October 2023 Meeting Minutes

Cayuga Bird Club
Meeting Minutes
Foundation of Light
10/9/23
7:30pm

Reading of the List

Suan Yong read the list of birds sighted in the Cayuga Bird Basin in the last week.

Call to Order

Prior month meeting minutes approved

Membership renewal…renew by 10/9/23 and receive a free Bird Academy course of your choice. 

Cookies!

Jill Leichter brought the cookies for tonight. Thank you!
Please sign up for upcoming months or no cookies!

Next Meeting (11/13/23)

The next Meeting (and all meetings until June) will likely be at the Foundation of Light.
The presentation will be Desert Hopping for Birds and Wildlife
Speaker: Meena Haribal

Upcoming Field Trips

October (listed in club calendar)

(FULL!) Tues Oct 10-Tues Oct 17:
Hawks and Annual Solar Eclipse Watch
Hazel-Bazemore hawk watch, Corpus Christi, Texas
Meena Haribal

Sat, Oct 14, 2023, 7:30pm-11:00am:
Louisa Duemling Meadows @ Sapsucker Woods
Diane Morton and Ken Kemphues

November (listed in club calendar)

Sat, Nov 4 - Steve Kress: trip around the lake

Sat, Nov 11 - Wes Blauvelt: Franklin’s Mountain hawk watch led by (date weather dependent)

Sun, Nov 19 Loon Watch - Jared Dawson and Stephanie Herrick: Taughannock Falls State Park 

Beginner Bird Walks: note start differing times!

April-October:      8:30am start
November-March to account for late morning light:   9:30am start

Youth Birding

Sunday Oct 22, 9am-11:30am
Meet at Stewart Park, Cascadilla Boathouse 

Saturday Nov 18, 9am-11:30am
Cornell Raptor Program, CCETC on Willow Ave

Saturday Dec 2, 9am-11:30am
Local birding & bird games, CCETC on Willow Ave

Conservation Action Committee 

continues to be very busy!

Purple Martin House 1 has been taken down
Thanks Madonna Stallman & Paul Weidhaas for winter storage!

Hurrah for successful habitat restoration showcasing in Lighthouse Point Woods

Sunday October 15th from about 1pm to 3pm

Mapping & monitoring assistance needed for native plants in Lighthouse Point Woods fenced plots

Participation in IC field trips on 16th and 23rd
Questions?  Contact Jody Enck jodyenck@gmail.com

Reminder: Belize & Guatemala trip
(03/30-04/07/24)
http://holbrook.travel/cayuga-bzgt24

Miscellaneous

NY Birders conference & 76th NYSOA meeting was 3 times larger than last year. Diane, Jane and Stephanie attended.

October Big Day, Saturday, 10/14

Project Feederwatch, 11/01 (https://feederwatch.org/)

Cyber-awareness!  Don’t be fooled by phish from birders! Watch out for bad actors. 

Congrats Ken Haas
https://www.audubon.org/news/2023-audubon-photography-awards-top-100 (look for #73)

Help Wanted for Cayuga Bird Club

Tech Team Members

•Still looking for tech team members

•Skills in Audio/Visual

2023 Christmas Bird Count Area IX Coordinator

•Mark Chao stepping down

•Lansing area

President’s Annual Report of the last year

  Monthly Meetings 

We continued in-person meetings, found this new location & projection equipment during Lab of Ornithology closing

Christmas Bird Count and Annual Share Your Photos night (Zoom only)

Enjoyed a rainy but lively annual picnic at Myers

Projects approved
More binoculars
2nd Purple Martin House
Cayuga Basin Book, 2nd edition

Spring Ornithology with Steve Kress

Hybrid option offered: in person @Kendal & Zoom
77 paid students, two educator scholarship recipients, two youth scholarship recipients
Net income to CBC: $3738

Field Trips
Over 30 NYS field trips (plus one to Nebraska!)

100 Beginner Bird Walks at SSW 

Smooth Newsletter handoff from Jill to Jane!

CAC

Habitat restoration at Lighthouse Point and Renwick Woods w/ field trips at the 2023 Conference on the Environment 

Engagement with schools such as New Roots and higher ed orgs (IC, CU)

2 Motus towers up with about half a dozen tagged species fly-overs

2nd trip to Ecuador

Purple Martin House 1 (successful year), new Purple Martin House (pole up)

Youth Birder program

12 trips

Website

Archiving history and updated current content

Officer Elections

each position approved through unanimous vote.
Continuing Directors: Suan Yong, Susan Danskin

Nominees

President:
Stephanie Herrick (continuing)

Vice President:
Ken Haas (continuing)

Treasurer:
Ken Kemphues (continuing)

Recording Secretary:
Janie Leff (new)

Corresponding Secretary:
Colleen Richards (continuing)

Director:
Jared Dawson (new)

Tonight’s Presentation

Backyard Beauties: The Art and Fun of Backyard Bird Photography

Inspiring and interesting talk by Speaker:  Marie Read, Wildlife Photographer and Author; long time Cayuga Bird Club member