December Meeting Minutes

December 11, 2017  President Wes Blauvelt called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm.  He thanked Ann Mitchell and Sarah Jane Hymes for bringing cookies.  Anyone interested in bringing cookies in January was asked to contact Wes.  Old Business

1) There were no field trips since the November meeting, but upcoming birding trips include: Beginning bird walks every Saturday and Sunday morning at the Lab of Ornithology at 8:30 (Dec. 16, 17, 23 and 24). Ann Mitchell will lead a trip to look for Short-eared Owls on Dec. 16 from 3 pm until dark.  2) Birding the Cayuga Lake Basin is still available for Christmas gifts ($14). We have sold 1400 of the 1700 printed.  3) Membership dues are due now.  Please see treasurer Susan Danskin.  4) Our next Club meeting, our  annual Share Your Photos Night will be held on January 8. Members only, should send photos by January 4 to Kevin at kjm2@cornell.edu. The subject line on the email must be "Bird club photo submission Jan2018".  New Business The annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count will be January 1.  1) There has been an ongoing concern for coordination needed for Areas 7, 8, and 9. Mark Chao and Ken Rosenberg presented the issues of birds moving between different areas around Cayuga Lake and being counted more than once. Discussion from the members included information from Paul Anderson as the compiler as well as clarification from Mark and Ken and comments from Colleen Richards and Sandy Wold about possible solutions. Wes Blauvelt stated that it was late for doing something this year beyond being as accurate as possible. Coordination between the area leaders will be the key for that. Wes went on to propose that the coordinators form a committee for 2-3 months and report back to the Club in March.

Paul Anderson noted that the Christmas Bird Count’s compilation spreadsheet might be a valuable resource.

All agreed to move ahead with this process.  2) Donna Scott will be handling the feeder counts from 4-6 pm. It was decided that she needs an assistant. Sandy Wold agreed to do this.  3) Someone is also needed to open the door @ 3:30. Anyone who works at the Ornithology Lab could do this. Please contact Wes.  4) A show of hands was made for attending the dish-to-pass prior to the compilation meeting. This will help for setting up tables/chairs in the observatory for dinner.  Diane Morton read the list of the birds of the Cayuga Basin.          Jody Enck gave a brief review of the upcoming trips to Honduras in mid-January to February and Costa Rica beginning April 28. There are openings in both.   The speaker for the evening was post doc Leonardo Campagna. He presented his talk on “Patagonia, Argentina - A Naturalist’s Paradise”.    Respectfully submitted,  Colleen Richards, acting Recording Secretary