Spring 2021 Banding Season, Week 2: April 26 — 30

Jeanne O'Rourke | May 13, 2021 |

Sunrise off the bluff. Credit: Megan Gray.

The Manomet Banders

Photos by Megan Gray.

We finished the week with 93 new birds banded, 103 recaptures processed, and three new species. This brings our season total up to 202 new birds banded, 229 recaptures processed, and 28 total species. New species that caught this week included Gray Catbird and Brown Creeper.

Monday was a cold and windy day and we weren’t able to open nets. We did catch several new White-throated Sparrows that likely arrived at Manomet over the weekend. After a vibrant sunrise and the clouds burned off Tuesday, it was a beautiful spring day. Wood Anemone is blooming in small groups along the sun-dappled net lanes.

Overnight Wednesday we had light southwest winds that carried newly arrived migrants to Manomet. Showers in the morning meant we opened later than usual but we caught several new White-throated Sparrows, Eastern Towhees, Swamp Sparrows, and Myrtle Warblers. There were also Black-and-white Warblers singing their high-pitched squeaky wheel song along with a few Blue-headed Vireos singing high in the trees. We caught over 70 birds on Wednesday, 44 of which were new bandings, showing that we had a nice movement of birds overnight.

Eastern Towhee male

Yellow Warbler male

Swamp Sparrow

Myrtle Warbler male

Gray Tree Frog

Fog around the Big Bog

We woke to a Manomet wrapped in the fog the next day. It was a slower day with fewer birds than the previous day, but there was plenty of mammal activity! The local deer hunkered down around the blueberry patch, waiting for the fog to burn off. While on a net run Megan and Tahira passed by a boardwalk net and did a double-take. A mink was looking back at them! After a few seconds of evaluation, the mink slinked off the boardwalk and slipped quietly into the water. Rain showers approached from the west and we closed down for the day but not before we caught a bright, male Yellow Warbler, our first of the season. After closing, we checked the “frog tubes” placed around Manomet’s property to see if any Gray Tree Frogs or Spring Peepers had been taking shelter in the humid environment created by PVC pipes placed in the ground. There weren’t any frogs but we watched the Tree Swallows swooping low over the bogs feeding on insects and Red-winged Blackbirds displaying their red epaulets. Later, behind the main building, Megan noticed some suspicious movement in the crook of a tree. On closer inspection it was a raccoon resting in the tree while the rain gently fell, occasionally raising its head to peer around.

Friday had increasing west winds until we eventually had to close all the nets as winds gusted up to 50 miles per hour. We caught several new Gray Catbirds during the morning and heard some newly arrived Ovenbirds as well. Later in the afternoon as the winds increased we noticed a Gray Tree Frog had appeared on the path right outside the banding lab! After a quick photo, it was relocated to a low-hanging branch outside the lab where it blended in perfectly among the lichen. Looking off the bluff, we saw the first Black-bellied Plover of the year and three Willets perched on the rocks exposed at high tide. Another new arrival for the spring was a Green Heron down in the bogs. We’re looking forward to the coming weeks as more species arrive!

Until next week,

Megan, Sarah, Amy, and Tahira

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