. Details are on the Cayuga Bird Club website. After that, Mike Tetlow will lead another trip on Sept. 28. Call the refuge to register. 

The slate of officers for the vote at next month’s meeting was presented: 

People were also asked to consider positions that will open soon: chair of the Conservation Committee, editors of the newsletter, and president of the club. Linda Orkin also spoke of the need for a committee to find field trip leaders. Paul Anderson reminded everyone of all the information available on the bird club website, cayugabirdclub.org, including a field trip log. 

Liisa Mobley read the list of the birds of the Cayuga Basin. 

The presentation of the meeting tonight was by Donna Scott and Linda Orkin, co-chairs of the NYSOA meeting which will take place September 19-21. Linda reported on the Friday night activities at the lab which will be from 6-9 p.m. and feature a presentation by Mya Thomson and a film about what goes on inside the lab. Also there will be behind the scene tours, a check list for the mural of birds, and the Maya Lin sound ring to enjoy. Donna thanked the 40 people who volunteered to help prepare for the meeting, in particular:

 At this point about 130 people have registered. The deadline is September 11. 

Marie Read reported that there will be seven oral papers and six posters given by presenters ranging from high school students to scientists with topics from observational studies to conservation. The banquet speaker on Saturday night will be Bridget Stutchbury speaking about songbird migration. 

The town of Lansing will receive a NYSOA award of appreciation for the work it has done on Salt Point. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Becky Hansen