Highlights from the Board – October 31, 2011
The VSO Board of Directors met on Saturday, October 29 from 10:00AM to 2:30PM
at the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) Headquarters in
Richmond.
The Board was joined by two guests representing the Coastal Virginia Wildlife
Observatory (CVWO), Mr. Brian Taber and Dr. Bob Reilly. Mr. Taber is the
President of the CVWO and Dr. Reilly is the Kiptopeke Banding Station Master
and the CVWO’s Vice President. The purpose of their visit was to present a
proposal to solicit VSO financial support for CVWO’s scientific, educational,
and conservation activities. One of the CVWO’s marquee programs is the
Kiptopeke Station, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in the fall of
2012. Kiptopeke’s fall migration data set is the second longest in the U.S.,
and it is currently the only banding station between New Jersey and Georgia
which has been intensively monitoring songbird fall migration along the eastern
seaboard. In addition to Kiptopeke, the CVWO has been supporting a highly
productive Prothonotary Warbler nest box installation and monitoring program, a
banding station at First Landing State Park, a Northern Saw-whet Owl banding
project, and various raptor monitoring programs. Funding, however, has become
more challenging for CVWO in recent years, and consequently, they are
initiating an expanded funding drive in conjunction with their 50th
anniversary. They request that the VSO play a significant role in this
initiative, given its status as the state’s flagship ornithology organization
and its instrumental role in the establishment of Kiptopeke. Over the coming
months, the VSO’s Board will be carefully considering how it can help to
financially sustain the CVWO’s programs.
The Board is also working on some needed changes to the VSO’s by-laws and Board
of Directors Manual. These revisions are needed to accommodate recent updates
to our committee structure and some committees’ responsibilities and to reflect
contemporary electronic means of communication. We plan to finalize the by-laws
changes during our spring meeting for submission to the full membership for
approval. We will also complete the Board of Directors Manual updates by spring.
Rexanne Bruno, Past President, is continuing to lead an initiative to develop a
new Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas. The last Virginia atlas was published in the
late 1980s. Therefore, the state is in desperate need for updated,
comprehensive information about the distributions and densities of its breeding
birds that only a new atlas can provide. This effort will require collaboration
from VDGIF and other organizations, as well as considerable funding to support
a full-time director to coordinate and ensure the quality of survey work. We
will continue to deliberate strategies to raise the necessary funding to
complete this project.
Wendy Ealding, along with VARCOM support, has redesigned the state field
checklist to reflect recent changes to the official American Ornithologists’
Union checklist of North American birds. Based on recent genetic analyses, the
AOU has significantly reconfigured some sections of its checklist, and as
Virginia’s leading ornithology organization, our state list must reflect
science’s most contemporary findings. Look for the revised edition on the VSO’s
web site shortly (www.virginiabirds.net) Thank you to Wendy for her attention
to this task.
Keith Carson has been leading the Education Committee’s efforts to add
educational content to the VSO’s web site and to increase our presence at
birding festivals, wildlife education programs, and other public events. If you
have any educational ideas for Keith or know of a local venue where the VSO can
be promoted, he can be reached at
britlarson52@xxxxxxxx<mailto:britlarson52@xxxxxxxx>.
The Board would like to extend its gratitude to Stephen Eccles for his
outstanding service as Chair of the Conservation Committee. Stephen
reinvigorated the Conservation Committee several years ago, and he has
maintained a highly active committee ever since. He tendered his resignation in
October citing personal reasons, and the VSO will certainly miss his energy,
dedication, and forward thinking. We are now looking for a new chair to
continue his successes in engaging the VSO in conservation issues and in
connecting with the broader bird conservation community. Thank you, Stephen.
Finally, the Board took care of some routine tasks such as approving a 2012
budget and processing committee reports. We have some exciting field trips on
the horizon, a rare joint Annual Meeting with the Tennessee Ornithological
Society in May, and an interesting Breeding Bird Foray scheduled for next
summer (again, check our web site for details). Our next meeting will be held
in early March in Loudoun County. We will keep you informed.
If you are not a member of the VSO, we invite you to join. We welcome all bird
enthusiasts, from novice birders to professional ornithologists. If you’re
already a member, we thank you for your support. Among other benefits, we offer
email delivery of our quarterly newsletter. Be the first to receive VSO news
updates and save both paper and printing costs! Please also feel free to
contact me any time if you have any questions regarding the VSO and its
activities.
Best wishes, and continue to enjoy this VSO-sponsored list-serve.
Andrew Dolby, VSO President
adolby@xxxxxxx<mailto:adolby@xxxxxxx>
