2nd Annual Open House - Manomet Conservation Sciences

2nd Annual Open House

October 5, 2019

9:00 AM to 1:00 PM

125 Manomet Point Road, Manomet, MA

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Chris Boudreaux

Donor Relations Manager

Come visit us!

Make plans to join us at Manomet Headquarters in Plymouth for our 2nd Annual Open House on Saturday, October 5, 2019 from 9AM to 1PM. This event is free and all ages are welcome.

Yellow Warbler.

We’ve planned a number of activities to give you a behind the scenes look at Manomet and our fifty years of history, our 40-acre campus, and the work we do to make our world a better, more sustainable place. You’ll get to enjoy bird banding demonstrations, guided tours of our gardens and property, ‘Talk to a Manomet Scientist’ presentations, and more.

Interactive stations will be set up around our campus so you can interact directly with Manomet staff and learn more about our work, and beekeeper Jim Lifton will be back with interactive materials to show us how beekeeping works and to ‘introduce’ us to the bees that live here.

And of course, there will be plenty of fun activities for kids, like a scavenger hunt and nature walk and a nature-themed story time.

All scheduled events are first come, first serve. Interactive stations will be open for the duration of the event. Registration is not required, however, it is strongly encouraged so that we may make plans to accommodate as many guests as possible.

See complete schedule and event descriptions below.

Program Schedule

9:15AM – Bird Banding 101 (30 min)
Learn more about bird banding at Manomet. You’ll get a firsthand look at how we band birds and collect the necessary scientific data, and more importantly, you’ll learn why it’s so important that we’ve been doing this for 50 years.

9:30AM – Hidden Gem: Manomet’s Garden for Wildlife (Drop-in anytime between 9:30-10:30AM)
Master Gardener Kim Goggin will be on-hand to tell you more about Manomet’s Garden for Wildlife, its 100-year history starting under the Ernst family, and our modern restoration efforts. She’ll also be available to answer any questions you have about applying sustainable and nature-friendly gardening practices at home.

9:45AM – Scope Out the Bluff (Drop-in anytime between 9:45-10:15AM)
What will you see from our bluff? Whales, seals, sharks, shorebirds, and sea ducks can be found nearby. Stop by and look through our spotting scopes to see what you can find. Manomet staff will be on-hand to make sure you don’t miss anything interesting.

10:00 AM – Guided Tour of Manomet’s Campus (45 min)
Get a firsthand look at Manomet’s campus on this guided tour, which will focus on the history of the property as well an up-close look at its wild plants and animals. We’ll start atop the bluff overlooking Cape Cod Bay before stopping by the Manomet Garden for Wildlife. We’ll also visit the adjacent 18-acre Holmes Farm that has been part of Manomet since 1991. There you’ll learn more about an exciting new wetlands restoration and community outreach project planned for the future.

10:00 AM – Can Your Grocery Store Be More Sustainable? (45 min)
Director of Retail Sustainability Peter Cooke will take you on a virtual tour of a grocery store from a sustainability perspective. Is the grocery store that you go to wasting energy? Where does all that food waste go? Do the 37,000 grocery stores in America realize the opportunity they have to help the planet be more sustainable? Learn about what’s going on at your grocery store and what you can do to help!

10:45AM – Just for Kids! Nature Storytime (30 min)
Children and their adult caregivers are invited to join us for readings of fun and engaging nature-based stories that will educate and inspire the next generation of nature lovers.

11:00AM – Tour the Hives: Beekeeping at Manomet (45 min)
Learn more about beekeeping at Manomet on this tour led by beekeeper Jim Lifton. You’ll get a closer (but not too close!) look at some of the hives and learn more about the beekeeping operations on our campus.

11:15AM – Bird Banding 101 (30 min)
Learn more about bird banding at Manomet. You’ll get a firsthand look at how we band birds and collect the necessary scientific data, and more importantly, you’ll learn why it’s so important that we’ve been doing this for 50 years.

A Sanderling hovers close as this Hudsonian Godwit digs for food. Photo by Brad Winn.

11:30AM – Amazing Shorebird Migrations: Plymouth and the Cape (45 min)
Director of Shorebird Habitat Management Brad Winn will provide insight into how nearby beaches and coastal wetlands support not only locally breeding shorebirds but also those migrating from as far away as Arctic Alaska. You’ll also learn more about the research that Manomet biologists are conducting to help unlock the mysteries of shorebird migration and population decline.

12:00PM – Just for Kids! Scavenger Hunt and Nature Walk (30 min)
Manomet staff will lead participating children across our property on a fun and educational scavenger hunt. Along the way, we’ll highlight some of the wildlife, insects, and vegetation that call Manomet home.

12:00PM – Widewater: Reader’s Theater (20 min)
Stories from the more than 100-year-old Widewater Journals come to life during this special Reader’s Theater presentation by Kim Goggin.

12:15 PM – Widewater Journals on Display (Drop-in anytime between 12:15-1PM)
Join us for a special viewing of the treasured Widewater Journals, which date back to 1896. Ellen Ernst, who with her husband Dr. Harold Ernst purchased the Manomet property as a summer estate, maintained journals for the more than thirty years they lived here at the place they called Widewater.

12:15 PM – Guided Tour of Manomet’s Campus (45 min)
Get a firsthand look at Manomet’s campus on this guided tour, which will focus on the history of the property as well an up-close look at its wild plants and animals. We’ll start atop the bluff overlooking Cape Cod Bay before stopping by the Manomet Garden for Wildlife. We’ll also visit the adjacent 18-acre Holmes Farm that has been part of Manomet since 1991. There you’ll learn more about an exciting new wetlands restoration and community outreach project planned for the future.