Monthly Meetings
| Meetings begin at 7:00pm with light refreshments and a social “half-hour”, followed by a brief business meeting. The main program will begin by 7:45 pm. Meetings are held at the Ashland Nature Center in Hockessin, DE, the third Wednesday of each month. Different venues and dates/times will be announced in the Flyer and on this website |
| past events |
| Wednesday, 16 June 2010 |
| Annual Picnic -- 5:30 to Dark! |
| DOS Members (at the Flint Woods Preserve) |
| Join us for the annual get-together as another season of birding activity draws to a close! 5:30PM until dark. At the Flint Woods Preserve
Wrap-up of the year's events, Bird-A-Thon prizes, and general good company. Evening bird walk will follow the dinner. Check back soon for more details! Bar-b-que and other refreshments will be provided. You are encouraged to bring a covered dish to share! For directions, click here |
| Wednesday, 19 May 2010 |
| Climate Change and Bird Migration: The North American Bird Phenology Program |
| Jessica Zelt |
| Jessica, from the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center will present her ongoing work with The North American Bird Phenology Program, an effort to preserve and digitize a nearly-forgotten collection of six million Migration Observer Cards that record spring and fall arrival and departure dates of North American birds. These handwritten cards contain almost all of what was known of bird distribution and natural history from the late 19th century through the Second World War. The bulk of the records were produced by a network of observers (as many as 3,000) that included many famous ornithologists of the time. Today, a network of volunteers is hard at work databasing the historical information. The arrival times from this project will be compared with more recently collected arrival data, as well as historical weather and climate data, to provide critical insights into changes in bird distribution, migration timing and migration pathways. Find out what is being revealed and learn how you can participate in the program from your own home!
Visit the North American Bird Phenology Program Website
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| Wednesday, 21 April 2010 |
| Why Delaware Fish and Wildlife Matters to Birds....And Why Birders Matter to Delaware Fish and Wildlife! |
| Karen Bennett |
| Karen Bennett, Program Manager of Natural Heritage, Endangered Species and Private Lands Programs for the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife, DNREC, will highlight some of the Division's most exciting and challenging bird conservation projects. Learn how the birding community makes many of these projects possible in obvious and not-so-obvious ways, and how birders can help the state protect bird populations. |
| Wednesday, 17 March 2010 |
| Birding Colombia |
| Matt Sarver & Lauren Morgens |
| DOS Vice President Matt Sarver and his fiancèe Lauren Morgens will recount their recent birding trip to Colombia in the company of Delaware hawk-counters Forrest Rowland and Cyrus Moqtaderi. The group flew into Medellín, the former home of the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar, and spent two weeks roaming the Andes in search of rare Colombian endemics. In cooperation with Fundación ProAves, and armed with notebooks, binoculars, cameras, and sound recording gear, the group visited several bird preserves and traveled into a few areas never before explored by modern ornithologists. Join us for an evening of adventures in the Andes! |
| Wednesday, 17 February 2010 |
| Radio Tracking Turkey Vultures |
| David Barber |
| David Barber, research biologist at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary will give a presentation on research in the tracking of Turkey Vultures using radio telemetry. |
| Wednesday, 20 January 2010 |
| CBC Roundup **At the DuPont Environmental Education Center** |
| Jim White |
| ** Please note: this month our meeting will be held at the DNS' DuPont Environmental Education Center, on the Wilmington waterfront** Join us for the annual wrap-up of this year's Christmas Bird Counts. There will be great stories, and interesting tallies of bird numbers and species. Find out what is happening to some of your favorite species. Take the chill off by sampling the fare as we continue the tradition of our Annual Chili Night! |
| Wednesday, 16 December 2009 |
| DOS Member's Night |
| DOS Members |
By DOS, for DOS! Members present their own bird-related experiences. This year we feature:
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| Wednesday, 18 November 2009 |
| The State of Pennsylvania's Breeding Birds: a preview of the results of the 2nd PBBA |
| Robert Mulvihill |
| The 2nd PBBA was completed in 2009, 20 years after the end of the first breeding bird atlas. More than 3,300 volunteers and a dozen paid field staff conducted formal and informal surveys in all 4,937 blocks in the state, submitted over 850,000 records, and documented 219 species. Although the data are still being checked, edited, and analyzed, there already are many interesting and important results that the project Coordinator, Bob Mulvihill, will share with us during this program. The published atlas is a year and a half or two away, so you don't want to miss this sneak preview of coming attractions!
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| Wednesday, 21 October 2009 |
| Forrest & Jeff's Excellent Ecuadorian Adventure |
| Forrest Rowland & Jeff Gordon |
| In March of 2009, 9 intrepid local birders joined Forrest Rowland & Jeff Gordon for a 2 1/2 week tour through northern Ecuador, visiting many of that country's most celebrated birding sites. Along the way, they encountered mudslides, giant earthworms, and a rainy season that just wouldn't quit. Join Forrest and Jeff for a lavishly illustrated recounting of their adventures from the peaks of the Andes to the humid Amazonian lowlands. |
| Wednesday, 16 September 2009 |
| Nocturnal Migration of Birds In The 21st Century |
| Bill Evans |
| A discussion from the front lines of research and conservation of night migrating birds. Bill will review the astounding phenomenon of nocturnal bird migration, present selected research from his studies monitoring avian night flight calls, and update the DOS on conservation efforts toward minimizing the impacts of wind turbines, communications towers, and artificial light on night migrating birds.
Bill Evans has spent more than 20 years studying the nocturnal flight calls of migrating birds in North America. He initiated the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's avian night flight call research in 1994 and in 1998 founded the nonprofit called Old Bird. The current focus of this organization is in using acoustics for long-term monitoring of various songbird species and for mitigating bird mortality at tall man-made structures. In addition, the organization provides instructions and tools for anyone interested in establishing their own night flight call monitoring station. Bill's work has been described in The New York Times, New Scientist, NPR, BBC, PBS, Science and many popular conservation and birding magazines. Descriptions of his works and publications related to nocturnal bird migration may be found at www.oldbird.org |
* Please help!* If you'd like to help out with the monthly meetings (set up refreshments, etc.), please contact Matt Sarver or Derek Stoner.
