RAINY RIVER VALLEY FIELD NATURALISTS
Alberton Municipal Building
Meeting #129
Monday, December 5, 2022
Present: Ilka Milne, Henry Van Ael, Henry Miller, and Bob Saunders. Attending virtually via Zoom were Phyllis and Dale Callaghan, and Bobbi Harrington.
Call to Order: Meeting called to order by club president Ilka Milne at 1850 hrs.
Agenda: Bob Saunders made a motion to accept the Agenda as distributed. Henry Miller seconded.
Carried……
Minutes: Henry Van Ael made a motion to accept the minutes of Meeting #128 (May 3, 2022), as previously distributed via email and shown to the members at the meeting. Seconded by Henry Miller. Bob agreed to take over the role of Secretary for this meeting, as Gaby was unable to attend.
Carried……
Treasurer’s Report (Henry Van Ael):
Henry reported that the bank balance at the end of the last meeting was $3,113.33 and currently sits at $2, 644.43. Expenses included booking the library for two club presentations ($113.00), payment for club hats ($180.00), payment of Club Insurance ($228.96), supplies needed to clean the damage by vandals to the Cranberry Peatlands boardwalk sign ($5.30), and bank fees ($11.00). Income included Club hats sold to members ($70.00) and interest ($0.16). Bob made a motion to accept the Treasure’s Report as discussed. Henry Miller seconded.
Carried….
Old Business:
There was no Old Business.
Committee Reports:
a) Events: A report from the Events Committee was presented to the meeting by Ilka Milne, and is appended here:
Library Talks:
Monday May 16: Frogs, Salamanders, Toads, Snakes (Ilka Milne)
17 people participated.
Monday July 25: Butterflies ad Moths (Bob Saunders)
24 people participated.
Monday October 24: OBBA Berens Field Trip
Cancelled, due to health conflicts.
Monday December 5: How to Help Winter Feeder Birds
Although this has been popular previously, it was cancelled, as it conflicted with this meeting.
Walks and Talks:
July 16: Dragonflies and Damselflies (Bob and Ilka)
Bob and Ilka showed up at the appointed place and time. No one else did.
September 24: Fungi
Wasn’t organized, as previous field trips involving less travelling were not attended anyone.
November 26: Trees and Tracks
One person expressed an interest.
Field Trips:
May 28: Fort Frances Birding (Bob)
Only Bob and Henry Van Ael showed up, even though several people had expressed an interest and said they would come. 32 species observed at Point Park; 40 species at the Fort Frances Wetlands.
August 27: Sable Island
No one expressed an interest.
September 10: Oak Grove Forest
Wasn’t organized, as previous field trips involving less travelling were not attended by anyone.
December 17: Christmas Bird Count (Ilka)
There are currently four people likely to participate in the field portions of the count. Feeder watchers will likely help if we publicize adequately.
b) Publicity:
Henry Miller has continued writing articles for the Fort Frances Times, mentioning the club each time. Posters were created by Ilka to publicize the club events.
c) Cranberry Peatlands Boardwalk:
Ahlan and Mike were not able to be present to give a report, but it was noted that they cleaned up, as much as possible, the damage done by vandals to the main entrance sign. They have taken down all the signs in preparation for winter.
New Business:
a) Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas: (Bob)
Bob noted that the OBBA is entering its third year. Bob and Ilka are the regional coordinators for the Rainy River Region, a large area that extends from the Minnesota border north to Highway 17 and east to Kakabeka Falls. The OBBA is a five-year project requiring many volunteers to gather as much information about the breeding birds of Ontario as possible. The province is divided into 10 by 10 km squares and within those squares 25 to 40 locations are randomly selected for 5 minute point counts. In addition, 20 hours of general birding is done in each square. In southern Ontario all squares will be surveyed but in northern Ontario only a few squares will be surveyed, as there are not enough birders in the area to accomplish the task. To date the only people who actually live in this region who are doing bird surveys are Bob, Ilka, and Henry. Other people who live outside the region have also contributed data. Bob and Ilka met by Zoom with Kaelyn Bumelis, the volunteer coordinator for OBBA. She expressed her gratitude for the work we have done so far
b) Christmas Bird Count: (Ilka)
The CBC will be held Saturday, December 17. Ilka, as usual, will be organizing this annual count of birds that has been held across North America since 1900. She will be publicizing the event, talking with feeder watchers, and making an effort to attract birders from International Falls.
