My View of Life on the Dock
There were lots of folks out on the Dogbar enjoying the delightfully balmy weather and sunset spectacle Saturday evening.
Dogbar Breakwater Panorama
Eastern Point Lighthouse and Mother Ann
Old Lighthouse Bell and Chokecherry Tree
The sunset hues grew richer as night fell.
From several mornings ago, of the full October Harvest Moon. As the sun was rising, the moon was clearly visible over the Harbor and from the vantage point of the Dogbar Breakwater.
Monarchs were streaming all along the coast of Cape Ann yesterday and it was a beautiful sight!
Please help towards the completion of my documentary film Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly, filmed in the wilds of Cape Ann and Angangueo. Thank you! DONATE HERE.
Thank you to Meg and Donna Stoman for sharing this fantastic story of a 70 mile wide “butterfly cloud!”
DENVER STAR
DENVER—A lacy, cloudlike pattern drifting across a Denver-area radar screen turned out to be a 110-kilometre-wide wave of butterflies, forecasters say.
Paul Schlatter of the National Weather Service said he first thought flocks of birds were making the pattern he saw on the radar Tuesday, but the cloud was headed northwest with the wind, and migrating birds would be southbound in October.
He asked birdwatchers on social media what it might be, and by Wednesday had his answer: People reported seeing a loosely spaced net of painted lady butterflies drifting with the wind across the area.
Schlatter said the colours on the radar image are a result of the butterflies’ shape and direction, not their own colours.
Midwestern radar stations occasionally pick up butterflies, but Schlatter believes it’s a first for Denver.
An unusually large number of painted ladies, which are sometimes mistaken for monarch butterflies, has descended on Colorado’s Front Range in recent weeks, feeding on flowers and sometimes flying together in what seem like clouds.
Sarah Garrett, a lepidopterist at the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, Colorado, said people from as far away as the Dakotas have called to report seeing the butterflies, whose population typically surges with plentiful flowers.
Research on the painted ladies in North America is limited, but scientists believe they migrate to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico in the fall. In Europe, studies using radio tracking have shown they migrate south from Europe to Africa in the fall and return in the spring. Studies also show that monarch butterflies often use wind to their advantage and glide on currents for periods of time, Garrett said.
An irruption of Painted Ladies is occurring in the northeast and throughout the U.S. Painted Ladies drinking nectar at Seaside Goldenrod.
Compare the larger Monarch (top) to the smaller and richly patterned Painted Lady.
Dear Friends,
Today I am excited to launch the online fundraising campaign for my documentary film Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly.
This film—more than five years in the making—chronicles the extraordinary story of the Monarch butterfly. Tiny creatures, each weighing less than a paperclip, journey thousands of miles from their northern breeding grounds, of which Cape Ann is an integral part, to the trans-volcanic mountaintops of central Mexico. The most magical thing is that their story unfolds in our own backyards, marshes, meadows, and fields. Beauty on the Wing reveals the interconnection between the butterfly’s habitat and wildflowers and the importance of conserving their ecosystems. The film is unique in that every stage of the butterfly’s life cycle is recorded in vibrant close-up in the wild, both on Cape Ann and in Mexico.
The current goal is to raise funds to create a 55-minute feature-length final cut to distribute to elementary schools nationwide. My fundraising partner is the nonprofit Filmmakers Collaborative and donations are tax deductible. Please consider donating what you can. No donation is too small ($5, $25, $100) and every dollar helps get us one step closer to completing the film.
Donors contributing over $5,000 will be listed in the credits as a film producer.
For more information, visit the film’s website here: Monarch Butterfly Film
For an overview of the film’s budget, please go here: Budget
Thank you so very much for your help.
With gratitude,
Kim Smith
Pure magic in the marsh this morning! For one moment, there were eight Monarchs on this single spray of Seaside Goldenrod.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ7AgYml1koxVpEtiuxZHIowzTQrC1NUYL8Mbo0/
Returning from photographing at the Lighthouse I turned the bend and there was tonight’s spectacular full Harvest Moon rising over Niles Pond. I wished there had been time to set up my tripod! 
Arriving at the Lighthouse just as the bride was tossing the bouquet in this latest Katie Fford drama filming in Gloucester.
(The bouquet is up in the trees).
Wrapping up for the day’s shooting.
Filming on Katie Fforde romance movies for German television ZDF is currently taking place at Eastern Point.
The sheer number of Painted Ladies migrating are stealing some of the Monarchs thunder!
Many readers have written inquiring about the beautiful butterflies with wings in a tapestry of brilliant orange, brown, black, cream, and blue. Painted Ladies (Vanessa cardui) are often confused with Monarch butterflies, especially during the late summer. Both are currently migrating and you will often see the two species drinking nectar side-by-side.
As do Monarchs, Painted Ladies depart from Mexico to begin their northward migration in springtime. Both Monarchs and Painted Ladies belong to the brush-foot family (Nymphalidae) and can only survive in warm climates.
Monarch Butterfly, top, and Painted Lady bottom. Note that the Painted Lady is about half the size of the Monarch
Sightings from the midwest recorded large numbers early in the season, and 2017 has proven to be an outstanding year for this most successful of butterflies. The Painted Lady is also nicknamed the “Cosmopolitan” butterfly because it is the most widespread butterfly in the world.
