My View of Life on the Dock
Come meet with other young professionals over drinks in a casual atmosphere at an event hosted by Pier 23 Kitchen and Next Generation Cape Ann.
We have a growing group of young professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs on Cape Ann and this is a way to get together, share ideas and help grow each other’s businesses and the community.
FREE to attend. Cash Bar. Light appetizers.
Resting boats are peaceful and yet bob a bit as if anxious to get out on the water with their masters.
JOEY C ~
A place where non-profit Cape Ann organizations can post press releases directly and then those press releases will be reposted to http://www.goodmorninggloucester.com . This is not an advertising space for businesses, fitness or wellness organizations, or music listings.
The web address will be http://www.capeanncommunity.com
To have your community organization news posted here, contact Joey C who will grant access for you to post directly.
FEBRUARY 27, 2018 ~ DOT SIERADZKI ~
The March 13 meeting of the Seaside Garden Club presents Trish Wesley Umbrell of the Natick Community Organic Farm (http://www.natickfarm.org/) with a maple sugaring demonstration.
Trish will share tips on tree identification and use in home landscape, and share the rich history and traditions of New England maple sugaring. She will give a virtual tour of her local favorite sugar shack, and provide practical tips for making your own maple syrup. Maple syrup will be for sale at the meeting.
The program is sponsored by the Manchester Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Guests are welcome, free of charge.
The Seaside Garden Club meets at the Manchester Community Center, located at 40 Harbor Point, Manchester-by-the-Sea. Social time begins with light refreshments at 7:00 pm, followed by the program at 7:30 pm. Newcomers are welcome.
IMAGE ~ FEBRUARY 27, 2018 ~ MIDDLESTWALK ~
FEBRUARY 27, 2018 ~ CAPEANNANIMALAID01930 ~
Attention Cape Ann nonprofits, school, and community groups! Registration is now open for the 2018 Gloucester Pride Stride! Sign up your group so your supporters can officially join your team and raise money for your cause!
You are also invited to a free info session at The Open Door on Tuesday, March 6, 2018 from 6:30-7:30pm. Come learn how you can participate, raise funds, and engage your supporters. Plus, see tutorials on creating your team’s online fundraising page and tips and tricks from your peers! RSVP by March 1st to gloucesterpridestride@gmail.com
FEBRUARY 26, 2018 ~ DOT SIERADZKI
Magnolia Cribbage League starts its spring session on Wednesday March 7 at 6:30pm at J.D. Meyers Pub, 24 Lexington Ave, Magnolia. New players are welcome to join in this friendly game of cribbage. $40 covers 10 weeks of play plus a dinner and cash prizes. If you cannot commit to a 10-week session then consider substituting for a regular player. Arrive at 6:30pm to sign up and learn more about the league. Call Andy Heinze at 508-596-3857 for more information.
On Thursday, March 1, “Let the Youth Lead – An Open Forum for Youth Voices” will be held for youth from across Cape Ann. The forum is scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM and will meet in the Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church’s Community Room. The accessible entrance is at 10 Church Street.
The goal is to provide a space where young people can meet and share their thoughts, feelings, questions and ideas regarding the recent wave of youth leadership and action happening across the country.
Participants will be encouraged to explore how they can effectively increase youth agency locally and beyond, in the short term and the long term.
The current conversation about gun laws and school safety is certainly one of the biggest topics right now, but the forum will not be limited to that subject.
Should interest arise in the upcoming March 24 March for Our Lives events – locally, in Boston or in DC – a breakout group will form to develop options to support participation.
The forum will be facilitated by Rose Sheehan, Gloucester Unitarian Universalist’s Education and Community Engagement Leader. Refreshments will be served.
Questions may be directed to Rose Sheehan at info@gloucesteruu.org.
A tiny pelagic seabird, the Dovekie, was discovered this morning laying dead in the sand. I think it must have died very recently as it was completely intact. Dovekies are the smallest of the auks (the puffin family) and when on the beach they are in serious trouble because they walk very poorly and have difficulty taking off. Most of us will only ever catch a glimpse of this tiny treasure far away and out to sea and although very dead, it was beautiful to see.
Dovekies (also known as the Little Auck) breed on islands in the high Arctic and move south to the the north Atlantic in the winter. Several weeks ago, one was spotted off the shoreline on Atlantic Road.
Photos of living Dovekies courtesy wikicommonsmedia.
WHITING; NEW ENGLAND HAKE (Merluccius bilinearis). Differs from true hakes (genus Urophycis) Drawing by H. L. Todd
Silver hake are strong swift swimmers, well armed and extremely voracious. Probably a complete diet list would include the young of practically all the Gulf of Maine Fishes. A 23¼ inch silver hake, taken at Orient, N. Y., had 75 herring, 3 inches long, in its stomach. And it is probable that the silver hake that frequent Georges Bank feed chiefly on young haddock. As sweet a fish as one could ask, if eaten fresh or if slack salted overnight and used for breakfast the next morning. Soften so fast they must be frozen quickly.
