January Meeting Minutes

13 January 2020 Minutes  
Cayuga Bird Club Membership Meeting
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology Ithaca NY 

Thank you to Jane Bain and Jill Leichter for bringing cookies. Visitors and new members welcomed.  Condolences to Lee Ann VanLeer for the loss of her mother Carolyn VanLeer.  December 2019 Minutes accepted.  

Cayuga Bird Club T-shirts   48 shirts sold to members at cost. Because of high number of shirts ordered, price per shirt reduced significantly from our earlier estimates. Short-sleeved T-shirts: $13 instead of $18, Long-sleeved T-shirts: $19 instead of $23. Have 2 extra short-sleeved shirts available for purchase, size L, Stone Blue at $13 ea. (Both sold at meeting).

Christmas Bird Count 89 species on count day, 3 more added during count week for a total of 92 species. 154 participants on January 1, counted more than 23,000 individual birds. Paul Anderson, our count compiler, will post the final results on our website, cayugabirdclub.org. Overall number of birds and species diversity, were higher than last year’s count, but lower than our 10-year average.   Noted during the compilation: 5 Merlins, a high count for this species, but only 2 American Kestrels. Record high number of Turkey Vultures at 67. Other species with higher than average numbers included Song Sparrows and Great Black-backed Gulls. Record Low numbers this year for Mallard and American Coot. Other bird species with lower than average numbers included American Crows, American Robins, Cedar Waxwings and Canada Geese. Thanks to area leaders and to all 154 participants! Donna Scott organized the dinner at the compilation event and also took calls from people counting birds at their feeders.  

NYS Breeding Bird Atlas III is starting, a 5-year year effort to document breeding birds across New York state. Information about how to start participating in the atlas can be found at ebird.org/atlasny/about. Reporting will be through eBird, using breeding codes. The website has information about breeding codes, atlas blocks, and more about how to atlas. It is important to wait until birds are actually in their breeding territories before reporting possible breeding behaviors. We hope to have another eBird workshop in late winter or early spring to help people become more familiar with using eBird.  

Spring Ornithology with Steve Kress 8-week course, March 24-May 12. $125 for Cayuga Bird Club members, $140 for non-members. More than 50 people have registered. Registration is still open through our website.  

Recent Field Trips:  December 15 - Josh Snodgrass, afternoon trip on the west side of the lake.  January 12 - Full Day trip around the Lake led by Bob McGuire.  

Upcoming Field Trips:  Saturday, January 18:  1/2 day trip to look for winter birds, including waterfowl and field birds, led by Ken Kemphues and Diane Morton. Meet at east end of Stewart Park, 8:00 am.  Saturday, February 8: Full day field trip around the lake led by Bob McGuire. Meet at Stewart Park, east end, 8am.  Saturday, Feb 15: Morning field trip at Lime Hollow Nature Center, Cortland, led by Matt Young. Meet here at lab for carpooling at 7:30 am, or at Lime Hollow Visitor Center at 8am (until 11 am).  Check the Cayuga Bird Club web calendar for cancellations or date changes for field trips, especially in winter.  

Next Cayuga Bird Club meeting: February 10. Andrea Patterson, Director of the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory, “A bird in the hand”.  

Cayuga Bird Club Trip to Costa Rica, Feb 14-23, organized by Jody Enck through Holbrook Travel. Trip is fully subscribed - very exciting opportunity to see Neotropical birds, as well as some of “our birds” in their winter home.  

Cayuga Lake Basin Bird List read by Suan Yong. 82 species were found during the week before the meeting.  

Share your Photos Night Hosted by Kevin McGowan. 23 members shared their photos. Many interesting stories told and beautiful birds beheld!