[DVOC] Weekly Digest - Number 08-44 - 10/26/08

Sun Oct 26 16:59:00 PDT 2008

The Delaware Valley Ornithological Club  (DVOC) Weekly Digest 

DVOC Annual Banquet - Thursday November 20th - Deadline for signing up is
approaching! - Get your reservation in now!

Please set aside Thursday, November 20th for our Annual Banquet. We always
have a great time. Menu choices and prices are listed below, Full
information with reservation form is at
http://www.dvoc.org/Banquet/Banquet.htm 

Speakers: Clay and Pat Sutton, "Birds and Birding at Cape May (a Bird Walk
Through Time)," program and book signing by Clay and Pat Sutton

6 pm cash bar (munchies included!)

7 pm dinner

Choose from three entrees: Boneless Breast of Chicken Stuffed with Herb
Bread & Pine Nuts / Baked Salmon with Lemon Herb Peppercorn Cream Sauce /
Vegetarian 

All meals include: Fresh Seasonal Fruit Salad, Roasted Herb Potatoes, Green
Beans Almandine, Ice Cream, Rolls and butter, coffee, tea and decaf 

Cost per person - $46 (includes tax and gratuity)

Many thanks to Banquet Chairs Bernice and Joe Koplin for putting this
together.

Something Special At This Year's Banquet
Send Your Photos of DVOC Members for our Annual Banquet!!

All members are invited to participate in a photo display to be shown during
cocktail hour at this year's Annual Banquet.  This will be a photographic
review of our members' birding activities for this year.  We need more
pictures! Even if you will not be at the banquet, we would love to see you
represented.  Any photo of you or other DVOC members taken while at a
birding location this year is welcomed.  Did you take a birding trip with
other DVOC members?  Did someone take your picture as you birded your
backyard? Were you photographed while birding during a family vacation?  Are
you a distant DVOC member who just cannot get to this year's banquet?  Send
a photo or two of yourself and/or other DVOC members "in action." Pictures
of people (at least one DVOC member should be in each photo) only, not
birds.  Simply send photos as an e-mail attachment to
<mailto:membership at dvoc.org> membership at dvoc.org.  Be sure to label the
message with the location of the shot and who is depicted.  Come and enjoy
viewing the photos during the social hour prior to the start of dinner.
(Thanks to Club Member Connie Goldman for taking the initiative on this.)

DVOC Hats - Yes!

The new batch of hats has arrived and they will be available at this week's
meeting. There are three color choices, khaki, navy, green.

The cost is only $17 each. You can pay in cash (exact change is really
appreciated!) or a check made out to DVOC. Membership Chairperson Connie
Goldman is heading this initiative.

Get yours while they last! (Connie was unable to make the last meeting. She
will be at the upcoming meeting with the hats!)

A Request From Club Member Tony Croasdale
            Hello, my name is Tony Croasdale, I am an DVOC member and am
currently working at Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center in West
Philadelphia. Cobbs Creek offers a great facility consisting of class rooms,
a lab, meeting spaces, some exhibits and displays, a garden, library and an
amazing mural of the local ecosystem. The center serves a community
traditionally not served by most environmental centers being in such an
urban and low income area. The park the center is located in a quite
beautiful wooded stream corridor. I have the privilege of coordinating after
school environmental science clubs at 8 local Philadelphia School District
elementary schools and will be starting a birding club for middle and high
school students that will be open to kids region-wide. 
            I am writing to request donations of field guides to birds,
insects, trees etc for use in the center and for the after school clubs. We
would also like to put together a bird feeding station at the center so
donations of feeders, Sheppard's hooks, bird baths etc would be greatly
appreciated too. We are also looking to put together a pelt box and native
herp collection as well. I have very limited resources to work with and am
looking to really increase the traditional nature center function of this
center so I'd welcome any thoughts or ideas on what sorts of resources folks
out there have and are willing to contribute. We also want to be able to
host local school children and I'd like to have materials available for fun
activities with them. 
            I did a similar drive for field guides while working at John
Heinz NWR as an AmeriCorps VISTA and it was very successful and I'd like to
thank everyone who contributed. I hope everyone got a thank you letter
mailed to them. The success of that program made me really feel that the
birding community was indeed just that, a community. 
            I will be having the donations sent to my parent's address as
the center currently isn't open consistently and my folk's house is set up
to receive packages nicely. Cobbs Creek is a non-profit organization so I'm
sure we can arrange a receipt for tax deductable donations. 

