Blogged by Phil Witmer
The September 4th, informal meeting of DVOC was a lot of fun. We met outside the Philadelphia Zoo and then were escorted through the Zoo to the McNeil Avian Center by Aliza Baltz, Ph.D., and Curator of Birds. About 20 of us got a private tour of the center and enjoyed gorgeous birds from Africa and South America including a huge pair of hornbills and a pair of hammerkopfs continuously adding to their nest. The birds were the source of many questions and Aliza was very gracious in the time spent answering them.
Following the tour about 12 of us braved rush hour traffic and managed to lead a caravan of cars across Girard Avenue with only a handful of illegal turns and traffic violations to the relative calm of Memorial Hall for our picnic. Rice salad, hot dogs, pepper/tomato dish, fruit salad and watermelon were a great first course for the brownies that followed. A small crowd gathered in the clearing to watch a single nighthawk fly over followed by a handful of bats dodging in and out of the trees. It was growing darker as we doused the coals and packed up after a very pleasant evening.
(Pictures by Bert Filemyr)
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