Birding and Bird Banding at Manomet Inc May 14 2018

Six Members of the SSBC joined Lisa for a ramble around Manomet Inc. and to get some close up looks at birds, while learning a little about bird banding.
Our walk around the relatively small area produced a remarkable list of 61 bird species; this is not counting the birds caught in the nets!

A well camouflaged Savannah Sparrow

Ovenbird showing his 'burnt clay' color on the head

Alan and his team kept a few birds for us to see before we joined Sasha on a net run.  We watched her extract a Black-capped Chickadee and a Catbird from one of the nets. The chickadee struggled more and the catbird complained more loudly! After all the nets were checked, we walked back to the lab, to watch the banders at work and Trevor Lloyd Evans patiently answered all our questions and told us many amusing stories.

a quick 101 of a bird wing;  primaries and secondaries - the partial molting of these that took place last fall, determined this to be a first year bird

One of 4 Cedar Waxwings caught and released together, this one is a male showing more red, also note a new tail feather growing

Apparently Red-eyed Vireo's will always try to bite!

After watching this one and a few others fly off, we walked down the road in search of a recently heard Wilson's Warbler. While we missed it, we had great looks at a Magnolia - and a Black-throated Blue Warbler. On the way, one of the banders returning from yet another net run, showed us the 'best' bird of the morning:

This Lincolns Sparrow really showed the buffy color and the extremely fine streaking. We also noticed how flat the head is.

It was high time to leave, but we got stopped on our way to the cars by the song of a bird - our old friend the REVI (recognized because he was sporting a shiny band on his right leg) was perched above the cars singing his 'here i am where are you' song.

Thank you Lisa for organizing this visit once again. Thank you Moe for all the fabulous photos!

Below is the complete checklist.

Christine

Manomet Inc., Plymouth, Massachusetts, US

May 14, 2018 8:11 AM - 12:25 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.76 mile(s)
61 species

Common Eider  3
White-winged Scoter  5
Black Scoter  6
Red-breasted Merganser  60
Common Loon  4
Double-crested Cormorant  20
Osprey  1
Red-shouldered Hawk  1
Laughing Gull  3
Ring-billed Gull  10
Herring Gull  25
Great Black-backed Gull  5
Mourning Dove  2
Chimney Swift  1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  2
Belted Kingfisher  1
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  2
Eastern Phoebe  1
Eastern Kingbird  1
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  3
American Crow  3
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  1
Tree Swallow  6
Bank Swallow  10
Barn Swallow  1
Black-capped Chickadee  2
Tufted Titmouse  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  2
House Wren  4
Carolina Wren  2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  2
American Robin  4
Gray Catbird  6
European Starling  3
Cedar Waxwing  13
Ovenbird  1
Northern Waterthrush  1
Black-and-white Warbler  4
Common Yellowthroat  3
Northern Parula  4
Magnolia Warbler  2
Yellow Warbler  6
Chestnut-sided Warbler  1
Black-throated Blue Warbler  1
Prairie Warbler  2
Black-throated Green Warbler  2
Chipping Sparrow  2
Savannah Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  5
Eastern Towhee  1
Northern Cardinal  3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  1
Orchard Oriole  2
Baltimore Oriole  2
Red-winged Blackbird  7
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Common Grackle  8
House Finch  2
American Goldfinch  5

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45676878