From Fishes of the Gulf of Maine by Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953. Online courtesy of MBL/WHOI. http://www.gma.org/fogm/Merluccius_bilinearis.htm
Massachusetts landings of silver hake reached a peak in the 1950s with a high of 108 million pounds in 1957. From 2010 to 2016 landings have been in the range of 7 to 9 million pounds. (NOAA)
As the sun was gong down on Monday, realized it was almost 6:00 when I got home. Now that is a good sign. Monday night’s sunset interesting with the sun shining on one of the buildings in Boston. Also when looking at Magnolia Harbor the moorings will be full of boats in no time. YEAH…
Join us Sunday, March 4, 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM for brunch with music by talented Berklee-trained jazz duo, Mitchell Selib & Zack Auslander. Mitchell and Zack are well known for their unique, modern arrangements of 1930’s to 1960’s jazz standards. To see all upcoming events at Feather & Wedge, visit our website.
Reservations suggested. 978. 999. 5917
The City of Gloucester Animal Advisory Committee hosted an informative presentation on the Coywolf last night at The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck. Dr. Jonathan Way who is an expert on the habits of the Coywolf spoke for 90 minutes with a lively question and answer period which had to be cut off so we could go to work today.
As a real review, I’ll do that later since there is a lot to unpack. Jon said up front to hold your questions to the end but I knew I was not the only one busting a gut holding back my questions on such a fascinating topic. For now, I will just list a few take-home bullet points of things that were news to me.
• The coywolf is relatively new to the area but it is not an invader, not an invasive species. No one parachuted these coywolves into the east. They migrated naturally from the west to fill the niche vacated by the exterminated wolves. (Blame that on the pilgrims.) If coywolves are an invasive species then virtually every mammal on the planet including man is an invasive species.
• The coywolf wants to have nothing to do with humans. They also want nothing to do with dogs. They fear both. If you think they are stalking you and your dog it is likely because they perceive you as a threat to their puppies and are tracking you to make sure you are heading away from their puppies. Once you have moved far enough away, they will double back to protect the den.
• This bullet point was a shock: Given the size of Cape Ann it is likely that there is one pack on the island. WTF? How can that be? Coywolves cover a lot of territory each night. More on this later.
• Evidence shows that killing an adult in a pack can easily make the pack split and double in size. So shooting one might not be the wisest policy unless you want more coywolves.
•This last bullet point is the biggest. Do not feed the coywolves. There are plenty of mice, rabbits, voles, bugs, to eat. If you think you are helping them you are dead wrong. You are habituating the coywolf to humans and they will likely become a nuisance and have to be shot. Just don’t do it. Do not leave dog food outside. Make sure your bird feeders are not feeding them, don’t leave garbage out.
•• If you know a neighbor who is feeding them. Report them to the police, to the animal control officer, shame them on “Because Gloucester” Facebook page. Make sure they stop.
•• If you see a photographer who wants a photo of a coywolf putting food out to attract them, report them. Bang pots, make them stop. Shaming on “Because Gloucester” as a last resort.
A science observation: Jon described mitochondrial sequencing, Y chromosome sequencing, using SNP panels, all to figure out what is going on with this animal. From these data it is shown that our local coywolf is 30% wolf, 10% domestic dog, and 60% coyote. The cool thing is that whole-genome sequencing of these animals is right around the corner. That is what I do in my day job. Just five years ago I spent $15,000 to sequence one human genome. I can do it today for $1,200. Still a little pricey but that number will continue to drop and we will know a lot more as to how these animals are evolving. Because they are evolving. Each year, traits are selected for. If this new animal can avoid cars, mate successfully, know how to opportunistically hunt new types of food (coywolves are very good at eating what is available, rabbits, voles, cats), they give birth to smarter animals who fill the niche better. A coywolf who is hit by a car, cannot find a mate, or cannot find food, will not be passing on their genes. We are witnessing Darwinian evolution in real time. These animals are no longer coyotes. They have different behavioral patterns and phenotypes. They are not wolves either and they sure are not domestic dogs. They are a new species, canis oriens, which has stabilized. It is not comingling with actual coyotes, wolves or dogs, they treat all three as threats.
Shoot, I was going to keep this one short. So here is a picture of some coywolves that will be giving birth on Cape Ann around the beginning of April.
[Additional edit 2/28] I have received a bunch of email and messages about the number of packs on Cape Ann. My response and likely Jon’s response: No idea. Anecdotal evidence is dicey. The same three coywolves could walk the perimeter of their terrain every evening and every morning through the same 23 backyards. Would that be reported as 23 packs? An exaggeration for sure but they do lay out tracks that are many miles long. They are looking for something to eat, avoiding people and dogs, but also marking their pack domain to ward off other coywolves. Since Cape Ann is an island with only three leaks (coywolves love to walk the tracks) the pack size might be peculiar. The only way to find out is putting a radio collar on a couple of them. Except Mass Wildlife will not allow that. (long story.)
