Bernie read  minutes of last month. All accepted.

Old Business-
Ridgewood Reservoir planning is stalled. DEC will hopefully deem it a freshwater wetland.
Oakland Lake has been beautified on the east side (46th Ave.). Some native species have been planted. Little has been done to the interior of the park though 56th St. side looks cleaned up.
Cunningham Park walks should be started up again in the near future.
Website is running and up to date field notes will be posted by Stu: from most recent sightings listed on top to the older entries below.

New Business-
Bernie agreed to be newsletter editor. The number of annual publications to be discussed.
Save Plum Island Coalition mentioned to Arie that there may be spaces available on future visits to the Island.
Ed Lam book on sale. He will be speaking to the club at an upcoming meeting.

Trip Reports-
Ian lead South Shore potpourri. 44 species with Black-throated-green Warbler highlight.
Eric said the trip to Floyd Bennett Field yielded eastern bluebirds
Xmas bird count on December 19 is lacking a few counters

Field notes taken by Stu

Misc-
A memorial for Alexi Kondratiev will be held on December 13. Long time member of the QCBC, and consistant participant in the Xmas bird count, he died of a heart attack at the age of 61.

Minutes taken by Mary Normandia

The meeting was called to order by Arie Gilbert at 8:10 p.m.  The minutes of the previous meeting taken and read by Anita Kings were accepted by a motion made and seconded. 

On old business: Lou Widerka noted there was nothing new on Ridgewood Reservoir.

Oakland Lake:  Ian Resnick reported ongoing construction, but nothing definite could be seen. 

Arie pointed out all the features of the new website. Beside the trip calendar, maps and reports, there are links to important birding sites, causes to support, and the humor in the Universal Laws of birding.  The petition to save Plum Island can be found by clicking on the Links feature, and you can sign on to prevent development which could ruin Plum Island's habitats, pollute the Sound permanently, and shut out the public.

On new business: Arie noted that he spoke to Don Riepe from an organization called Friends of Jamaica Bay. Don was of the opinion that an attempt is being made to turn a world class natural wildlife center into a "park".  Park denoting a place for people to have activities, while wildlife is pushed into the corners and habitats are compromised.  Money is there for wildlife maintenance, but is not being used for it.  Don felt it important to bring this information to bird clubs and other lovers of the natural world.

More new business: Arie noted that the damselflies book could be purchased at discount by writing the code: Facebook in the promotional line.  He also has 40 copies of "Lets Go Birding" for sale; a good book for beginners.  Check on the website under Fun Stuff and see proposed QCBC T-shirts in 3 different styles.  If ordered in bulk, we can get a discount.

Upcoming trips: 10/30 Hawk Mountain, John Collins leader; 11/7 South Shore potpourri, Ian Resnick leader; and 11/13 Floyd Bennett Field, Eric Miller leader.

Stu Lipkin reported that the winter wren species was split: sub-species on west coast now the Pacific wren. He then took field notes. 

Our guest speaker was Thomas Rhindress, a nature and landscape photographer.  He considers himself a naturalist and advocates doing your own trip using local guides.  He exhibited photos of all the places he has been to and the wildlife and birds he saw.

The meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m. Linda Klempner

The meeting was called to order by President Arie Gilbert with an unexplainable extremely small group of members in attendance.

Previous minutes were read. By Lou Widerka.

Old Business discussed was the new website QCBIRDCLUB.org, and the elimination of the blog because it wasn't being used. The new site is easier to look at, has a calendar, trip schedule, trip reports and field notes. The club is open to any other suggestions to incorporate into the site.

New Business discussed was a report about Don Riepe's complaints that Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge management is not maintaining the habitat properly. It is being treated as a park and not a refuge. A sub organization of the Littoral Society has been formed called Friends of Jamaica Bay, and will be run by Don Riepe. Secretary ofInterior Salazar visited the refuge, and it's felt he is viewing it as a park. Therefore they are concerning themselves with things such as cleaning up grass between cracks in sidewalks, maintenance of the parking lot. and neglecting wildlife concerns. The membership fee is $25 and QCBC will join. The Brooklyn Bird Club and other Audubon Societies are joining, and you can also join as an individual member. Check our website and download a membership application. The Brooklyn Bird Club will be having a meeting to discuss three important areas of concern- Ridgewood Reservoir, Jamaica Bay, and Floyd Bennet Field.

