December Meeting Minutes

President Jody Enck called the meeting to order at 7:30.  Ann Mitchell, Sara Jane Hymes and Colleen Richards provided cookies.  There is a sign-up sheet to bring cookies for the next several meetings.

A reminder was given about the monthly newsletter being provided via email. Diane Morton expressed concern that it appears that presently only 50% are accessing the newsletter. All members present are getting the email directly without “clicking on a link”. Thon Schat inquired about hard copies being put in the Club archives. Laura Stenzler will contact the Club historian, Jane Graves, about doing this.

Susan Danskin announced that there are large scale maps for the Christmas Bird Count that also need to be stored. These will be given to Jane Graves as well. Marty Schlabach informed everyone about the possibility of using the Cornell archives.

Susan also reminded everyone that dues were due in October, but 40% of members have not done so yet. It was discussed and decided that in the future there will be an August reminder, then monthly “nudges” through December.

New members, Tracy McClellan and Beth LaLonde, introduced themselves.  Kevin Walsh shared that he has been attending. Also introduced were Jenny Landry, a DEC representative from Avon, NY, and her office intern. They attended because of their current passive winter raptor survey and transmitter studies. 

In March, Marie Read will have an exhibit in the Fuertes Room at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. On Monday, March 13, it’s being proposed that the Bird Club hold a 2-hour opening reception. Look for a vote on this in the coming months.

“The Festival of Birds” takes place May 5-7 at Presque Isle, PA.

Ann Mitchell reported on recent field trips. On Sat., Dec. 10 there was a short-eared owl trip when 3 or 4 owls were sighted just after 5 pm. There was also a trip led by Jay McGowan December 3-4 to Niagara Falls to look for species of gulls. Highlights were: Iceland, Blackheaded, Thayer’s, and a fly-out of 1000's of Bonaparte’s Gulls. 

Diane Morton will help lead a field trip in mid-January to look for horned larks, snow buntings, and other winter birds.

The annual Christmas Bird Count will take place on January 1. The 9 count areas will report in for the compilation dinner at 6 pm that evening. See the newsletter for Area leaders if you would like to join in.

The January Club program will be held on January 9. This will be our annual member photo display with host Kevin McGowan. Club members are invited to submit up to 5 photos for a 3-minute presentation slot.

Susan Danskin read the list of the birds of the Cayuga Basin.

The speaker for the evening was Dr. David Winkler, professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell. He spoke about their research on using tiny solar tags and their future in animal movement research.

Respectfully submitted,

Colleen Richards, Acting Recording Secretary