PVBC Meeting Minutes: September 3, 2025
By Tracey Hopper, PVBC Secretary
President’s Introductory Comments – Welcome & Announcements
Callan Bentley, Vice President, opened the meeting promptly at 7:00 p.m., in person at the Ivy Creek Natural Area Educational Building, with 20 people in attendance. Prior to the commencement of the meeting a PVBC Member who was downsizing donated at least 100 books to the Club and its members. These books were placed on a table at the Educational Building for members in attendance to take as desired. The remaining books are being stored for now by a PVBC Board Member to be shared with Club members or Ivy Creek at a later time.
Noteworthy Observations
Callan asked members to share interesting recent bird sightings. A member reported numerous sightings of Osprey at Lake Anna. JoAnn Dalley shared that she would be visiting the remaining states in the U.S. to which she had not been to bird yet, to round out her birding in our nation.
Elijah Edwards told us about Roseate Spoonbills and a White-rumped Sandpiper that he observed at Back Bay NWR.
Membership Update
Scott Connuck, outgoing Membership Chair, first introduced Sally Tucker as PVBC’s new Membership Chair. Welcome Sally!! Scott is kindly remaining as outgoing Membership Chair to support and train Sally during her initial months as Membership Chair. Scott reported that as of August 31, 2025, PVBC had 110 paid-up-for-FY26 members plus 107 FY25 members (“carry-overs”), totaling 217 active members. For comparison, this year we are up from last year at this time when our membership was 213 (103 paid-up and 100 carry-overs). Scott reminded members that dues help pay for Club meeting space, sponsorships for speakers, educational materials and binoculars for schools and libraries, and support for conservation groups. Thank you, Scott and Sally!
Upcoming Field Trips
First Saturday Bird Walk at Ivy Creek Natural Area, on Saturday, September 6th, at 7:30
a.m. Meet in the main parking lot at 1780 Earlysville Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903.
McIntire Park, at 7:30 a.m., on Sunday, September 14th . JoAnn Dalley will lead this walk.
Park and meet at the Skate Parking Lot.
Editor’s note: See events for updated events info
Volunteering
Callan explained the Volunteer Sign-up Google doc and encouraged members to complete the form, providing information regarding which volunteer tasks each member could contribute. Callan described a volunteer opportunity to lead Bird Beak Buffet with children (and interested adults) at the Fluvanna Fall Festival: Saturday, October 11, 2025, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., at Pleasant Grove.
Misc. Announcements:
Land’s End swag– Many thanks to Callan for all of his hard work with Land’s End and other vendors to determine a PVBC design that is attractive and works well on tshirts, hats and other Club merchandise. In the near future the Club will send a link and information to Club members that explains how they
can order Club merchandise from these vendors.
40th Anniversary Party
In February 2026 the Club will celebrate its 40 th Anniversary! At our February Club meeting we will share a potluck dinner and otherwise celebrate.
Advocacy
At the Club’s next meeting in October Susan Kirk will speak about advocacy opportunities to support conservation efforts related to birds, providing helpful and interesting information to members who wish to get more involved with these issues.
Featured Presentation
Program Chair, Joanna Vondrasek, introduced Dr. Derek Hennen, an entomologist and naturalist specializing in the taxonomy of Appalachian myriapods. Dr. Hennen presented a fascinating talk to the Club titled Virginia is for Millipede Lovers: Our Jewels of the Forest Floor.
After Dr. Hennen’s presentation, the meeting was adjourned. The Club next meets on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, at 7:00 p.m., on Zoom. At this meeting we will hear about Birds in a Warming World from Ethan Clotfelter, Ph.D., the Rufus Tyler Lincoln Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies at Amherst College.
