Author: patmorss

A windy night, then woke up in the midst of our first major Northeast storm of 2022.

Nice snow over the weekend, but then warmer with rain and it was gone.

It was cold on Tuesday, so we took along a small amount of bread for the Mallards on our walk by Niles Pond. I have just read this is not nourishing for them, so it may be cabbage, kale, cracked corn next time.

Some encounters with Nature during the final days of 2021, on a Cape Ann “World’s End.”

HAPPY NEW YEAR

The rare Steller’s Sea Eagle from Asia that was hanging out mid to late December in the Taunton River, MA area, and covered in the local and national press as well as by Kim Smith, is now in Maine. Our daughter Jeannette took these photos of it in Georgetown, south of Bath, on New Year’s Eve day. She and her husband Derek own the Freeport Wild Bird Supply store and provide all our supplies with endless patience reviewing what I want to post with confidence on GMG. There is a lot to learn on their website, freeportwildbirdsupply.com

A Holiday is just another workday for feathers and fur.

There are rock ownership issuse out here. But wildlife generally gets along (unless you’re dinner). Happy Solstice tomorrow.

Another week of walks checking in with our friends.

The winter birds are back.

The holiday had no impact on life around us (except the first photo).

The seals approve of Brace Cove. We had a record (for us) of 24 this last weekend.

This seems to be the bird edition. More Feathers than Fur around recently.

Our secondary minor storm came through Saturday and was enough to keep the surf up at Brace Cove.

The surf is still noisy, but the nor’easter has passed out to sea. Back to the daily walk (we were fortunate not to lose power or have damage).

Hank, our resident Great Blue Heron, has returned for the fall, and is putting up with this week’s bad weather.

I read in the Gloucester Times this morning that there was a Chinese yacht hauled out for repairs at Gloucester Marine Railways on Rocky Neck. She hit an iceberg north of Greenland on her attempted cicumnavigation of the Arctic Ocean. She apparently was denied passage through Canadian waters due to the COVID close-down, and was headed toward the Panama Canal on her return to China. She pulled into Gloucester for repairs.

A beautiful Saturday afternoon down at the harbor on Stacy Boulevard. I thought the spring tulips were pretty impressive, but the dahlias and their daylily cousins are amazing. Congratulations to the volunteer ‘Generous Gardeners.’

After a year off for COVID, it was great to have the Cape Ann Plein Air Festival back this past week. It is now sought after by artists nation-wide. This year 200 applicants were judged for their work and the limit of 35 were accepted. The final event today, after the Gala, is fun because it gets all the artists together in one area to produce a painting in just 2 hours for the “Quick Draw.”

I posted this on GMG Saturday afternoon. It was followed by a very large posting that slid it and others down the page, and shortly off the recent postings on the live website. Joey approved a re-posting, but apologies if this is a repeat.

Woolly Bear Folklore:

“The longer the woolly bear’s black bands, the longer, colder, snowier, and more severe the winter will be. … If the head end of the caterpillar is dark, the beginning of winter will be severe. If the tail end is dark, the end of winter will be cold.”

You be the judge.  Also, I always wondered if they turned into beautiful moths or butterflies (see first two photos).

Woolly Bear Folklore:

“The longer the woolly bear’s black bands, the longer, colder, snowier, and more severe the winter will be. … If the head end of the caterpillar is dark, the beginning of winter will be severe. If the tail end is dark, the end of winter will be cold.” You be the judge.  I always wondered if they turned into moths or butterflies.  See first two photos.