November Meeting Minutes

Cayuga Bird Club Membership Meeting Minutes 

Cornell Lab of Ornithology Ithaca NY November 1, 2020  Welcome at 7:30 pm 

Thanks to Gladys Birdsall and Maureen Parsons for cookies. Visitors and new members welcomed. Minutes from October meeting approved.  

Updates on club initiatives: Motus Tower installation event on October 19 Tower is up at Myers Park. Bryant Dossman built tower and receiver while CBC members assembled antennae on October 19. Receiver now operating. Next - will enhance WiFi signal to make connecting to receiver easier. Total cost for project: $1600.  

Spring Ornithology with Steve Kress - registration is open on our website, cayugabirdclub.org Mail-in forms also available. Sign up now! Early incentive (registrants before Jan 1): drawing for two books authored and signed by Steve Kress: Pocket Guides to the Birds of North America (Eastern and Western).  

Habitat Improvement Project at Lighthouse Point (Jody Enck): 80 Native trees and shrubs planted at Lighthouse Point (Jetty Woods). Purple Martin house is down for winter; no nesting birds this year. More habitat improvement work days will happen in the Spring.  

T-shirt committee: two designs, one by Carl Steckler, and one by Rishma Bora, a graphic design student in India (and Raaj Bora’s sister). Try to get samples printed of each of these designs. Club members may put in orders.  

Field trip reports:  October trips led by Phil McNeil and Bob McGuire summarized in CBC newsletter.   Owling with Bob McGuire & Suan Yong on Nov 1 (Bob) 20 participants; Eastern Screech-Owl at Bull Pasture Pond and a Barred Owl on Hurd Road. Then to HHOWLS banding station to watch a Northern Saw-whet Owl be banded, measured, weighed, and released. A great trip.  Loon Watch Nov 10 with Suan Yong. More than 20 people came, fewer than 30 migrating loons.  

Upcoming field trips:  Saturday Nov. 16, Paul Anderson: Where the birds are, meet at Cornell Lab parking lot at 8 am for 1/2 day trip  Saturday Nov. 23, Gary Kohlenberg will lead an all-day trip to the Franklin Mountain Hawkwatch site near Oneonta, timed to look for Golden Eagles. Meet at East Hill Plaza parking lot by Collegetown Bagels at 7:30 am. Bring lunch and folding chair if you like. Dress for cold and wind It takes a little less than 2 hours to drive there. Rain date Nov. 24.  Nov. 30-Dec. 1, Overnight trip led by Carl Steckler to Conowingo Dam in Maryland to watch and photograph Bald Eagles. Meet at Lab of O parking lot at 9 am on Saturday, Nov 30. Please contact Carl first if you are interested in this trip.  Saturday Dec. 7, Field trip up the Lake led by Ken Kemphues and Diane Morton. Meet at the east end of Stewart Park at 8 am. Return around 4:30 pm. Wintering waterfowl, raptors.  Beginner Bird Walks, led by club volunteers, continue year-round at 8:30 am on Saturdays and Sundays at Sapsucker Woods.  

Upcoming eBird Workshop: Sunday November 24: Phil McNeil and Diane Morton are offering an workshop on how to used eBird. Similar to workshop last year, but will also cover eBird use for New York’s Breeding Bird Atlas, which begins in January, 2020. All breeding bird survey results will be submitted through eBird, using behavior codes for possible breeding birds. Meet at 10:30 am in the Lab of O auditorium. Install the free eBird mobile app before you come, and we will try to help you get started using eBird.  

Other announcements: Friends of Salt Point is having a presentation on Harmful Algal Blooms on Cayuga Lake, Thursday, November  21, 7:00 pm, by Nathaniel Launer. He will share observations from two years of HAB monitoring and discuss how to address this problem in our lakes. 7 pm, Lansing Town Hall.  

Christmas Bird Count January 1.  More details at December meeting. Two new area leaders:  Phil McNeil will be taking over from Marie Read this year for area III.  Wes Blauvelt is the new area VI leader, since Asher Hockett has moved out of the area.  

The Basin Bird List was read by Phil McNeil. 96 species were reported in the last week.

  Program Speaker: Christina Hoh, NYS DEC Biologist gave a talk on  Monitoring New York’s Winter Raptors, particularly Short-eared Owls and Northern Harriers. Members can participate in raptor monitoring at Finger Lakes National Forest.   

Meeting ended at 9 pm.