March 2023
Meeting Minutes

Cayuga Bird Club 

Monthly Meeting Minutes

13 March 2023

7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Call to Order 

Welcome to any visitors and guests here tonight.

Are there any corrections offered for last month’s meeting minutes?

Hearing none, last month’s meeting minutes are approved as written.

The next meeting will be Monday, April 10th (2nd Monday of the month)

@ the Lab of Ornithology.

Presentation by Club member Meena Haribal, naturalist, nature photographer and recordist.

The title of her presentation will be Following Alfred Russel Wallace in search of Birds of Paradise and Birdwings in West Papua and Indonesia.

Youth BirdingRecent

Sun Mar 12 half-day Trip around Cayuga Lake

Upcoming

Mar 17 7:30pm (Woodcock & Owl prowl)

Apr 23 9am-12pm (Myers Park?)

May 7 10am-12pm Lab of O w/ Pete Saracino

May 21 9am-12pm (FLNF?)

Jun 4 9am-12pm (Lindsay-Parsons?)

FMI: cayugabirdclub.org/youth

Our Youth Birding group continues to be active, and it was rewarded by a successful half day trip around Cayuga Lake where they were treated to sights of a pileated woodpecker, snow

buntings, horned larks, merlins, snow geese and other waterfowl, capped off by a group of 4 sandhill cranes dancing at the MNWR visitor’s center!

 There are a host of planned events, such as an upcoming woodcock and owling prowl, and many others, depending on weather. So stay tuned for details on our Youth page on the club website.

There have been a few field trips since our March newsletter

Our first trip was a West Side of the Lake trip led by Ken Haas, braved by only one participant, the intrepid Leigh Stivers, and cut short due to weather. They started with Canada geese, ringbill gulls, house sparrows and a downy, a bc chickadee, Carolina wren at the Children’s Garden, then trekked up the lake to Sheldrake to enjoy the waterfowl and a bald eagle all to themselves.

Meena led a dozen folks on a trip to MNWR to watch a congregation of roosting birds where we were treated to sights of skies full of gulls, geese and red-winged blackbirds.

Bob McGuire led another “bad weather, good birding” trip with folks on a trip up the east side of the lake to look for waterfowl and field birds. They were pleased to find Pipits, killdeer, a HUGE flock of ~1000 horned larks and hundreds of snow buntings, along with a merlin, a tree swallow and many wonderful waterfowl.

For more details, stay tuned for the full trip reports in the April club newsletter!

Upcoming Field Trips

Saturday, March 25th 8:00am-12:30pm Where the Birds Are Gladys Birdsall. Meet at

Stewart Park to check for waterfowl, and other new migrants arriving this first week of Spring, then work up the east side of the lake to Myers Park and Salt Point checking some rural roads and fields.

Saturday, April 1st 8:00am-9:00am Stewart Park Suan Yong. We will look for waterfowl, early migrants, and any other springtime surprises.

Sunday, April 2nd 7:00am-11:00am Dryden Lake Stephanie Herrick & Diane Morton. Morning walk at one of the Cayuga Basin’s hotspots at Dryden Lake and along the Jim Schug Trail. This is a good area for spotting waterfowl, sparrows, and songbirds.

There will be one more in March and two in early April. Check the website calendar @ cayugabirdclub.org/calendar

2023 Spring Ornithologywith Steve Kress

Registration is still open, but the course is filling up fast, so people should register soon if

they are interested. The club is offering some scholarships to educators and to young people ages 14-22. Scholarship applications are available at cayugabirdclub.org/spring-ornithology.

Scholarship recipients would be able to take the course for $15 (includes CBC membership)

instead of the full $125 course fee. Scholarship applications are due by March 17.

Misc goings-on

Conservation Action Committee follow-up meeting-to be rescheduled (date TBA)

Lab of O Visitor Center FAQ (2023-24 Closure) https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/visit/visitor-center-faq/

Help Wanted

Need a home to store second purple martin house

Tech help:

This Spring’s SOSK will be our first time doing a hybrid live/Zoom event for the Cayuga Bird Club.We tested this at Kendal in December, but it took quite a while to arrive at the right configuration. While Diane and Matt Del Buono will be at all 8 of the weekly Wed classes, it is valuable to have another person there to focus on making sure that Steve’s presentation looks/sounds good both in the auditorium and via Zoom. We currently have Muhammad to help with tech set-up before the lectures for weeks 1-4, and Suan for weeks 7-8.  We are looking for additional tech help for weeks 5-6 (April 26 and May 3). If willing and interested, please contact Diane Morton at dianegmorton@gmail.com

Assistant Beginner Bird Walk

Leaders for the weekend SSW walks are needed. BBWs may be the only thing available for visitors coming to the Lab. We want two walk leaders this summer. Contact Suan if you would like to help out. suan.yong@gmail.com

John Confer wants to organize a survey of Louisiana Waterthrush in the area land trust areas

Please contact John at Confergoldwing@aol.com to participate.

Now we have something more formal for which I call our VP, Ken Haas, to lead us through our project process tonight. 

Proposal for CBC to fund a second Purple Martin House to be placed at Stewart Park.

Total cost is about $1,500. We have received a grant from Dierdre Anderson of $1000 to cover most of this expense.

Club Vote:

Motion to approve?

Donna Scott moved that we approve.

Ann Mitchell seconded it.

The vote was approved.

And now for our presentation.

Behind the Scenes of Merlin Sound IDSpeaker: 

Alli Smith/Merlin Project CoordinatorCornell Lab of Ornithology

The Merlin Bird ID app, created by the Cornell lab of Ornithology, had its newest feature, Sound ID, added to Merlin in Spring 2021, to help you identify over 1,000 bird species by sound even when you can’t see them. Tonight, Alli Smith, the Merlin Project Coordinator, will be taking us on a deeper dive to learn how Sound ID was developed, how it works and how we all can help us expand Merlin to cover more species worldwide.

Please join me in a warm welcome for Alli Smith.