Author: patmorss

Anne-Lise and I are back from a few days in Quebec City. It is a 7-hour drive from Gloucester, the same time as a flight to Paris, and the cities feel equally French. We walked familiar territory, and also discovered some new neighborhoods. And it was a culinary delight.

There’s a continuing lull in activity as we wait for the first ducklings and other young wildlife to come out of hiding.

We’re intrigued by the challenges around us. Look carefully for the crow in the last photo.

We finally got back to visit Hammond Castle yesterday, on the Magnolia side of Gloucester Harbor, and to enjoy an exhibit (through the end of April) of paintings by Eric Pape, a friend of prolific inventor John Hays Hammond Jr, who built his medieval-theme home and museum in the late 1920s. There are guided tours, as well as an excellent self-guided tour pamphlet.

Time to catch up on what’s been happening with the birds the last week or two.

‘Cape Ann Lobstermen,’ in East Gloucester, invited me for a close look earlier this week at how scallops are brought in and processed. The season opened April 1st and will only last 4-6 weeks. There are 70+ boats here rigged for scalloping, and most of them are visiting from Maine, and some from New Hampshire. Massachusetts and the Bay of Fundy reportedly have the best scallop grounds. Scallops are shucked on board (a permit requirement) and the quota is 200 pounds/vessel/day. I hope I have my facts correct.

Last weekend we visited Cape Ann Museum (CAM), at Pat D’s GMG suggestion, to see an exhibit of the past decade’s work by our local painter Jeff Weaver. It didn’t disappoint, and we were also captivated by an exhibit of “windows” painted by third and eighth grade public school students, as part of the museum’s outreach program showcasing Cape Ann’s continuing legacy with the arts. We look forward to the major Edward Hopper exhibit of his Cape Ann work opening July 22, as we celebrate Gloucester’s 400+.

Scallop season opened April 1st, and there has been a steady parade of boats in and out of the harbor. Our wildlife, however, doesn’t have an off-season.

Catching up on what’s going on around us.

I don’t know who this is, but he was out on the Audubon rocks this morning balancing stones on his see-saw. He had patience.

We’re in a lull waiting for spring activity. And the major bliuzzard that came across the country resulted in only a modest, rainy Nor’easter on the coast.

March 1st was the beginning of Meteorological spring. We’ll see if Punxsutawney Phil is right that there will be no spring until after the Vernal equinox on March 21st.

During the recent yo-yo temperature swings, with record highs and lows within a week, nature learns to cope.

Exactly two weeks after Atlantic Merlin came by Eastern Point, clearing the path for the new fiber optic cable from Lynn, MA to the UK and France, Decisive worked worked her way through early this morning (Thurs) laying the cable. Meawhile on Niles Pond, after the ice melted, the Mergansers were out in force with Valentine’s Day thoughts. [And a twist at the end.]

First, an update on Atlantic Merlin, our “Curious Visitor” last week – thanks to Catherine who yesterday posted photos of her in the sea smoke off Cape Ann, taken by C.Ryan who indicated Atlantic Merlin is working on a fiber optic cable from Lynn, MA to the UK and France. Early this afternoon Marine Traffic positioned her about 20 miles NE of the Cape. Here are a few mostly wildlife updates:

Early this morning Atlantic Merlin, classified by Marine Traffic as an “Offshore tug/supply vessel” under Canadian registry, arrived a couple of miles off Eastern Point. I watched through the haze as several cargo packages were transferred to a smaller fishing boat. After the samller vessel left, Atlantic Merlin continued closer over the next several hours, finally inching out of sight up the Cape Ann coast during the sunny afternoon. It would be interesting to know what her assignment is.

There are different ways to take a dunk.

Winter birds are settling into their seasonal routines.

This year we are, of course, celebrating Gloucester’s 400+ Anniversary (the “+” is for the centuries native peoples were here before Europeans, and for the years that are yet to come). The Overture was televised locally, and the Gloucester Times had comprehensive coverage, so this is more my personal view of this opening event of the year-long celebration.

It’s been slow recently for our waterfront and wildlife activity, so here are some photos that didn’t “fit the theme” a while back, followed by a few from our recent walks.