Painted Lady drinking nectar from the Seaside Goldenrod at the Gloucester HarborWalk
One reason we may possibly be experiencing a Painted Lady irruption in North America is because a rainy spring in the south was followed by a fabulous bloom of dessert annuals that provided abundant food plants for the caterpillars. Unlike Monarch butterflies, which will only deposit their eggs on members of the milkweed family (Asclepias), Painted Lady caterpillars eat a wide range of plants. More than 300 host plants have been noted; favorites include thistles, yarrow, Pearly Everlasting, Common Sunflower (Asteraceae), Hollyhock and many mallows (Malvaceae), various legumes (Fabaceae) along with members of Boraginaceae, Plantaginaceae, and Urticaceae.
Common Buckeye and Painted Lady Nectaring at the Seaside Goldenrod at the Gloucester HarborWalk
Much, much more remains to be discovered about the beautiful Painted Lady, its habits and how their behavior and seasonal distribution varies by geographic location.
Read More about Painted Ladies here:
Painted Lady Drinking Nectar from the Purple-stemmed Aster
Morgan shares the following. Thank you for letting us know–simply beautiful!
AN AMERICAN CLASSIC
HARPER LEE’S
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
OPENS AT GLOUCESTER STAGE 
Gloucester Stage Company wraps up its 38th season of professional theater on Cape Ann with Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird from October 6 through October 27 at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA. Director Judy Braha brings Christopher Sergel’s stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel to life on the GSC stage. A timeless American classic, To Kill a Mockingbirdexplores civil rights and racism set against the backdrop of the segregated South of the 1930s and as seen through the eyes of 10 year old Scout Finch as she watches her father, attorney Atticus Finch, strive to prove the innocence of a black man unjustly accused of rape. The cast is led by Lewis D. Wheeler as Atticus Finch; Amanda Collins as Jean Louise Finch, Carly Williams as Scout Finch,Thomas Rhett Kee as Heck Tate, Cheryl Singleton as Calpurnia, Douglass Bowen-Flynn as Mr. Gilmer and Boo Radley, Stewart Evan Smith as Rev. Sykes, Cliff Blake as Bob Ewell and Mr. Radley, Thomas Grenon as Walter Cunningham and Judge Taylor, Teresa Langford as Mrs. Dubose and Mayella Ewell, and Aaron Dowdy as Tom Robinson. Two Gloucester residents and Gloucester Stage Youth Acting workshop students make their professional stage debut inTo Kill A Mockingbird: Nathaniel Oaks as Jem and Gabriel Magee as Dill.
All Photos Gary NG
READ MORE HERE Continue reading “TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD OPENS AT GLOUCESTER STAGE!”
Helicopter repeatedly circling over Eastern Point at mid-day today.
I am curious to know if that is a camera on the front of the helicopter.
Baby Charlotte and her great grandfather ❤
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZrfIRQFh7ekOARgCcP7H8aLnv7PF1umUvIOVo0/
Thanks so much to Pat Dalpiaz for sharing this classic footage of Gloucester’s working waterfront, with the carillon bells of Our Lady of Good Voyage playing in the distance.
Yuck and double yuck, but very cool. Commissioner Ainsley Smith of Gloucester’s Clean City Commission shares a photo of cigarette butts collected in the City’s new Sidewalk Butlers. Initially, twenty butlers will be installed, mostly along Main and Rogers Street. The butlers were made possible by a grant from Keep America Beautiful.
Many thanks to Ainsley and fellow commissioners Eric Magers, Beverly Low, and Nick Iliades, and to all who are working so hard to keep Gloucester beautiful!
With a house full of family from Ohio here to meet baby Charlotte, our daughter Liv visiting, too, and loving every minute, there’s not much time to post. Liv took this snapshot of Eastern Point Lighthouse just now with a seagull perched on the Lighhouse, a schooner (I think it’s the Lannon), a teeny Boston in the background, and the sun going down. Joyous Times!
Liv Hauck Photo
Maria’s waves and a bank of fog rolling in over the backshore yesterday afternoon.
Stopping by for only a few brief moments, a rarely seen and travel weary Spicebush Swallowtail made an appearance in our garden this morning. He drank nectar from the wildflowers, the native Heleniums and Phlox, before departing over the garden gate. We’ve planted a Spicebush just for these beauties, so begged him please come back Mr. Swallowtail, when you have a bit more time, and bring the Mrs. so she may deposit her eggs on the foliage of the Spicebush. They make the cutest caterpillars!
Faded Male Spicebush Swallowtail
The next two photos are courtesy WikiCommons Media and show how different a newly emerged female Spicebush Swallowtail appears, and a Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar.
Gorgeous sunset over Gloucester Harbor and Rocky Neck, with the colors of the sky flowing from red hot reds and oranges to soothing shades of violet pinks and blues. 
Within moments, the sky hues changed from orange to violet.
Backyard Growers writes, “WHAT A NIGHT! Our sold-out Great Gloucester Growdown fundraiser last night was everything we could have hoped and more: a group of amazing people came together for a night of wonderful food at Short & Main, incredible music by SAFETY, and generous support of our school and community programs. All together we raised over $20,000 and the 7th graders at O’Maley will be getting a new wheat garden this year! THANK YOU to everyone who came out and dug deep. We are so lucky to have all of you partnering with us in this work. Special shout out to our fab event planning committee: Muffy Lake White, Karen Uhrowczik Harrison, Julie Lake, Sophie Ella Courser and Amelia Monday.”
To donate to Backyard Growers visit their website here.
To see photos, go to the Backyard Growers facebook page here.
To see more instagrams go to my twitter page here.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZiyrTXFmJvKfSKNYs68KhcMpo77G9PT3nFxjY0/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZi2hDClp_gPyWNjQ2QoHsALsM10UGohcBMdzo0/
Good Morning Gloucester 