May 2025
Meeting Minutes

Cayuga Bird Club Monthly Meeting Minutes, draft

Monday, 5/12/25, Cornell Lab of Ornithology Auditorium 

Attendance: 74

Call to order

7:30 – As Stephanie had warned members last month, since we had our book signing tonight, we skipped the reading of the list for tonight’s meeting.

Tonight’s business meeting was called to order by Stephanie Herrick, club president. Members and guests were welcomed.

Six first-time attendees raised their hands and were given a round of applause, but there was no time for introductions. 

There were no corrections offered for our last month’s meeting minutes so they are approved as written.

Cookies: Stephanie apologized for the oddly shaped cookies she brought tonight. The cookie sign-up sheet is on the table in the back; please sign up on your way out tonight for the first club meeting in September, after we return from our usual summer break. 

Next Meeting – annual summer picnic

Tonight is our last “business meeting” until September

For those of you who are new, we take a break in the summer for July and August and resume regular monthly meetings in September here at the Cornell Lab Visitors Center Auditorium.

But coming up

• Next month we will be enjoying our annual dish-to-pass picnic at Myers Park in Lansing on Monday June 9th at 6:00 pm

• We have reserved the “E” pavilion next to the gazebo where the Motus station is located

• Dish-to-pass; bring your own place settings, utensils, beverages

• After dinner, we will enjoy a leisurely bird walk at Myers Park.

Upcoming CBC Field Trips

May is typically a busy month, field-trip-wise.  We have a number of birding opportunities available with some new variety of dates, locations and approaches, starting tomorrow morning with Meena’s second Sit and Bird session at 7:00am the parking area on Sapsucker Woods Road where the Severinghaus Trail crosses the road, just before you get to the stop sign at the Visitor’s Center.

For our Thursday morning meetup this week, we join Scott Sutcliffe for an early-morning bird and wildflower walk on his 100-acre farm in Trumansburg. His farm is a haven for birds with a couple of miles of foot-friendly trails along a mature forest stretch of Taughannock Creek, through Woodcock fields, and ending in a Bobolink meadow. The group will first meet and bird from his barn (which has an impressive barn list of 60+ species), then amble along the trails. Park in the side field, marked with a peace flag—you can’t miss it! then amble up to the barn. 

We will have our annual Greensprings Cemetery and Arnot Forest trip Saturday 5/17 at 7am. Greensprings has excellent habitat for migratory birds at this time of year, including field birds such as Bobolinks and Field Sparrows. We'll also go into the Arnot Forest, which has many thrushes, warblers, vireos, and other returning songbirds at this time of year. Bring a snack and something to drink and dress for the weather. Waterproof boots are usually helpful. This is a trip with limited space, so please contact Suan by Thursday 5/15 to register.

May 18th, from 7-11:30am, Meena will be leading us on a trip to Robinson Hollow; meet at the CTB parking lot at East Hill Plaza for carpooling and caravanning.

The next Thursday meet-up will be 7am 5/22 at Sapsucker Woods. Meet at the Visitors Center and then the group will decide which trail they want to take.

Then on Saturday 5/24, 7-10am, Jared Dawson will be leading another west-side-of-the-lake walk to Teeter Pond and Horton meadow in the Finger Lakes National Forest, for some mixed habitat birding including a large pond, forest, and open grazing pasture with views of Seneca Lake to the west. Over the last 6 years Stephanie has had 12 species of warblers in the pond area, and the pasture is good for nesting Bobolinks and Brown Thrashers with occasional meadowlarks.  The group will gather for carpooling at the parking lot of the American Legion at 4431 E Seneca Rd on the north side of Trumansburg just off of Hwy 96. The Interlaken Trail is enjoyed by equestrians and thus the trails can be quite muddy in places depending on rainfall, so appropriate footwear is advised.

This year we continue to mix things up a bit by making our spring trip to Lindsay Parsons a leaderless Thursday meet-up walk on May 29th at 7am with breakfast to follow.

And rounding out our spring club field trips will be our trip to Connecticut Hill, from 7:30-12pm June 1st led by Suan Yong.

Beginner Bird Walks (BBW) every Saturday & Sunday at Sapsucker Woods continue to make an enormous impact on so many, including enthusiastic Cornell students. Suan read a thank you note from two grateful participants, a father & 14 year old son who attended a BBW led by volunteers Brian Hofstetter & Stephanie Herrick. The experience opened up a whole new world of growing interest for this young man! “It all happened in Ithaca!” Stephanie & Brian were applauded. 

Youth Birders

Our Youth Birders have had a busy spring, such as their Myers trip in April, where this photo was taken by one of the group of students, and their Global Big Day trip to the Cornell Lab where they saw or heard 46 species of birds!  One of our Youth Birders is interested in writing something for our newsletter in the future, so that is exciting to anticipate. There are several more sessions coming up in the spring and summer.  

