Cookies and the Cottage

Recipe for Walnut Banana Cookies

These are vegan and I found the original recipe on Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.  They were good, but I ran out of peanut butter and liked these higher fat cookies better. They are eaten up as fast I can bake them, if you have more that 2 people eating them I would suggest doubling the recipe. It's a good way to use up those ripe bananas.

Feel free to make substitutions, if you don't have walnuts, use a nut you do have. I ground mine up coarsely in my coffee grinder I use for flax seed grinding. If you don't have any nuts, use peanut butter and cut the olive oil, or other vegetable oil, in half.  Same thing for the flour, use what you have on hand, they'll still be good.

1/2 cup of ground walnuts 

1/3 cup of olive oil or other vegetable oil

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup mashed banana or one and half ripe bananas

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 pinch salt

Optional: 1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate chips or half cup of walnut pieces. Or a combination of both.

Preheat oven to 375.  Lightly rub a stick of earth balance on baking sheet.

Cream together the ground walnuts, oil, sugars, vanilla and the mashed banana. Then add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the chocolate chips, or walnuts if desired, and mix until well-blended, but do not over-mix.

Drop by large walnut sized tablespoons onto prepared pans.  (These cookies will not spread as they cook, so the shape they're in when they come out of the oven will be about the same as when they went in.)  Bake for about 10 to 13 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown.  Makes 25 cookies.

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I have been very happy living at the cottage in Manomet, Plymouth since Ian started banding birds in mid April. It's a magical place, a place of renewal for me. Spring is particularly exciting with new growth and baby animals. Here are some photos of the place I am very lucky to call home.

4:50am. There are so many rewards to being up early in the day.

Same morning.

Evening time.

Milo, our cat, waiting for a mouse to dart by. He caught one in that exact spot 3 years ago, and keeps hoping it will come back. The pond side growth is still dormant.

A family of geese.

A swan family with their 6 cygnets, hatched yesterday. The snapping turtles and other predators will whittle the count down to one or two cygnets in a few months.

One of my gardening spots. This will be my before photo and hopefully it will look beautiful in a few months. Gardeners are inherently hopeful people :-)

Oregano from Mary. I agree with Mary when she says sometimes when she's in the garden she's almost giddy with delight!

Being green. Hanging out my laundry makes me happy.

Asparagus and Oregano from my garden. Tomatoes from the market, too early yet for these locally.

A delicious dish I made with the above ingredients, along with some lovely beets and avocado. Add olive oil, wine vinegar, spices, salt and pepper and it's a perfect meal.

How birds are banded at MBO.

Ian is banding birds at Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences for the Spring migration banding season. He's been volunteering there since he was 12 and is now a paid bander, along with 2 other people. Trevor Lloyd-Evans has been Director of the Spring and Fall banding program at MBO (Manomet Birding Observatory) here in Plymouth since 1969, and the dates are the same every year to allow for consistent data collection. Spring is April 15 to June 15 and Fall is August 15 to November 15.

The banders get up every day before sunrise to open the nets and check them every hour until sunset, when the nets are closed. They work Monday to Friday and the days are long but rewarding. This time in May sunrise is at 5:23 and sunset is at 7:55 in Massachusetts.

An update on the last post, yes, Ian, Luke and Kai came in first place for youth this year in the World Series of Birding!!!  With  211 birds they placed 4th of all the 85 teams that participated. Congratulations!!

Magnolia Warbler held in a photographer's grip.

The main office building for Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences.

Beautiful grounds on the cliff overlooking Cape Cod Bay.

The banding room is in the building with the red door and the rooms where the banders live are upstairs.

The big, bright community kitchen is on the right side of this building.

Ian's friend, Luke, came for a few days of banding. He bands birds in Maine, where he lives.

Getting the bird out of the mist net.

Holding the bird in a bander's grip back at the banding lab.

Ian extracting a Blue Jay from the mist nets. This is very difficult and takes a lot of skill, I tried it several times, unsuccessfully. Great care is taken during all phases of the banding to cause no harm to the bird.

Blue Jay out of the net.

Banding tools. Used to measure parts of the bird and attach the small metal band to their leg.

The numbered bands are provided from a government agency and there is a worldwide data base to look up banded birds when they are caught. It's a great way to see the range of a bird that was banded in Manomet, or anywhere else.  Banding requires a federal banding permit, there are  2000 master banding permits in the US and Trevor has one of them.

