November Meeting Minutes

Vice-President Wes Blauvelt called the meeting to order at 7:30.  He thanked Donna Scott and Laurie Adler for providing cookies for the meeting.

Beginner bird walks led by club members continue on weekends at the lab. Jay McGowan will lead a two-day trip to Niagara Falls beginning Dec. 3 mostly in search of gulls. He will provide more detail to the Cayuga listserv shortly. Ann Mitchell will lead a field trip looking for Short-eared Owls sometime in December.  Check the Bird Club calendar for more information.  The DEC will conduct winter raptor surveys beginning Dec. 8 which runs through April.  One of these DEC survey groups meet at the Trumansburg library.  Look online for more information.

On Nov. 13 there was a loon watch at Taughannock  Falls State Park beginning at 6:20 am.  During the two hours of observation 18 loons were counted. This was followed by a trip around the lake led by Bob McGuire.

There are two projects being considered at Stewart Park.  The first is the rehabilitation of the stone structure near the Swan Pen.  The city has requested a contribution of between $1000-3000 from the club. The second is a master plan for Stewart Park for which the city has hired consultants.  The city seeks input from the club. Kevin McGowan went to a preliminary meeting about the plan and mentioned two things that might interest the birders who use the park: year-round bathrooms and habitat restoration. Wes suggested considering 1) the relationship of the overlook to the master plan, 2) how to influence decisions about habitat, and 3) the legacy the club has with the Park. It was decided that when President Jody Enck returns from his trip we will form a subcommittee to discuss recommendations.

Donna Scott read the list of the birds of the Cayuga Basin.

The speaker for the evening was Vanya Rohwer, PhD., Curator of the Bird and Mammal collection at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The title of his presentation was Of Mansions and Shacks: Understanding Divergent Nest Building Behaviors Between Two Populations of Yellow Warblers.

Respectfully submitted,

Becky Hansen, Recording Secretary