Augusta-Aiken Audubon Bi-Monthly Meeting Minutes
January 12, 2012
The program for the meeting consisted of a Member Show & Tell. Ten members presented their slides.
There were twenty-five people present.
Business Meeting Minutes
President-elect Gene Howard presided over the meeting and gave the treasurer’s report.
Treasurer’s Report
• The income was mainly for the Education Appeal and the South Carolina Audubon Grant.
The expenses were mainly 2011 Education expenses. The obligated funds are those reserved
for the Education committee and the Hollow Creek Monitoring fund.
Opening Balance $11,334.88
Income $1,364.95
Expenses $1,008.90
Closing Balance $11,690.93
Obligated Funds $3,181.00
Available Funds $8,509.93
Old Business:
• Gene Howard presented the results of the fund raising appeal. As of 11/10/2011, $2,697 was
the total. The current total per Gerald May is $2,717. Thank you cards will be mailed out
next week.
• Education chair Ruth Mead reported that we sponsored the following education programs
17 Audubon Adventures (Every Audubon Adventures program reaches 32 students.)
3 Discover Birds / Bird Diversity
1 Most Wanted Birds
1 Discover Birds
Every teacher who applied received funding. $781 was spent on Audubon Adventures and
$227.70 for the rest of the classroom programs.
• Ruth also reported that fliers are available for the Phinizy Feb. 12th Sweetheart bike ride.
A Feb. 4th Phinizy waterfowl walk will also be listedon our website. Ruth will hold a Master
Naturalist Program in Georgia for Adults to introduce people to becoming volunteers. The
cost is $260 for Phinizy Park members and $300 for non-members. It will be a ten week
course on Thursdays starting March 15th and continuing to May 24th. It includes eight six hour
field trips. Twenty-five people will be accepted. Fliers will be available next week. One of
the planned field trips will be to Silver Bluff.
• Program Chair Paul Koehler reports that the March meeting speaker would be Gary Swint, the
retired director of the Augusta Regional Library. He will speak about his experiences in
Montana monitoring wolves. The May meeting will be given by Gene Howard. He will
discuss his trips to the Panama Canal and Costa Rica.
• The GOS spring conference will be held at the Augusta Marriott on April 20-22, 2012. Lois said
they will decide after Tybee if they need our help for field trips.
• Paul was contacted by the Carolina Bird Club. They plan to meet in our area in 2013.
New Business:
• The NA Community Center room has been reserved for our meetings in 2012: Jan 12, Mar 8,
May 10, July 12, Sept 13, and Nov 8.
• A sign-up sheet for refreshments for future meetings was sent around the room.
• February 17-20, 2012 is the Great Backyard bird count.
• New field trips are now available on our website and our Facebook page.
Conservation News
• There is a proposal to strip mine coal in the public lands adjacent to Bryce Canyon National
Park.
• Poaching in Kenya has skyrocketed. Elephants are being poached for ivory and Rhinos for
their horns.
• There was a kaolin spill in Reedy Creek. The Savannah River keeper’s website has the details.
• A BP Gulf oil spill article on beneficial bacteria was released. Check the environmental
issues page on our website.
Sightings:
• Immature black duck
• Immature herring gull
• Pintail duck
• Snipe
A motion was to adjourn the meeting was made and seconded. The motion passed and the meeting was adjourned.
Nancy Demko, Secretary