Weighing the bird.

Trevor and Pat, a very dedicated, long time volunteer bander. She takes off work to come in most Fridays during Spring and Fall migration.

Writing down the numbers.

Skull measurements chart and the small metal bands hanging from a line.

Weighing the bird in a cone.

Jess recording the data on the computer.

Closing the nets at the end of the day. 

White-throated Sparrow.

View off the bluff.

A mist net. There are 50 of them throughout the property, and the banders take turns checking them over every hour looking for caught birds. If it's too windy, too cold or wet, the nets are closed to insure the safety of the birds.

After the bird is extracted it is put into it's own bag and carried back to the lab.  Some days they will carry back 6 or more birds from a net run.

Evan giving a demonstration on bird banding to some fascinated children. School groups or any group can schedule a tour. Call 508.224.6521

The main work station.

Pat and Evan at the computer.

If you hold a Blue Jay upside down he will play dead. He flew off when put upright.

One of many scenic spots on a net run.

This net is all rolled up for the night so nothing can get caught in it when no one is around.

Hermit Thrush.

Giving the data to the person at the computer.

Jess and Ian reviewing the data.

Off the deck outside the banding lab.

Last year at the Trustees luncheon in June.

Trevor is a very good friend and mentor to Ian, and one of the key people that showed the wonderful world of birds to Ian.

The banding group last Fall with a volunteer. 

View off the bluff at low tide.

World Series of Birding

Ian and Luke will be heading to NJ next week to participate in the World Series of Birding. For 3 days they scout the entire state with the help of Kai and the competition starts at midnight on Friday night and continues until midnight on Saturday. The team with the most bird species sightings wins. Everyone has a good time and money is raised for each team's designated cause. Ian, Luke and Kai chose the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences where Ian is now working. Note: Amy will not be going to NJ.  Heidi, Luke's Mom, has been kind enough to take them for the last 2 years and will do so again this year.

The photo is of Ian and Luke at Ellisville, Plymouth last week.

The write up is from Manomet Center for Conservation services.

Bander Leads World Series of Birding Team

Success is in His Sights!

Ian Davies and his team of birders are looking forward to participating in the upcoming World Series of Birding. The team has decided to donate proceeds from pledges to Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences.

Manomet Volunteer “Bander” Leads

World Series of Birding Team to

Support Bird Conservation

Ian Davies, a volunteer with Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences’ bird banding program, and his teammates are determined to break a record in the World Series of Birding. Ian’s team will head to New Jersey where the Series will take place, from May 9th through May 10th, with the big 24-hour marathon day on May 9th. Similar events will be held all over the globe, rallying birders to identify, by sight or sound, as many species as possible within 24 hours. Through this event, Ian’s team is hoping to raise funds to help support the bird conservation work of Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. The organization’s efforts in bird research and conservation spans nearly four decades. Key accomplishments have included developing national plans for Waterbirds and Shorebirds, establishing the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, and operating one of North America’s oldest land bird-banding programs.

Ian, a homeschooler and resident of Manomet, has been a volunteer in Manomet’s banding program for 6 years. He believes in the importance of the organization’s mission enough to not only help out on his own free time, but also to raise funds to enable the research to continue. “Birds have a very important role in our planet’s overall ecosystem,” says Ian. “They are indicators of change, kind of like canaries in the coal mines. It’s good to be part of an event that will help stop their declining populations and to save their habitats.”

Ian’s team, “The Skuaz” (named after a seabird and long-distance migrant), includes: Luke Seitz from Maine and Kai Reed, who is also from Massachusetts.

The World Series of Birding competition started in 1984, when Roger Tory Peterson himself led the winning team in tallying 201 species in 24 hours. Ian says his team would be “thrilled to get anywhere close to that number.” For more information about the World Series of Birding please Click Here

“We’re ready to go” says Ian. “We would love to break a record. We’ll give it our best shot!”

Make A Pledge!

Ian is encouraging anyone who loves birds and nature to pledge a gift to Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences in time for the World Series of Birding event. Pledges that are received by May 5th will receive a Manomet Center pin. To pledge, contact Kathleen McKinnon at 508-224-6521 or at kmckinnon@manomet.org.

 

 

Kathleen H. McKinnon

Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences

Membership

P.O. Box 1770

Manomet, MA 02345