Meeting for September 18, 2015

AGENDA for meeting on Sept 18, 2015
Pocono Avian Research Center
Board of Directors Meeting
September 18, 2015 - ONLINE

1.      Call to order
2.      Acceptance of minutes from the last meeting (May 18, 2015)
Accounts balanced at $15313.08 with $216.21 to be deposited (funds on hand). 
Accounts receivable total $250 ($150 from NCC for summer banding demo and $100 from Shawnee for September program);
Accounts payable are $700 (program expense for summer biologist)
3.      Director Report: Owl Fest Update.  Thank you to Sara Green, Liz and Warren Green for putting on this great program.  Thank you to Bekah Snyder and Angela Clements who volunteered to help with the events of the day.  Thank you to Ellen Davis for loaning us the hot dog roller and to Barrett Township for the use of the park.  We were approached by Sarah Green who is going for her Gold Award - the highest award in Girl Scouting.  Sarah organized an owl awareness event on September 12, 2015 at High Acres Park in Barrett Township.  We had almost 100 people in attendance, and the Greens would like this to become an annual event.  There will be a final meeting this month. I will have final income figures following the meeting, but unofficial numbers indicate over $192 in food sales, $140 in box sponsorships, and $25 in Adopt a Bird sponsorships. 
4.      Education Committee:
     a.       We continue to receive invitations to speak for local groups.  We have just completed a series with Woodloch Inn and Spa.  In September, Darryl will be doing an owl prowl for the Lackawanna College EE Center. 
     b.      Jackie has been working with the activities staff at the Shawnee resort to help them include more natural history information into their programs this summer.  We have helped them develop an orienteering course on the property, and generated some teambuilding ideas for their guests including a trivia game and boatbuilding. 
     c.       We were approached by Camelback Mountain Aquatopia resort to help infuse more natural history topics into their programming, group guests' experiences, and family reunions.  On site natural history programs will be provided by other local naturalists, however we have generated and emailed a list of program options. 
5.      Research Committee:
     a.       Angela Clements continues to help with data entry and analysis.  We are close to completing 2015 data and reporting to Institute for Bird Populations and BBL.  For her intern project, she has generated an E-BIRD account and imported many of the breeding bird lists we have compiled over the last 15 years.  This was a large undertaking in addition to working at our MAPS stations this summer.  Thank you to Angela for her hard work.
     b.      Bekah Snyder has received her sub permit from the BBL, and she has been working hard on generating ideas for the Grey Catbird Study (her spring independent study at ESU).  We were unable to procure color bands for use during the 2015 season, however we will get some for 2016.  We were able to do some behavioral observations, and habitat assessments with the help of Angela and Ryan Brancato (summer Kettle Creek/MAPS intern).  Presently, Bekah is working on analysis the habitat changes over time and a comparison to the species recorded at Kettle Creek.
     c.       Board member Lisa Schreffler worked this summer at the banding stations and in data analysis.  Thank you!
6.      Grants Committee: As always, we are actively searching for grant opportunities for this year and next. 
7.      Audit Committee: Our first quarter was successful (Net gain of $107.71) with income of $980.56 and expenses of $872.85 (including our annual dinner cost and Insurance for the year).  Mid-year reports should be done soon.  If you are interested in the numbers, be sure to email a request to me.
8.      New Business
9.      Meeting adjourned