First
things first – a trip to the Manomet Center for Conservation Science
for some bird banding. The Center, located in Plymouth, MA, looks out
into the whole of Cape Cod Bay. Not well marked, the Center is not the
easiest place to find. Once you are there though, it is the place to be.
The Center is high on a cliff looking over the bay. It makes it easy to
look below to see Great and Double-Crested Cormorants along with
sunning seals. Off to the right is the town of Sandwich and viewing from
right to left you view the whole of Cape Cod Bay.
The
center was just starting the new bird-banding season. Although we
didn’t get to see the amount of birds during peak migration in May we
did learn a lot from the staff at Monomet. The center has been banding
around fifty years. It was amazing to hear why and how birds migrate and
what the center and others are doing to help conserve land so birds
will continue to have places to migrate from and to and all places in
between.
During the banding season the staff go out every forty-five minutes to checks the nets. The nets are mist nets
and are probably fifteen yards long. There are fifty on the property.
We didn’t see many birds while we were there. We got to see two Blue
Jays and two White-throated Sparrows. The birds, along with being
banded, get weighed and measured.
The
most interesting part of the morning was the stark concern over climate
change and loss of land not only in breeding and wintering grounds, but
also all the migratory lands between the two and the concern over land
conservation. Between the two issues it is not hard to imagine that many
birds will have a hard time surviving.
This day was a reality check for many birders. We need to not only take care of our planet, but look forward to creating areas of conservation so the birds, animals, and land we walk on is here in the future.
[photos coming soon.]