c) Future of the Website: (Bob)
The club website (RRVFN.org) was created January 1, 2020 to increase interest in the club and expand its membership. At that time Bob paid for a three-year subscription to Blue Host to host the website. Each year there has also been a fee to retain our domain name. After three years there has been no appreciable gain of new members. To renew the website for a three-year period we were presented with a bill of $US766.51 (which converts to $CAN1047.56). This, of course, was too much for the club to pay, especially considering it has not attracted the new membership we were hoping for. In addition, in spite of Bob’s constant pleading none of our members, other than Ilka and Henry Miller have offered to contribute to the website. Two other people who do contribute are not even members, and one of them lives on Vancouver Island! (many thanks to Fred and Aaron). In spite of this Bob would still like the website to continue, perhaps in a different form, in order to continue documenting the natural history of the Rainy River District. Accordingly, he negotiated a lower plan and rate with Blue Host, which he will cover himself. This will be for one year and will be reconsidered next year.
d) Election of executive:
No one has stepped forward to assume the vacant positions. Four people are required by the club constitution, President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Phyllis asked if any one had been called to see if they would assume executive duties. Ilka replied that no one had, and that she couldn’t think of anyone who would be likely to take the roles.
e) Club Dissolution and Amalgamation with the Stewardship Council:
Owing to the lack of volunteers to assume executive positions and the general lack of interest in the club and attendance to its events it was debated whether or not the club should continue. After some discussion, assuming no one comes forward to serve on the executive committee, it was decided to dissolve the club. There are no provisions in the constitution how to do this, other than Article 16 that in the event of dissolution that the club’s assets must be donated to a suitable organization of the club’s choosing. Ilka suggested that the Stewardship Council would be the most obvious choice. She had contacted them previously about the possibility to our club’s dissolution and joining their organization. The Stewardship Council appeared to be conducive to our joining them. Phyllis asked who would now be responsible for the Cranberry Boardwalk. It was suggested that this was a role the Stewardship Council would take over, as it fits right into the purpose of their club.
Accordingly, Bob moved that, in the event of the dissolution of the club, the club’s funds be donated to the Stewardship Council. Dale seconded.
Carried…
Henry Van Ael moved to give the natural history books donated to the club by Nell Laur to the Fort Frances High School. Ilka seconded.
Carried…
Further discussion involved the manner in which the club would dissolve. Some advocated for a 30-day period of grace to see if there were others who might step in and assume executive duties. Others argued that the club should make a clean break and that if any people were interested in joining the club, they could easily step in at any time to fill executive positions.
Dale moved that the Rainy River Valley Field Naturalists Club have a clean break and close down the business of the club. Henry Miller seconded.
Carried (4 to 3)…
Ilka will talk with the Stewardship Council, and will notify the Alberton Township after discussions with the Stewardship Council have been held. The Treasurer will distribute the assets of the club as previously decided by its members, and be responsible for cancelling our insurance.
Tales from the Wild:
Bobbi noted how friendly the chickadees and nuthatches had been at her feeder< They don’t seem to be bothered at all by her presence. Others noted the same thing. Ilka mentioned that a Red-breasted Nuthatch even landed on Henry’s head. Bob noted that Evening Grosbeak have been quite abundant this year. He has been regularly getting 70 to 90 each day at his feeders, and today took a photo with 135 birds in it, not counting birds in the nearby trees and at his other feeders. Quite likely there were close to 150 Evening Grosbeak in his yard at the feeders. He also noted Ruffed Grouse have been abundant this year; he has been getting 5 to 10 each day, one day 12 appeared at his feeders.
Next meeting:
There will be no future meetings unless new people arrive to assume executive duties and revive the club.
Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned by the club President at 2030 hrs. Moved by Henry Miller, seconded by Henry Van Ael.
Carried…