At 6:04 pm President Barbara Saunders called the meeting of the Society to order. Vice-President Lydia Thomas introduced Doug Gochfeld and Sean Sime. Their talk entitled “Victory at Sea: Offshore in the Age of Big Data” outlined the history and current status of “pelagic” trips to record and research the occurrence of oceanic seabirds. “Pelagic” applies to surface water oceanic life found at least twenty miles off the shoreline and not regularly sighted from the coast or inland. Pelagic trips began off the shoreline of Cape Hatteras, where the boundary of the continental shelf and the Gulf Stream make their closest contacts with the North American landmass. These trips can be accomplished easily in a day and many hitherto rarely seen birds are sighted routinely. Trips from Massachusetts to the edge of the continental shelf also started to record rare birds, such as white-faced storm petrels. The first trip from New York State, sponsored by the Linnaean Society, was highly successful, with one of the rare records of the yellow-billed albatross. Subsequent trips were not so successful as it was difficult to predict where to go in the vast area of the continental shelf. This difficulty has been resolved with the advent of real time maps of surface water temperature and chlorophyll content, both available on the Internet courtesy of NOAA, the use of chum to attract seabirds with their acute sense of smell, and the beginning of overnight trips from Brooklyn, so that there is greater time, including night hours, at the edge of the continental shelf. Trips can now be organized with much greater success, as destinations are targeted to specific surface locations. The data from these trips show the importance of “edge effects”, namely the clustering of birds, including rarities, at the edges of the continental shelf, and the distances some birds travel from their breeding grounds to feed. The speakers also emphasized the importance of digital photography in making definitive identification of similar species and the long-term benefits of uploading data to e-bird where information can be archived to reveal historic trends in bird populations and range.
At 7:36 pm President Saunders reconvened the meeting. Recording Secretary Hamish Young read the minutes of the May 8th, 2018 meeting. They were approved as read. Vice-President Thomas announced five new candidates for membership, Liz Slote and Laura Goggin sponsored by Anne Lazarus, Michela Nonis and Bob Moss, sponsored by Kathleen Matthews, and Cynthia Guile, sponsored by Gina Goldstein. The nominations were approved unanimously. President Saunders regretted to inform members of the deaths of two life members Mrs. Frederieke Taylor and Marc Weinberger. She also indicated that the Society must appoint an interim Secretary in the absence of Secretary Peltomaa and a new Council Member to fill the unexpired term of James Muchmore. New field trip organizers will be needed for the 2019-2020 year, as Anne Lazarus and Richard ZainEldeen will be relinquishing their positions. The President reminded members of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Great Gull Island project, of the Society’s Homecoming event on Thursday September 27th, at which donations for the Society’s archival cabinets will be gratefully received, and of upcoming field trips. Conservation Committee chair Rochelle Thomas announced several beach clean-up events co-sponsored by the Linnaean Society. Web and Outreach Committee chair, Sherry Felix, announced that changes to any program can be viewed on the Society’s website and social media sites.
After the business section of the meeting, President Saunders introduced Sean Graesser, whose talk was entitled “Following the Flock: An Account of Three Areas of Central America and the Migrants that call it their Winter Home.” Sean described his first encounters with tropical birds on a field trip as a high school student to Pipeline Road, Panama. They included an American Pigmy Kingfisher and a Royal Flycatcher with its spectacular crown displayed. After realizing that many migratory songbirds make Central America their winter home, he decided to investigate three areas of differing ecology in Costa Rica, two of which he described in detail. A coastal mangrove swamp on the Nicoya peninsula, has both passage migrants, predominantly in September through November, and resident migrants, which establish themselves in December. Banding data from 2011, with overall return rates for various species in the 20% to 28% range, have revealed that some migrants return for several years to exactly the same location. Also, contrary to expectations, some Swainson’s Thrushes overwinter in Nicoya, rather than proceeding to South America, and some Wood Thrushes occur on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. In the Rara Avis rain forest reserve, which hosts upwards of 400 different species, Sean has studied Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and Golden-winged Warblers. He has been able to band the former and has documented the first return of a banded individual. The golden-wings come from the Appalachian population, not from the Great Lakes population, whose members winter in Venezuela and are suffering a drastic reduction in numbers because of habitat destruction. Sean ended his talk by emphasizing that the conservation of wintering grounds is of the greatest importance, and he is using social media and photography to spread this message to the general public.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 pm.
Respectfully submitted by
Hamish Young, Recording Secretary