forward migration

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.]