December 18th Meeting - Photo Contest (updated 10/3)

Format: Digital only

Well, fall is here and many of you have taken some great trips and shot some
wonderful photos. Will you win the DVOC slide contest? Prizes will be
awarded in four categories: Birds, Natural History (non-avian fauna and
flora), Scenery, and Birders (one year, former President Bob Sehl was shown
riding a camel).
Entries must be submitted in advance to Frank Windfelder. You can submit a
MAXIMUM of 5 shots in the categories of Birds and Natural History, but only
three in Scenery and Birders. Prizes will be awarded.

Put your pictures on a CD and either email them, snail mail them, or hand
them to Frank Windfelder at a DVOC meeting.

Upcoming Meeting (Details and directions at  <http://www.dvoc.org/>
www.dvoc.org)

Thursday November 6, 2008 - 7:30 pm at the Academy of Natural Sciences in
Philadelphia"

Program - Adrian Binns - "Watching East Africa's Unique Wildlife"

>From the savannahs of Kenya to Uganda's rainforest, from the Ngorongoro
Crater in Tanzania to the lakes in the Rift Valley, the abundant display of
wildlife in East Africa is unparalleled. With such a large concentration of
both mammals and avian species it is not surprising that a number of
different inter-actions and relationships can be found between them. We will
explore some of these unique relationships and take a look at some of the 14
(of 16 African) endemic avian families that East Africa hosts.

No Ornithological Study this meeting

Upcoming Field Trips  

November 1 or 2 (Saturday or Sunday) - Bake Oven Knob, PA (Watch the website
for a decision on the date.)

For raptors and possible golden eagle and goshawk. A decision on which day
should have the best conditions will be made the week prior. Meet at parking
lot at 8:30am and bring lunch.

Leaders: Frank Windfelder, Chris Walters, Bill Murphy

Directions and full information is on the club website

November 8 (Saturday) - Saw-whet Owl Banding at Hidden Valley, PA

Visit Scott Weidensaul's banding station along the Kittitany Ridge on Second
Mountain in Schuylkill County during the peak of saw-whet migration. Meet at
the banding station at 6:30pm. Dress warmly. Expect to be out till 11pm.  

Limited to 15 participants. Sign up with Adrian Binns now! As of 10/19, only
two spots are available.

Leader: Adrian Binns

Items Available for Purchase at DVOC Meetings

DVOC Hats - $17 each

DVOC car window stickers - $1 each
"Birders Conservation Handbook: 100 North American Birds at Risk" by Dr.
Jeff Wells - only $25 (limited supply)

"Song of the Blue Ocean" by Dr. Carl Safina - signed by author - A $17 value
now only $12 (limited supply)

____________________________________________________________________________
________________________
Report Your Sightings to the Delaware Valley RBA
The Delaware Valley RBA is posted on Thursday evenings at
<http://www.dvoc.org/RBA/Current/Active/Index.htm>
http://www.dvoc.org/RBA/Current/Active/Index.htm
It is also available at 215 240 7547
Report your sightings to  <mailto:rba at dvoc.com> rba at dvoc.com or 215 240 7547
The general guidelines of what to report are on the Delaware Valley Rare
Bird Alert Page -  <http://www.dvoc.org/RBA/Current/Active/Index.htm>
http://www.dvoc.org/RBA/Current/Active/Index.htm

Merchandise Available!
Both DVOC merchandise and Nikon/DVOC Lagerhead Shrikes merchandise are
available at our on-line store. 
 <http://www.cafepress.com/nikondvoc> http://www.cafepress.com/nikondvoc
 <http://www.cafepress.com/dvoc> http://www.cafepress.com/dvoc

Information on the Club and Club activities are at  <http://www.dvoc.org>
www.dvoc.org

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