Other new business was Plum Island, Connecticut, 10 miles past Orient Point. They have been doing experiments on animals there. Now a decision has to be made about the fate of the island. There is an effort to preserve it, but it is largely underfunded. Look for the link on our website for an online petition to help preserve the island.

Ed Lam's book Damsel Flies of the Northeast, is on sale for $14, which is a 30% savings. It can be bought at this price until the end of 2010 and can be ordered at
homepage.mac.com/ealamlbook.html

Upcoming trips to be held are: Jacob Riis Park/Fort Tilden 9/19; North Fork 9/25/2010Rick &
Linda Kedengerg leaders; Jamaica Bay-l0/2/2010 8:00 a.m. leader Ian Resnick Kissena Park 10/l0/2010,8:00 a.m. leader Eric Miller; Quaker Ridge Hawk Watch 10/17/2010 8:00 a,m leader
Lou Widerka You can arrive later, people will be there on the lawn all day.. Bring your own
chairs.

Field notes were skipped as too few people were in attendance, but those of us who were there were treated to a wonderful slide presentation by Arie Gilbert showing photos taken on QCBC trips to the Adirondacks, Mianus River Gorge, and Sterling Forest. Aside from birds, we saw first rate closeups of butterflies, beetles, flowers, snakes, frogs, turtles, dragonflies, caterpillars, porcupine, moths, and that outstanding spider web photo.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 P.M. Respectfully submitted - Anita King

The meeting was called to order by Arie Gilbert at 8:15 p.m.  The minutes of the previous meeting were accepted by a motion made and seconded. 

Arie presented a letter from the Highland Park/Ridgewood Reservoir Alliance, which requested that interested persons write to the DEC in support of declaring the Ridgewood Reservoir basins as wetlands area.  Copies of the letter were circulated .
 
On old business: Lou Widerka continued to update us on Ridgewood Reservoir.  The contractors for Phase I, who are fixing the fence around the perimeter, are the ones who want to cut down the trees.  Community groups have made other suggestions and no one was listening.  Lou is in contact with Dave Quintana, active in the Democratic party and was trying to get in touch with Comptroller Liu, who has the final say. On the opposite side are Mayor Bloomberg and Parks Commissioner Benepe.  Lou suggests that in addition to sending the letter to the two DEC people, we should also send letters to our local politicians.
 
About Oakland Lake:  Ian Resnick reported that more equipment has been brought in, but he did not see any progress being made. 

Arie noted that Jean Loscalzo was working on a breeding bird survey and will present a report
as soon as it is completed. 

About the website, Arie stated that in order to post, an account is needed for which either Karlo or Chuck should be contacted.  When the account is established, an invitation to accept will be sent by email and once accepted, there will be steps to post a report. 

New business: George Dadone noted there was purple loosetrife growing outside in the garden.

Arie next called for election of officers.  A vote was taken for the entire slate and the current officers were re-elected.

On Sunday, 6/27 a new trip was scheduled to Sharon Springs, NY and Arie gave directions and the meeting time for this trip.  He then reviewed the results of the Doodletown, Bashakill, Sterling Forest and Ward Pound Ridge trips.  Linda and Bernie noted the highlights of the Oceanside mini-trip.   

Stu Lipkin took field notes.  Ian reported that Big Day yielded 115 species.

Member John Collins' photos of his visit to Bhutan was the evening's feature.  We oohhed and ahhed over the many different and stunning birds, as well as beautiful photos of the architecture, the people and scenery, including Mt. Everest, of this peaceful country.  John really enjoyed his trip and we did so vicariously.

The meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m.