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The Manomet Banders
Saturday morning dawned mostly cloudy and dead calm. Strong southwest winds overnight brought a push of migrants to Manomet. As we stepped outside in the morning, it was evident that droves of new birds had arrived overnight. We opened nets at 5 AM for Migratory Bird Day, catching a number of Gray Catbirds, Black-and-white Warblers, and Myrtle Warblers. From 5 AM to 8 PM we were able to tally 103 species on the property, which included 15 species of warbler, 10 species of waterfowl, 7 species of sparrow, and 7 species of shorebirds.
Small flocks of warblers began dropping in off the ocean and into the Norway Maple by the banding patio to refuel after flying all night. The small chips of Nashville, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Northern Parula, Magnolia, Myrtle, Blackpoll, American Redstart, and Black-and-white Warblers were all heard as they moved about the property in mixed flocks. We also heard Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, and Common Yellowthroat singing during the day. Late in the afternoon, we spotted the lingering Worm-eating Warbler that we banded earlier in the week foraging on the ground with the White-crowned Sparrow and several White-throated Sparrows. Other sparrows on the property included Chipping, Savannah, Song, Lincoln’s, Swamp, and Eastern Towhee.
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