DVOC Meetings - Programs

DVOC Main Page > 2003 Meetings / Programs
This page last updated Sunday, May 27, 2007

December 18, 2003, 7:30 pm - MEMBER'S PHOTOGRAPHY NIGHT Please bring along your slides, videos, digitized images etc for an evening of fun and entertainment. Enter your slides in the all-embracing categories Birds, Birders, Landscapes and Fauna and Flora. Prizes for best photo in category.
Ornithological Study by Colin Campbell

1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Meetings / Programs Archive

2003 MEETINGS PROGRAMS
2004 Meetings / Programs

•All who have an interest in birds are invited to attend functions of the DVOC.

•Meetings are lively proceedings, with a featured speaker or a special forum as well as reports from the various committees, announcements, and general field notes.

•All meetings are held at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA beginning at 7:30 pm. Directions to the Academy

Archive of Minutes

Archive of Meetings / Programs

Thursday January 2, 2003, 7:30 pm - "Annual General Meeting and CBCs"
Reports and highlights of the CBCs and Annual General Meeting with Elections, food and beverages (Wine, Beer, and Soda)"

Thursday January 16, 2003, 7:30 pm - JIM LOCKYER - "Rose Tree Hawk Watch - The First Four Years: The Trends and Events of the Hawk Watch's First Four Years"
This PowerPoint program will illustrate and discuss the raptor migration trends that have occurred over the first four years at the Rose Tree Park HawkWatch. Weather influences on migration and the use of radar to track the Broad-winged Hawk migration will also be discussed, along with some of the not so serious and fun things that have happened at the Rose Tree Park HawkWatch. The program promises to be informative, fun, and entertaining.
Minutes of this meeting.

Thursday February 6, 2003, 7:30 pm - BILL EVANS "Nocturnal flight calls of migratory birds - the new century ahead"
Bill's presentation will be an overview of his studies on avian nocturnal flight calls. He will challenge the audience by playing recordings of night flight calls that can be heard in eastern Pennsylvania, present night flight call data from more than ten years of monitoring in central New York State, and encourage everyone to tune into night migration by building their own monitoring station.
Minutes for this meeting.

Thursday February 20, 2003, 7:30 pm - STEVE HOFFMAN - "The Important Bird Area Program and the Conservation of Pennsylvania's Birdlife."
Steve Hoffman, PA Audubon's Director of Bird Conservation, will provide an overview of PA's unique contribution to bird populations in the Western Hemisphere, discuss long-term trends in populations, and summarize the most serious threats facing PA's birds. Finally, Steve will provide a historical perspective for the development of PA's Important Bird Area (IBA) program, along with a discussion of current activities and future plans for PA's 78 IBA sites.
Minutes of this meeting.

Thursday March 6, 2003, 7:30 pm - GEORGE ARMISTEAD - "Avian Arctic Adventure: A season on Alaska's Pribilofs"
Minutes of this meeting.

Thursday March 20, 2003, 7:30 pm - KEVIN McGOWAN - "The Uncommon Crow"
Learn about some surprising details of the life of the familiar, but little known American Crow. Despite being common and widely recognized, the American Crow has a complicated social and family life that is unknown to most people. Long-lived birds with extensive long-term family ties, crows have the most human-like social lives of any American bird. Come find out about some of the complex and often soap-opera-like
biology that takes place in your own backyard.
Ornithological Studies:- Mike Fritz Saw-whet owl calls
Minutes of this meeting.

Thursday April 3, 2003, 7:30 pm - DAVID BRINKER - "The Northern Goshawk: a bird driven by its prey"
Northern Goshawks were extirpated from West Virginia, Maryland and seriously declined throughout most of Pennsylvania as a result of timber harvesting during the late 1800's and early 1900's. In the past 50 years goshawk populations have increased throughout the northeast. They are now returning as a breeding species to the mountains of the central Appalachians and have recently expanded their breeding range into the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Northern Goshawks are the top avian predator in northern forested ecosystems and Mr. Brinker will discuss the natural history and ecology of goshawks in the east as a result of 30 years of research in Wisconsin and more recently the central Appalachians.
Ornithological Studies:- Anita Guris " Bluebirds"
Minutes of this meeting.

Thursday April 17, 2003, 7:30 pm - BOB CURRY - "Tackling a biological mess: progress in understanding hybridization between Black-capped and Carolina Chickadees"
The geographic ranges of Black-capped and Carolina Chickadees mostly do not overlap, and the two species can be distinguished in areas where only one species occurs based on a combination of plumage, morphology, and vocalizations. However, the chickadees overlap in a narrow band at the southern edge of the Black-capped range and the northern edge of the Carolina range, extending from New Jersey to Oklahoma. Chickadees within this contact zone hybridize frequently. Furthermore, hybrid chickadees survive and breed; birds in the contact zone display intermediate plumage and morphology; and contact zone birds can give songs of both species, or give the song of only one species but give the call of the other species. There's one more twist: the contact zone is shifting northward. In this presentation, I will summarize our recent and ongoing efforts to understand the details of hybridization in chickadees through field study in southeastern Pennsylvania, aided by genetic analysis in the lab.
Minutes of this meeting.

