Featuring Ben Nickley of the Berkshire Bird Observatory
Scarlet tanger (Anish Lakkapragada)
Please join us for the annual Alford Land Trust meeting on Saturday, October 5 at 4 pm at the Alford Town Hall.
Ben Nickley of Berkshire Bird Observatory will join us for a fascinating talk about the work of Berkshire Bird Observatory. I recommend checking out their website to learn more about their inspiring work with songbirds.
Earlier in the day we are invited to join him banding birds at Jug End Reservation in Egremont. We will meet at the Jug End Parking Area at 7:30 am for a short hike to the banding area.
I hope you can join us for one or both of these events on October 5.
Henry Flint
President
Alford Land Trust
Here is Ben’s description of location and banding process that day:
Our banding station is at Jug End State Reservation. We set up the station a little before sunrise and like to get the first couple of net checks in before welcoming visitors. A good time for you to arrive would be 7:30 am. If you prefer to come a bit later, that is fine too–just let me know.
You can park in the Jug End parking lot. From there, you will want to walk to the loop trail that runs along the south edge of the parking lot (head away from Jug End Rd.). You will take the trail to the left (heading east). It goes up a short but steep grassy hill and then turns right (south). Follow the trail to the south for about 1/4 mile. You will then approach a clearing. Before you get to the clearing, you should see our banding sign on your right. It is in front of the spur trail that leads you over a large log and down a hill, past two of our mist nets and ultimately to our banding station which is right next to Fenton Brook.
Be careful when you pass our mist nets. They grab buttons and zippers and tear easily. If there are birds in the nets, please leave them as they are and continue to the banding station. We will meet you there.
Feel free to call if you need help finding us: 413-429-6313
I recommend wearing layers, long pants and sturdy footwear. Hiking boots or rubber boots are good–it can be wet, especially in the morning. Tennis shoes are fine too. Bring water and a snack if you like. We like snacks too! There can be ticks and mosquitos but they don’t seem too bad this year.
There are no restrooms/outhouses on site. We have some camp chairs at the station you can use for seating. Visitors usually stay for a couple of hours.
Looking forward to your visit,
Ben