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Happy Hour with Happy Fish

Come see Happy Fish, chat with local scientists, and try a new craft brew! Join us on Friday, April 19th from 5-8pm at the Plymouth Center for the Arts to kick off our herring migration festivities! Grab a drink and hors d'oeuvres, take photos with Happy Fish, and hear from local scientists as they highlight the importance of migratory fish passages and conservation efforts (6-7pm). And don't forget to try IndieFerm's "Anadromous Ale”, a fun reference to herring being anadromous fish! Happy Fish©, created by World Fish Migration Day, is a symbol that connects people, organizations, and projects aiming to restore free-flowing rivers for fish populations. Get excited as Happy Fish makes its way to Plymouth, MA! This is a...

Plymouth Herring Run Festival

Celebrate Earth Day and the arrival of spring with friends, family, fun, and… FISH! ** Due to weather, this event will be held on Sunday, April 21st.  Join us on Sunday, April 21st, 10am - 3pm, at the Plimoth Grist Mill and along Town Brook Park for a day of family-friendly activities including herring counts, craft beer, games, live music & more! Chat with local scientists, help contribute to ongoing herring research, and take a photo with Happy Fish! Happy Fish©, created by World Fish Migration Day, is a symbol that connects people, organizations, and projects aiming to restore free-flowing rivers for fish populations. Get excited as Happy Fish makes its way to Plymouth, MA! Be sure to also join...

Manomet’s First Massachusetts Shorebird Blitz

One, two, three…go and count those shorebirds! That race-like tenor of excitement buzzed through many of us as we launched the Manomet’s first annual Massachusetts Shorebird  Blitz. The blitz, organized by Manomet’s Cape Cod Shorebird Biologist Liana DiNunzio, Conservation Biologist Alan Kneidel, and North America ISS Coordinator Lisa Schibley, took place this past August 5-14 as a coordinated effort to survey key shorebird stopover sites throughout coastal Massachusetts during peak southbound migration.

Water for Shorebirds: A Flowing Collaboration on Texas Coast

Because of its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, Chambers County, on the Upper Texas Coast, plays host to large quantities of migrating songbirds, waterfowl, and shorebirds each spring and fall. Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) is a species of shorebird that utilizes this area for northbound staging as they make the great trek between their wintering grounds in South America and their breeding grounds in the arctic. Manomet’s scientists began studying Whimbrel’s use of this area in 2021 with GPS tracking devices, and preliminary analysis of this movement data revealed that 96% of this species’ daytime locations were in fields related to rice production. What makes a rice field so attractive to a Whimbrel? Rice fields can act as a surrogate...

Leaning Into the Winter Wind: Shorebirds Wintering in North America

If you live in the northern latitudes of North America, the next time a winter storm is howling outside of your house at night, with temperatures well below freezing and snow blasting sideways, imagine what the conditions might be like on your nearest coast. The ocean waves will be smashing the shore in darkness, saltwater spray will be carried on the wind to coat the beach and rocks with ice. If it’s really cold, the ocean itself might be a slush-ice slurry, pushing high on local beaches with each wave. You might be surprised that out there, in the storm’s dark gloom hunkered against the wind and pounding surf, in life challenging conditions, are some very tough little birds. Three...

Great Marsh Survey

Shorebird populations have declined by more than half in the last fifty years, due in part to loss of habitat. These long-distance migrants require safe feeding areas – commonly called “staging areas”– along the way to complete their migrations. The Great Marsh, the largest contiguous salt marsh in New England, is one of these staging areas and has been identified by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) and the National Audubon Society as an important bird habitat. The Great Marsh provides over 20,000 acres of crucial habitat for both breeding shorebirds and those migrating between their nesting grounds in the tundra and their overwintering areas in the Southern Hemisphere. During their stopover in the Great Marsh, they feed voraciously,...

Arctic Nesting Whimbrels – 2023

The drone of the Cessna 185’s motor had just faded into the distance when we heard the first Whimbrel calling as it flew overhead. It is difficult to convey the sense of relief and excitement from hearing that single call. Kirsti Carr and I had just been dropped as the first on the ground at a new field site on the Jago River in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, while the pilot went back to pick up the rest of the team, three biologists working for the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Kirsti works for Point Blue Conservation Science, but had worked with Manomet and the USFWS in previous summers conducting arctic shorebird research. Dr. Sadie Ulman, Robyn Thomas,...

Arctic Surveys in Teshekpuk Lake Special Area, Alaska

Stepping onto the tundra for the first time this season felt like coming home, and also like the culmination of my career. The morning sounds of the tundra filled the air. Birds everywhere were singing to advertise their territories over the steady howl of the always-present tundra winds. They darted against the huge tundra sky that reached from horizon to flat horizon. I was visiting a plot I had surveyed 16 years ago, although the thousands of plots I have surveyed since then meant that I had no particular memory of this one. But the arctic sights and sounds were all so familiar: the sharp slap of strong cold wind in my face; the cold, wet, soft ground of the...

Une nouvelle étude souligne la nécessité de prendre des mesures de conservation vastes et décisives pour ralentir le déclin accéléré des populations d’oiseaux de rivage

Des données récemment publiées montrent que la plupart des espèces d'oiseaux de rivage d'Amérique du Nord ont perdu plus de la moitié de leur population au cours des dernières années. Alors que les tendances à la baisse se poursuivent, les chercheurs demandent des évaluations formelles et une augmentation ciblée des efforts de conservation. CONTACTS AVEC LES MÉDIAS: Isa Morton, isa@seekseva.com LIRE EN ANGLAIS/READ IN ENGLISH | LIRE EN NÉERLANDAISLEES DIT IN HET NEDERLANDS | LIRE EN ESPAGNOL/LEA EN ESPAÑOL Plymouth, MA — Une nouvelle étude publiée dans le journal Ornithological Applications révèle que depuis 1980, presque toutes les espèces d'oiseaux de rivage le long de la côte atlantique des États-Unis et du Canada ont connu un déclin important, beaucoup d'entre...

Nuevo estudio resalta la necesidad de acciones de conservación amplias y decisivas para reducir la disminución acelerada de las poblaciones de aves playeras

Datos recién publicados muestran que la mayoría de las especies de aves playeras de América del Norte han perdido más de la mitad de sus poblaciones en los últimos años. Ante la persistencia de tendencias descendentes pronunciadas, los investigadores piden evaluaciones formales y un aumento selectivo de los esfuerzos de conservación. CONTACTOS CON MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN: Isa Morton, isa@seekseva.com LEA EN INGLÉS/READ IN ENGLISH | LEA EN NEERLANDÉS/LEES DIT IN HET NEDERLANDS Plymouth, MA — Un nuevo estudio publicado en la revista Ornithological Applications revela que, desde 1980, casi todas las especies de aves playeras de la costa atlántica de EE.UU. y Canadá han experimentado fuertes descensos, y que muchas de ellas han perdido más del 50% de su población...