September 2024 Meeting Minutes

Cayuga Bird Club

Meeting Minutes

9/16/23

Foundation of Light

7:30 pm-9pm

Reading of the List (read at 7:20)

Stephanie Herrick read this month’s List

Reading of the list was explained as traditional. 

“Reported” was defined as having been reported via ebird or on CBC listserv during the past week.

Call To Order

Welcome to all, including 3 new guests.

Two are longtime birders who just moved here. The third is a Cornell Lab of Ornithology employee, Nick Butts. 

Attendance:45

No corrections to May minutes, so accepted as written.

Just a reminder, anyone can access the meeting minutes from the cayugabirdclub.org Home Page

via the “See Meetings and Speakers Page” link.

Membership renewal reminder. Please see Diane Morton as committee chair for payment

If you pay your dues by 10/14 you will receive free Bird Academy course of your choice

Cookies?

Thank you Laura & Ton, and Tracey McLellan!

Please sign up for upcoming months.

Next Meeting

Our October speaker will be from Joel Brown, Postdoctoral Associate at Cornell’s Department of Entomology

who will be presenting on “Ticks and the Ripple Effects of Disease in Ecological Communities”

Our October meeting will again be at the Foundation of Light and then in November, fingers crossed!,
we will be back at the new auditorium in the Lab’s Visitor’s Center

2023-24 Financials

Ken Kemphues (treasurer) - We are in great shape with +46K. 

A question was asked regarding our financial/tax responsibility due to having so much in savings. Ken shared that this has been brought up before & since we are a non-profit organization, we may accumulate all the savings we want. 

Ton Schatt moved to approve 2024-25 budget & Donna Scott seconded it. All present raised hands in favor. Passed unanimously.

CBC surveys were on table by snacks for anyone who has not completed one.

Officer Nominations

Vote @ October meeting, * = incumbent

No Nominations from the floor

Other Nominations: email Suan (suan.yong@gmail.com)

• President: Stephanie Herrick*

• Vice President: Kevin Murphy

• Treasurer: Ken Kemphues*

• Recording Secretary: Jane Leff*

• Corresponding Secretary: Colleen Richards*

• Director: Gladys Birdsall (as the image showed, not as the text read "Jared Dawson" - This got a lot of chuckles.)

Ken Haas requested to step down as VP.  Diana Van Buren has stepped in as Committee-member-at-large.  

See Sept '24 newsletter for bios.

27th annual Montezuma Muckrace

Montezuma Muckrace is a 24 hr “Big Day” style birding competition hosted by the Friends of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex. Teams of birders from expert to novice from across New York State and beyond, compete in the event to see how many species they can identify. In addition to providing some good fun and excitement, the Muckrace raises money to support avian research and conservation within the Montezuma Wetlands complex.

Update by Bob McGuire, CBC Arrogant Bustards team: 44 teams and 170 participants, a total of 177 species were identified within the 24 hour period. Arrogant Bustards placed 5th with 94 species.  With all the rain, endured an epic slog through the “lakes” on Towpath Road.  Later, the team was rewarded by the most intense rainbow Bob had ever seen greeted them late in the day, putting a smile on everyone’s face.

Club funded 2 other teams this year: Suan Yong’s Shutterbirds – a team focused on photographing each of their species – and Meena Haribal’s Birders of Paradise.  The rainy morning was not great for taking photos, but Suan’s Shutterbirds still photographed 83 species.  Meena teamed up with a couple first time birders and noted that as they spent the afternoon at Howlands’ Island, they found themselves amongst a fast moving flock of about 30 birds, one of which was a very cooperative Northern Parula, who perched on a bare branch and showed off for them.

Upcoming CBC Field Trips

Courtney Jett has been leading Wednesday morning “migration trails”

Wednesdays, September 18, and 25, 2024, 7:15 am - 11:15 am: 

• The first two were at Durland Preserve and Edwards Lake Cliff Preserve

• The next two will be to the Hawthorne Orchard and the final one is TBD

• Check the calendar for more details

Upcoming weekend trips…

•       Saturday, September 21, 2024, 7:30 am - noon: Suan – FLLT’s new Sims-Jenning’s preserve which includes meadow and forest habitats.
This site has been very productive over the breeding season, with Bobolinks, Meadowlarks, Orchard Orioles, even a brief appearance by Grasshopper Sparrow, though many of these will probably have left by late September. So this trip will be a group discovery of what birds might be around for the Fall migration.

