Author: Pat D

It’s been so glorious out there, we can’t stop taking photos. We stopped by the Little River Landing to take in the view. We weren’t the only ones enjoying the scenery that day! This heron poised so nicely for me right by the proper signage. Thanks buddy. Picture perfect.

It’s been quite a while since I have just spent the afternoon watching the birds in the backyard. Jim was golfing so that’s how I decided to spend my time. Yesterday’s quiet time with the local songbirds was very fruitful. There’s a young female cardinal that’s been hanging around learning the ways of the world. The darn oriole keeps investigating the hummingbird feeder rather than feasting on the oranges I leave for them. There are several orioles out here and the males are constantly chasing seach other around. The hummingbirds are also feisty and hungry.

The male and female cardinal feeding together brought to mind my breakfast table. The female is chattering away and the male is staring off into space.

So, this sight in the middle of the Seaside/Locust Grove cemetery brought a few questions to mind. With tongue firmly in cheek: Shouldn’t it be “resident” only parking? Isn’t everyone already “ parked”? Who’s issuing tickets, Casper the Ghost? Just how do these people pay their tickets?

This BEAUTIFUL barn is not along the Essex Coastal Scenic Byway, which is my normal rule for these “Barns Along the Byway” but I just had to share this gem. It’s fairly close to the Byway on Water Street in Ipswich. It appears to be part of the Glazier-Sweet house property though I am not finding too much about this barn yet. There just has to be a story here! Simply gorgeous.

I’ve been following the osprey nest behind Lobsta Land on the Essex Greenbelt Osprey Cam and was recently able to catch the “changing of the guard” at the nest. If you scroll down to read the summary offered by the Essex Greenbelt experts, you will note the eggs are expected to hatch in about a week!

But photo opportunities over there are not optimal for the equipment I have available, so I’ll take an osprey sighting in the backyard as a fair replacement. Though ospreys are rare sightings at this location, we have seen them around other times. This time, I got some decent pictures. The “pooping” picture is a direct result of my trigger happy shutter finger getting excited to see the bird lean forward as if to take off in flight……but instead…..poop.

For additional pictures and story details, please visit Pat D’ Photos and Adventures on Facebook.

It’s Flag Day. Fly ’em if you got ’em. It’s Flag Day everywhere and this display in Ipswich is pretty impressive. The Rotary honors military heroes with this flag display that rivals our own boulevard flags. Kudos Ipswich!

The Gloucester Elks will be holding their annual Flag Day celebration today Monday June 14 starting at 6 PM at the club on Atlantic Road. Among other presenters and dignitaries, our own GMG Jim will be playing taps. The public is invited and encouraged to attend.

Brenda Leahy, Gloucester Elks Exalted Ruler, invites the public to the annual Flag Day activities tomorrow Monday June 14 at the Elks facility on Atlantic Road. It will begin outside at 6 pm. The middle school Flag Day essay winners will be recognized. We hope to see you there.

I wasn’t planning on it, but I stopped for lunch at the Blue Marlin Grille in Essex and was not disappointed by my choice! Brittani was my server and she did a wonderful job making me feel welcome and answering any questions. And, again, though I wasn’t planning on it, I ordered the Nantucket Reuben. Messy, but well worth the effort! I was alone and felt totally comfortable. The setting is lovely. They have not missed a step over the pandemic. I understand they are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year! Cheers! We’ll be back soon. GMG Jim is going to love it.

I went to Mystic Lakes in Medford in search of eagles (of course) but instead found these guys hanging out. They were flying back and forth between the boat house and these pilings. There were about a half dozen of them, more than I have seen together at one time. It was very interesting and I remembered these were Joey’s favorites. So, here you go Boss! Though they are usually quite elegant and refined looking, it’s not always the case as you can see here.

We were at the Elks this week and FOB Susan LaRosa stopped by our table to say hello and introduce herself. We love it when we get to meet some of our followers! We chatted a bit and Susan let us know her family had arrived from Arizona to help celebrate her upcoming 50th wedding anniversary, which they plan to hold at the Castle Manor Inn soon. It was wonderful to meet Bobby Knight, Patsy Knight and Pamela Knight along with Susan. Always a treat to put a face to a name. Thanks for introducing yourselves! Some pics of the crew today and 50 years ago!

The heat of the recent days set us up for this early morning fog over the water. And yet, our fishermen continued their work out on the sea.

We visited this Great Blue Heron rookery almost 3 weeks ago and there has been quite a drop in the resident population since then. I am guessing about half the occupied nests we observed last time now appear to be empty. Despite that, the current residents provided some beautiful photo opportunities including a feeding session. The very active juvenile sized herons were enthusiastically feeding from the parent. There was a great deal of jumping and reaching on the part of the young ones and huge stores of patience from the adult. It took me a minute to take a guess as to what was going on in that nest, but feeding teenagers is never a passive kind of activity!

In the time since I prepared this post, there’s been a news story making the rounds that a BEAR was found in a nest near the top of a tree in a Great Blue Heron Rookery in Canada!! I did NOT see a bear on my visit but can only dream of getting such a picture as this! The story can be found here.

The flags along the boulevard looked stunning recently in the summer sun and wind. They are very inspiring, especially to those families and loved ones of those honored on the flags. A small sample include Calvin Alden, Capt. John H. Cluett, Theresa DeAbreu, Pvt. Julianna (Mattson) Landoe and Capt. Ted Landoe. I hope every family gets to see their flag someday. Memorial Day has just passed which means Flag Day is coming up June 14. Fly one if you have one!

Sure seemed like the dog days of summer these past few days. I think the dogs would agree.

I was recently studying the area we live on a nautical map and noticed the terms “Subm piles” and “Subm Groin”. I had to wonder…… because I am easily amused, the fact that the piles were south of the groin on this map of Freshwater Cove brought a giggle forward.

I concluded that “subm” must indicate submerged (I am not without some insight) and I had an idea what piles were in nautical terminology. I asked around a bit about “groin” without success. So, I googled it…….

According to the National Park Service, groins are used to maintain beaches and limit “longhsore sediment transport” (erosion?). And now we all know. It’s your “News You Can Use” segment of the blog…….

Sharing information from the Ocean Alliance Facebook page regarding their celebration of World Ocean Day Thursday June 10. Free demonstrations, open house, music, art and more. I hope to see you there! Sounds like fun.

If you haven’t been to the Visitor Welcome Center at Stage Fort Park recently, you haven’t been there yet! It’s been reopened and refurbished following pandemic restrictions and it’s quite lovely. Definitely worth a stop especially if you have company coming to town. It is staffed by vounteers like myself and run by the wonderful Carol Mondello on behalf of the City . Stop down and say hello (PS my shift is Thursday morning and I would love to meet you).Open 9 AM to 6 PM (except on Sunday closes at 5)

As some of you may know, the GMG crew did a podcast from the brand new deck at The Cove in Rockport yesterday. Though the day was a little cloudy, the hospitality from hosts Mike and Krysten Sjogren shone brightly on their newly opened deck. If you had visited this location previously known as the Peg Leg Inn, but haven’t checked out The Cove at Rockport on King Street, you are missing out on a gorgeous renovation and update. It is so beautiful and fresh looking yet still relaxing. The new deck will feature wine and beer in the afternoons and the view cannot be ignored. Shout out to Sharon and Matt as well! It’s too bad GMG Jim had to miss this podcast, but we will be visiting the deck soon for an afternoon break. Thank you Krysten for the wonderful photos you will know are hers as they are stunning late afternoon/sunset shots.

George’s will be under new ownership according to their Facebook post! Best wishes.