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Brian Harrington

Brian Harrington is an emeritus biologist with Manomet, Inc., where he began working in 1971. During his tenure, Brian focused on conservation issues associated with the long, nonstop migrations of many kinds of shorebirds, in particular the red Knot, with research throughout North and South America. In 1996, Brian authored the popular book, “The Flight of the red Knot”, which explores much of his work. Brian serves as an advisor to the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, a science-based, partnership-driven conservation initiative for protecting the ecological integrity of critical habitats for shorebirds throughout the Americas. Brian also worked through the National Conservation Training Center of the u.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to train professional wildlife managers throughout North America in...

Fall 2020 Banding Season, Week 2: August 24—28

The drought in the northeast has certainly been felt by the trees. We've noticed some branches of trees are holding the first hint of fall colors in their leaves. It also seems that we've been picking more leaves than usual out of the nets so early in the season. We finished the week with 94 new birds banded, 56 recaptures processed, and 12 new species for the week including Northern Waterthrush, Veery, and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Our two week total now is 260 new birds banded and 103 recaptures with 31 species captured so far. Heat and humidity returned in full force on Monday and Tuesday, each day we closed nets early as it got too hot to band. Gray Tree...

Five years of U360

Solving today’s complex global issues in a way that balances economic, social, and environmental concerns requires bringing together diverse groups of people. In particular, today’s college students and young professionals need to be actively engaged; that’s where Manomet’s U360 Business Sustainability Internship comes in. Today, there are countless opportunities for college students who want to complete an internship or experience real-world learning outside of the classroom. What distinguishes U360 from other options is its innovative approach of connecting students with small business owners for direct, real-world learning. “U360 has been primarily a virtual program since it started, so COVID-19 had little impact on last year’s interns completing the school year,” says Lora Babb, U360 program manager. “While it wasn’t quite...

Fall 2020 Banding Season, Week 1: August 17—21

Our first week of fall banding for the 2020 season is complete! After testing negative for COVID-19 and traveling under the restrictions that Massachusetts has put in place, the banders were ready for work. The jungle that had grown up along the net lanes during spring and summer has been fought back to make room for the 50 nets. Portions of the net lanes that are usually bare dirt are overgrown with low growing Path Rush (Juncus tenuis) from the lack of banders traveling the paths in the spring. We banded 166 new birds our first week; an even 100 of which were Gray Catbirds. The first bird we captured was a hatch-year Carolina Wren with a Gray Catbird not...

Building Coalitions for Shorebird Conservation: local actions for hemispheric protection

From the Arctic tundra to 4,000-meter-high Andean wetlands, from windswept Patagonian grasslands to the saltmarshes of Cape Cod, shorebirds are adapted to many extremes in nature. High altitudes, high temperatures, high salinity, high winds, deep mud, rocky coasts, freezing conditions, shorebirds can handle it all. An example of shorebird tolerance for extremes is the Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus). One population of these large brownish shorebirds spends September to April living in the tropical realm of mangrove forests in coastal Brazil. But by late May, the same individuals are pulling frozen cranberries from the snowy foothills of the Hudson Bay lowlands of eastern Canada after their northward annual migration. Even with this ability to adjust to such physical extremes, shorebirds struggle to...

Coalitions for Shorebird Conservation

Today, shorebirds are undergoing one of the most dramatic declines of any bird group worldwide. Recent studies show that we have lost more than one-third of all coastal shorebirds since 1970. To stabilize and rebuild shorebird populations and safeguard their vital habitats, Manomet has launched the Coalitions for Shorebird Conservation to accelerate and support targeted conservation efforts at 13 of the most important shorebird sites in the Americas. At each location, we are improving the quality and quantity of critical shorebird habitats and increasing local capacity for conservation action. Shorebirds face many challenges, including habitat loss and degradation, human disturbance, unregulated and illegal hunting, increasing predation, and climate change. These challenges are greater than any single organization can address alone....

2019 Annual Report

A Letter from Board Chair Nancy Dempze Dear Friends of Manomet, In August 2019, we launched our celebration of Manomet’s 50th anniversary—an historic milestone made possible by the generosity and dedication of our donors. Much has changed since August 4, 1969, when a single paid staff member and a band of volunteers opened the doors of the Manomet Bird Observatory for the first time. But what has not changed is our unwavering commitment to using science to better our world. Whether we’re collecting migration data, working to recover shorebirds and protect their habitats, preparing forests to adapt to climate change, or any of our other initiatives stretching across the Western Hemisphere, Manomet is first and foremost a science-based organization. But,...

Fisheries by the numbers

Spring and summer are a crucial time for our fisheries fieldwork. The data collected shows us what is happening in our waters from season to season and year-to-year. The numbers tell us many stories—some positive and some troubling: River herring—foundational species in freshwater and marine ecosystems—are much more abundant than in decades. Concerted efforts to remove dams and culverts that block passage to upstream spawning grounds have resulted in significant increases in spring migrations in several rivers and streams along the coast. Results on the St. Croix River, the boundary in eastern Maine between the US and Canada, illustrate how far we have come and how much opportunity to expand fish runs remains. Spawning migrations on the St. Croix reached...

Massachusetts Governor Baker Acknowledges Progress on the Assawompset Ponds Climate Change Resiliency Model

The work in progress by Manomet and partners in the Assawompset Ponds watershed is gaining recognition as a model for nature-based approaches to climate change resiliency in Massachusetts. Since late 2019, Manomet’s Climate Services Program has been working with partners Southeast Region Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD), the Horsley Witten Group, The Nature Conservancy, and Mass Audubon to address flooding and habitat restoration concerns in the Assawompset Ponds Complex (APC). On Friday, July 17, Manomet was proud to join with our partners, as well as Governor Charlie Baker, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides, and state and local officials, to tour the Assawompset Pond region and discuss the progress of our work in the...

The bander’s eye view: Flickers

You can leave a lasting mark on the scientific record. Adopt one of our mist nets, in your name or in someone else’s. There are only 50 mist nets up for adoption, so reserve your net now… or give this as a gift in the name of a fellow bird-lover!   By Trevor Lloyd-Evans As banders, we are privileged to get up close and very personal with wild birds for a brief period in the Banding Lab at Manomet, before releasing them to go about their busy lives. Besides the uniquely numbered US Fish & Wildlife band that contributes to our knowledge of local movements, migrations, longevity, and mortality factors, we rapidly note several observations in our database. Our banders...