Club president, Guy Babineau, opened the meeting, which was held via Zoom, at 7:00 PM (45 participants).
Field trips: Susan Babineau announced the upcoming dates for field trips.
-Thursday, September 2: Night hawk watch at Ivy Creek
-Saturday, September 4: First Saturday bird walk at Ivy Creek
-Monday, September 6: Accessible trails field day
-Saturday, September 18: Annual Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch open house
Secluded Farm field trip
PVBC will have a table at the hawk watch with information about the club as well as about the VSO Kestrel project.
Membership: Scott Connuck reminded members that it is time to renew memberships. He will be sending out renewal requests. Membership can be renewed by mail or through the club’s website at piedmontvirginiabirdclub.org.
Treasurer’s report: Steve Templeman announced that the board voted not to have the bird seed sale again this year because of the pandemic. The board made the decision to increase membership dues for the first time in many years to compensate for the loss in bird seed revenue. A new affordable student level of membership has been added.
The board also approved the reduction in the number of organizations to which the club will provide support through donations or scholarships.
The budget includes increased planned expenditures on in-person meetings, versus online Zoom meetings that we’ve had during FY 2021. The overall goal for this year is to “break even”.
The budget projects a net income of $205 compared to a net loss of $112 in FY2020.
Programs: Myrlene Staten, Programs Chairperson, proposed that members share their birdwatching related experiences with the group in lieu of a single speaker. Interested parties should submit ideas for five minute sharing to [email protected]
Feature presentation: Myrlene introduced David Carr, PhD, Research Professor, Environmental Sciences at UVA, who gave a presentation on the Blandy Experimental Farm and State Arboretum of Virginia, with a focus on bird watching.
The meeting concluded at 8:20 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Ann Kirkpatrick
Secretary