Thursday May 1, 2003, 7:30 pm - PAUL KERLINGER - "Wind Power, Electric Power Generation, and Birds: What happens when we turn on the lights."
Paul Kerlinger will provide an introduction to wind power and its role in developing renewable energy, a summary of the wind turbine-bird interaction issue, and perspectives on avian mortality at wind turbines as they relate to other forms of power generation and other human-induced (including communication tower) impacts to birds. The talk will summarize the number and types of birds that are killed by wind turbines, habitat impacts of wind turbines, and what happens when DVOC members turn on their lights and computers. The electric generation process, arguably, is having a greater impact on birds and other wildlife than almost any other industry and birders don't even know it.
Minutes of this meeting.

Thursday May 15, 2003, 7:30 pm - AMIR BALABAN - "Jerusalem Bird Observatory: Urban Wildlife in Jerusalem"
The talk will include a presentation about the establishment of the Jerusalem Bird Observatory, and how it was turned into Israel's first urban wildlife site. The presentation will review the research and educational projects that the JBO is involved in and future plans for a network of urban wildlife sites all over Israel.
Minutes of this meeting.

Thursday June 5, 2003, 7:30 pm -CHRIS WALTERS - "DVOC May Runs Reports"
Chris Walters will be hosting the resurrection of the May Run's reports, after an absence of several years. Anyone planning a big day (anywhere and of any kind) during the month of May is requested to contact Chris to hopefully participate by handing in your results, so that Chris can compile them, and giving a brief summary at this meeting (as we do with the CBC's).
Contact: Christopher K. Walters
Contact Information
Minutes of this meeting.

July 3, 7:30 pm, August 7, 7:30 pm - INFORMAL MEETINGS

Sunday August 24 - DVOC Picnic
Green Lane Reservoir
Report and Picture
Pictures

September 4, 2003, 7:30 pm - INFORMAL MEETING

September 18, 2003, 7:30 pm- JEFF GORDON - "The Bird Song Grammys," is a survey of some of the best (and worst) vocal efforts by North American birds, and a look at some of the evolutionary history and ecological function of bird songs and calls. This program is designed not so much to teach how to identify specific bird sounds, but more to impart a broader and deeper appreciation of the vital role played by sound in the lives of birds.
(This meeting was cancelled due to weather conditions)

October 2, 2003, 7:30 pm- FRANK WINDFELDER - "Ornithological Studies: Separating the Dowitchers" DVOC member, field trip leader, raconteur and generally good egg, Frank will use the power of high technology to present his meticulously researched program on separating Long-billed from Short-billed Dowitcher in all plumages as well as explore the various races of Short-billed Dowitcher. The presenter personally guarantees that no one will even think of falling asleep, since the presentation will be interspersed with some serious humor.
Minutes of this meeting.

October 16, 2003, 7:30 pm - ADRIAN BINNS - "What's in a Name? The Origins of Bird Names"
From Avocet to Yellowlegs, from accipiter to zenaida ……..who deemed these words to be the correct bird names? What do they mean? Where did these words come from and why were they chosen? Are they always a perfect fit? Are they politically correct? We will also take a look at the whimsical, strange and occasional fantasy connection behind the origins of some bird names.
Ornithological Study - "White-winged" Juncos presented by Rick Mellon
Minutes of this meeting

November 6, 2003 - ANNUAL BANQUET - KENN KAUFMAN "Birds and the Undiscovered World"

Though the current information explosion might lead us to believe there is little left to discover, the ever-changing world of birds provides ample evidence to the contrary. Naturalist, author, birder and conservationist Kenn Kaufman has pursued birds in remote regions, but he contends that the natural unknown that they inhabit begins right outside our doors. Learn about the power of personal observation that connect people with mystery and adventure and help them comprehend the importance of preserving the natural world. Author of Birds of North America, Kingbird Highway, The Peterson Guide to Advanced Birding, Lives of North American Birds and Butterflies of North America, Kaufman is a field editor to Audubon magazine and regular contributor to every major birding magazine.
Abstract of Proceedings
Pictures

November 20, 2003, 7:30 pm - RICK MELLON "Sinks, Sources and Survival: Geographic Impacts on Avian Habitats" Two structurally identical habitats can have very different bird populations just because the size and shape of the habitats are different. This program examines the importance of habitat size and shape in habitat preservation, conservation and restoration. It provides theoretical and practical examples of biogeographic/avian interactions and other stuff that is fascinating, but not as complex as it sounds.
Ornithological Study - Swifts presented by Jane Henderson
Minutes of this meeting

December 4, 2003, 7:30 pm - MARK GARLAND - "Searching for Birds and the Meaning of Life in the Western U.S." Tag along (vicariously) on this search for birds and other wildlife across the western United States. Stops will be made in Colorado, Yellowstone, Washington State and Alaska. Mark Garland is Senior Naturalist for New Jersey Audubon's Cape May Bird Observatory. He worked out west for the National Park Service between 1980 and 1984 and had returned often.
Ornithological Study - Gull Mantle Colors presented by Bert Filemyr
Minutes of this meeting

2004 Programs

DVOC Main Page > 2003 Meetings / Programs