Our Youth group will be participating in June with the CAC (Conservation Action Committee) working session. Getting the next generation of interested and enthusiastic young birders to understand, care about, and be active in conservation for birds is something for which we are extremely grateful. 

If anyone knows of young birders who might be looking for their flock, please point them to our Youth page on our website or contact Beth Bannister for more information. 

Conservation Action Committee

Jody Enck provided updates on the Conservation Action Committee

• Cuba fundraising trip: many may not know that our international trips through Holbrook Travel are actually fundraising endeavors. For our most recent trip to Cuba, Holbrook reimbursed $2400 to CBC. 

• 2nd 2025 trip: Peru (a few spots remaining)

• 2026 summer trip: Galapagos & Ecuador’s Chocó Andes

• There is talk about a birding trip to Panama winter of 2025-26.

• Conservation workday are typically held 3rd Saturdays, from 9-noon, but during July, August & September, workdays will be 2nd Saturdays of the month.  May 17th, Lighthouse Point is next workday 

• Native Plant Fostering: Our committee will purchase biodegradable pots and will plant donated plants in these pots and give a flat or more to volunteers who have a sunny spot outside (even an apartment balcony) where they can place and care for the flat of plants over the summer until early September. A sign up sheet is on the back table. 

NYSOA 2025

Next, Stephanie called upon Diane Morton to say a few words about the NYSOA conference in September.Jane Bain created the attractive posters which were dispersed by Monica Adelman. Please hang them around town. Current registration fee of $70 increases July 1st. 

Birds of a Feather

There are several bird-related announcements I’d like to share in this month’s Birds of a Feather.

First is Birds On Fabric, a Display of Bird Quilts at the Kendal Art Gallery by Tracy McLellan and Anne Garretson from May 1 to July 31, with a presentation to the public discussing their work on Monday, May 19 at 4:00 pm in the Kendal Auditorium.

Tracy and Anne base their quilt designs on photographs, but have slightly different techniques.  If you have not seen how Tracy has her photographs printed onto fabric, then does “thread painting” to cover the birds with colored thread, creating depth and feather-like details that are truly spectacular, you have to go see it!  It’s so impressive!

Also in May, coming up this Thursday, the Chemung Valley Audubon Club invites everyone to enjoy Bill Ostrander’s presentation on Birds of Golden Gate Park!  San Francisco's Golden Gate Park features a wide variety of gardens, groves, lakes, and meadows, each with its own character. Bill, who is a frequent visitor to San Francisco, will share favorite bird photos taken in the park. 

And while the Bird Club has been looking for volunteers to help out with FLLT grassland surveys on the east side of Cayuga Lake, Greg Flood, the wildlife biologist at the Finger Lakes National Forest in Hector NY is also looking for some help on the other side of Cayuga Lake.

Over the last few months, they have experienced some significant changes to their staff and funding, with that have come significant challenges in completing their annual grassland bird surveys. As with the FLLT, these surveys are completed in pasture and grassland units across the national forest to determine if locally sensitive species and common species are using the pastures and grasslands prior to completing any vegetation manipulation (i.e. mowing). They have just over 1,750 acres to survey this year and generally start these surveys mid-May and conclude mid-June. Greg is trying to gather a few volunteers to help complete these yearly grassland bird surveys, so if you live over on the west side of Cayuga Lake and can help out, please contact Greg @ Gregory.flood@usda.gov

Friends of the Chemung River Watershed are hosting their annual Father’s Day Weekend River Fest at Big Flats, NY, 6/14 & 6/15. For more information, contact Peggy Hurley at drmargarethurley@gmail.com. 

Meena Haribal is planning a trip to the Falkland Islands and Chile for 15 to 20 days, or just 10 days if you only want to do the Falkland Islands. She would love the company of 4-5 people to enjoy a wildlife-rich area teeming with King, Gentoo, Megallanic, and Rockhopper Penguins, Shags and Cormorants, and many other endemic species. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Meena.

Tonight’s Presentation

And now for this month’s presentation.

Tonight’s speaker, Tina Morris, completed her graduate work in ornithology and wildlife biology at Cornell in 1978, writing her thesis on the adaptations of hacking techniques to reintroduce bald eagles. 

Following her studies at Cornell, she worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nature Conservancy for several years, focusing on endangered species and critical habitat conservation, before embarking on a 23-year career teaching English and biology. 

Since her retirement in 2020, she has devoted her time to her own writing, especially creative non-fiction with a science or nature focus. 

Thirty years ago, with four children in tow, Tina and her husband bought a farm in northern Massachusetts, which they manage as a wildlife sanctuary, promoting biodiversity and habitat protection for species in decline.

This evening, at a time when the mass extinction of bird species is a critical global topic, Return to the Sky reminds us how, with a mix of common sense, resilience, and resolve, humans can be effective stewards of the natural world. Please join me in welcoming tonight’s speaker, Tina Morris.