Is there one pack? Two? Has one coywolf been killed so the pack breaks into two and multiples? No way of knowing without data. From Jon’s experience of pack size on Cape Cod, there may be only one pack. But Cape Ann is known to be the more awesome Cape so Cape Cod data might be irrelevant here. 🙂
Go to this website here to find out why Jon has suggested a new name, canis oriens, for the animal that is living with us on Cape Ann.
Here is the image of the steel wool spinning behind man of the wheel statue that we talked about on the podcast. Definitely need to find another location and give this a group effort., let me know if you’re interested .
Did you know that Kettlebell training is accessible and practical for all fitness levels? It also combines strength and cardiovascular work into one simple and effective tool.
Come join us at Crossfit Cape Ann tonight (and Thursday nights) for our weekly Kettlebell Class at 5:30PM. No previous kettlebell experience required and your first class is FREE! Crossfit Cape Ann is located at 18 Sargent Street in Gloucester, MA. See you there!
For more: http://www.crossfitcapeann.com
It’s today FEB 27TH, 4:00pm-5:00pm. To register click this link below.
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8mi-UunYQb6zv5e3PF_gDA
If you have young kids who enjoy learning about cultures from around the world, this is a fantastic free event!
Saturday, March 3rd 9:00-12:30 at Harborlight Montessori in Beverly.
We welcome you to Harborlight to experience our second annual Cultural Festival. Journey through our halls on a trip through Spain, Peru, Hungary, England, Mexico, China, Nigeria, Japan, Ireland, Morocco, Portugal, and America. Also make a stop along the way to learn Sign Language. Begin in our library where guests will enjoy music and stories from around the world. Grab your passport and begin your adventure! Have your passport stamped while enjoying art, crafts, recipes, and activities from a variety of cultures. The morning will end with live entertainment. A group of youth performers from the Chinese Folk Art Workshop will perform a traditional dragon dance, a Diablo yo-yo performance, and leave time for hands-on demonstrations. Some of Harborlight’s own faculty and parents, Harborlight Sevillanas, will perform the Flamenco, and Harborlight students will sing international songs.
Did you get the flu this year? All the flu-news brought to mind the flu epidemic of 1918, one hundred years later. This global pandemic killed 50 MILLION people, largely healthy young adults from age 20-50. You could feel fine in the morning and be dead by midnight. So I wasn’t surprised to find a family connection to this crisis as a result of my recent Gloucester research. Sadly, this is a particularly tragic story.
William Bentley is a first cousin of mine, William being the grandson of Captain John Bentley.
You will note he married Blanche Wagner. As children, Blanche and her sister Margaret survived a horrific fire that killed two of their siblings. Tragically, you also notice that Margaret also died in the flu epidemic just one day after William died, leaving behind four young children including a 2 month old baby.
Very tragic story all the way around. Flu related news was all over the papers in this time period, in Gloucester and around the world. Sometimes we don’t consider that our families participated in the history of our country or world, but this is one small thread in the tapestry of world history.
Good Morning Sleepyhead! Actually, afternoon, for you and I. Snowies hunt during the long day light hours of the Arctic summer, but here on Cape Ann, Hedwig awakens every afternoon to begin a night of hunting, returning to her roost at daybreak.
She spends a good deal of time grooming before take off–cleaning her feet, pulling her front feathers through her beak, washing overall, and fluffing out her feathers. Oftentimes she’ll spit up one, two, and even three pellets. Moments before take off she poops, and then off she goes.
A Snowy Owl’s beak and mouth look small, covered in feathers as they are, until you see it wide open. The size of a pellet that is regurgitated from her mouth can be as large as a rat. The beak is covered in small bristles to help detect nearby objects. Snowy Owls have tiny ears and owl’s ears are often asymmetrically set on their head, all the better to hear sound from different angles.
Hedwig was observed everyday this past week in rain, fog, snow, and sun. She’s feasting well on Cape Ann fare!
Size— The largest four specimens yet seen measured 18¼ and 18½ inches; 19 inches, weighing 3 pounds; and 20 inches, weighing 4½ pounds and 24 inches, weighing 7 pounds
General range— Outer part of the continental shelf from the latitude of Chesapeake Bay to the vicinity of Sable Island, Nova Scotia, and perhaps to the Laurentian Channel that separates the Nova Scotian Banks from the Newfoundland Banks. It reaches the inner parts of the Gulf of Maine now and then as a stray.
From Fishes of the Gulf of Maine by Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953
Online courtesy of MBL/WHOI http://www.gma.org/fogm/Zenopsis_ocellata.htm
Good Morning Gloucester 