My View of Life on the Dock
We are just back from a week in the Southwest, with family in the small town of Ridgway, Colorado, and a side trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. My sister and family moved west in the 1970s and became successful ranchers, as well as advocates for local culture and preservation. I post these photographs here, because I see connections with our values on Cape Ann.
We had a stressful weekend following a Gannet that landed on the Audubon Sanctuary next to our house. Seabirds come ashore just to rookeries to nest, so it must have had a health issue. Professional help was delayed due to multiple emergencies, and it wasn’t confirmed until this morning that it died, apparently without a predator encounter.
It was wonderful to have the Schooner Festival back in Gloucester this Labor Day weekend, after last year’s cancellation due to COVID.
Other parts of the country have it hotter, but we have the humidity too.
Donna posted a picure and question Tuesday evening as to who her “cute little bird” is. I questioned our ornithologist daughter and son-in-law, and Derek wrote back:
“That’s a juvenile House Finch that is suffering from (and probably blinded by) a disease that is most likely conjunctivitis.Â
So not cute.
Unfortunately.”
We’ve been dodging hurricanes, so outdoor activities continue.
Seems like mostly birds around this week, and the animals are out of sight.
Activity over the weekend, and a few earlier encounters.
Last Saturday was the annual 20-mile “around Cape Ann” Howard Blackburn race for anything you can row or paddle. Also, more water and wildlife this week.
Similar weekly routine, but variations on themes.
Surprisingly inquisitive. We have been hearing them yapping often in the bushes
And, of course, these young deer are everywhere!
It started out as a Beautiful weekend, but deteriorated on Sunday. Is this training going on for the ‘Around Cape Ann’ Blackburn Cup? I sure commend the fortitude.
More see-saw weather over the last week, and noteworthy for record July rainfall – already.
After being appropriately preoccupied with visiting family, there were a few photo-ops the last couple of days.
We walk every day, but this was specifically on the Fourth of July.
It started today at 3:30 AM when we were woken up by a loud crunching sound, followed shortly by someone yelling “Call the Coast Guard,” which we did.
At 7:00 AM American Cruise Line’s American Constitution came into Gloucester for at least the fourth time this season, went back out around 10 AM, and appeared to have some problem while doing 360’s, before returning to the harbor. She just headed out again toward Provincetown at 5:00 PM.
Acouple of evenings ago Manuel Simoes posted this picture, asking what it was. Our ornithologist son-in-law reports: “That’s a domesticated Muscovy Duck. They are oftern released or escape and can sometimes survive for years or even breed in the wild.”
There has been a lot of sport fishing in close to the Eastern Point rocks recently, and this morning a spotter plane and two commercial fishing boats out of Gloucester got our attention. The photo captions below may just be my imagination, but this is what it looked like.
Last week I posted photos of young Eider ducklings practicing diving in shallow water at Raymond Beach, during Diving Elementary School. This weekend when I returned to my mooring, the parents and their nine kids were in deeper water for Diving Middle School. Here also, are other signs of summer.
American Cruise Line’s ‘American Constitution‘ has docked at Cruiseport several times over the past 5 weeks. The company has an updated full-page ad in the current edition of TIME Magazine that takes liberty, on the map, with the spelling of our city.