•     Saturday, September 28, 2024, 7:30 am - noon:  Caleb – Salt Point and places nearby to look for passerines, shorebirds and waterfowl or any birds the group might encounter incidentally. Be prepared for the weather and bring water and snacks.

•       Saturday, October 12, 2024 (half day): Half day trip at Dryden Lake led by Gladys Birdsall 

Keep your eye on the club calendar for emerging details on each of these trips.

And don’t forget, every Saturday and Sunday are the club-led BBW’s at Sapsucker Woods. 

We’re always looking for people to lend a hand with trips and walks so if you’re interested in learning more, please reach out to Suan for BBW's and Meena for other field trips.

Youth Birding

Youth Birders are getting ready for their 2024 program.

• Sunday, Sept 22: Where the Birds Are!

(Stewart Park or Sapsucker Woods)

9-11:30 am

• Sunday, Oct 6: Trip Around the Lake!

(bring a lunch)

9am-4pm

• Saturday, Nov 23: TBD

• Sunday, Dec 15: TBD

Youth ages 9+ (or occasionally younger with attending guardian/parent) are welcome to join us for birding, career exploration, conservation projects, birdy games and activities, and more! 

The group meets at 9:00 am at the CCETC (Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County) on Willow Ave to start each session for trips to various bird hot spots.

Youth should bring clothes for the weather, a filled water bottle and field guides/binoculars if they want to.

Club leaders will also have binoculars for everyone to borrow if needed.

Conservation Action Committee

The Conservation Action Committee had two recent events to close out the summer:

• On August 28th, we worked with about two dozen youth and several adults from Cornell Cooperative Extension Rural Youth Services program

• On September 2nd, we will work with several dozen athletes from Cornell University thanks to a collaboration with the Cornell Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

But the Committee work is not done for the year with Fall planting season upon us.

•         there are roles for everyone in the club to play without having to labor away pulling privet (but I have found that to be oddly satisfying)

•         fall planting season is the best time to get plants in the ground

So contact Jody to find out how you can make a tangible difference for birds!

Motus

Motus update by Diane Morton: The more receivers, the more data. CBC maintains 2 Motus stations, one at Myers Park since 2019 & one at Mt Pleasant since 2022. They have both been upgraded. 

A Northern Waterthrush, tagged in Venezuela last spring was detected as far north as Canada, and then this week at Myers Park as it headed back south.

A Chestnut-sided Warbler tagged near Montreal this September was also detected at Myers Park.

For more info, see motus.org

NYSOA 2025 Conference

Ithaca hosted @ new Ithaca Conference Center

September 19-21, 2025

10 are on planning committee chaired by Diane Morton; more volunteers will be needed. 

See https://www.nysoa2025.org/

Birds of a Feather (announcements/news from the floor)

• Congratulations to John Confer and his crew for winning this year’s Emanuel Levine Memorial Award for the best Kingbird article of the year from NYSOA; this was announced at yesterday’s 2024 NYSOA Annual meeting held online via Zoom.  Their report described patterns arising from 12 years of banding Northern Saw Whet Owls by the Hammond Hill Owls banders. 

• John Confer requests volunteers to help with banding of Saw-Whet Owls on his Hammond Hill property during October & November. Stories told between catching and banding are unforgettable. Contact John at confergoldwing@aol.com 

Tonight’s presentation (recorded): Western Mexico: From the Mountains to the Sea
Speakers: club members Rachel Lodder, Diane Morton, Ken Kemphues, Bob McGuire

Speakers turns describing their Western Mexico adventure in Sinaloa and Nayarit, e.g. seeing Inca dove’s gorgeous sculpted body feathers and hearing their vocalization of No Hope, No Hope; visiting a Mexican Hermit lek, where bunch of male birds gathering in hopes of attracting mates; and following advice to not go there without a local guide (Bob knew their guide René Valdez  from a previous trip, plus western Mexico is his home. His contact: guacamayero@gmail.com). 

Video of presentation will be available on the CBC website.