Just another peaceful morning on the marsh. Enjoy the weekend!
Fish On and Lots of Family Fun to be Had!
We’ve been told that there is already one fish on….to be coming for weigh in at Cape Ann’s Marina Resort later this afternoon….and there is tons of fun to be had! Get on down to this year’s Bluefin Blowout!
Here is today’s schedule of events (and Saturdays as well):
FRIDAY | JULY 28 – Family Fun Friday (Open to Public All Day)
1:00 PM– 5:00 PM – Family Fun: Tons of fun with games, prizes, and much more for all ages!
2:00 PM – Watermelon Eating Contest!
3:00 PM – “Harpoon” Toss
6:00 PM – Weigh In Opens
7:00 PM – MINI Peabody Rally | Meet at MINI of Peabody @ 6:00 PM, or join us at Cape Ann Marina! CLICK HERE TO RSVP
9:00 PM – Weigh In Closes Boats weighing fish must be past the designated checkpoint buoys and committee boats no later than 9:00PM.
8:00-11:00 PM – Live music: Grits & Grocery | http://www.gritsandgroceriesorchestra.com
SATURDAY | JULY 29 – Family Fun Continues & Cornhole Tournament
10:00 AM – VIP Bloody Mary Brunch (By Invitation Only)
10:00 AM – Porsche Nashua Rally
11:00- 3:00 PM Cornhole tournament, and family fun
12:00 PM – 92.5 The River Street Team arrives
2:00 PM – Weigh In Opens.
4:30 PM – Weigh In Closes when last tuna is weighed. Boats weighing fish must be past the designated checkpoint buoys and committee boats no later than 4:30PM.
6:00 PM – Closing Ceremonies
6:30PM – Dinner Served
*Spectator Tickets For Dinner Available On Site LIMITED SPACE AVAILABLE*
Contact: Cidalia Schwartz | cschwartz@lyonwaugh.com | 978-532-8312
7:00 PM – Live Auction Begins
8:00 PM – Silent Auction Closes/Tournament Ends
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Fun Guaranteed. Giant Tuna Expected. Bluefin Blowout 2017.
This is, without a doubt, the place to be this weekend…starting early this afternoon. Check out the schedule of events in the first few photos below. Wednesday night’s private event was fantastic…and last night’s Captains’ Party was no joke at all.
Be certain to come down at some point, have a great time, and maybe bid on some auction items to help raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association! The Lyon-Waugh Auto Group has gone all out and, as always, Cape Ann’s Marina Resort is the perfect venue.
Captains and crews left the docks late last night or early this morning and hopefully some large tuna will be landed later today.
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Sawyer Free Library, Week of July 29-Aug 5, 2017
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‘OPEN GARDENS for DAYLILY DAYS’!
Once a year Bobbie Brooks opens her private gardens for viewing the hundreds of award winning hybrid daylilies that she has collected. This is their peak week for blooms.
There are approximately 1000 cultivars being grown, including her own introductions, and they are mixed in with many other unusual plants, as well as being displayed in several formal daylily beds.
The Gardens will be open THIS weekend; Fr, Sat, Sun
July 28,29,30
from 9-1
Rt. 127N on Langford St. – Lanesville section of Gloucester Ma on the tip of Cape Ann.
For More Info and pics – Lilylady@comcast.net ; http://www.distinctivegardendesigns.com/
In Face Book under Distinctive Garden Designs
Hope to see you!
bobbie brooks
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LITTLE CHICK CELEBRATING FIFTH WEEK MILESTONE! AND CURRENT STATUS UPDATE
Little Chick is spending greater amounts of time in the deeper tide pools.
On Gloucester’s busiest of beaches, a tiny Piping Plover chick has survived five whole weeks. His survival is in large part due to the tremendous effort and kind caring of our community. My most heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped this resilient little guy come so far. Thank you especially to all the PiPl monitors, the crews of the DPW, especially the gentlemen who clean the beach and who drive the beach rake, beach picker uppers such as Patti Amaral, Patti and Kerry Sullivan, Gloucester conservation agent Ken Whittaker, Police Chief McCarthy, Animal Control Officer Dianne Corliss, the Volleyball Players, Coach Latoff and the GHS sports teams, the GHS cheerleaders, and countless others who have made allowances for the Piping Plovers to successfully nest at Good Harbor Beach.
All who are monitoring Little Chick have seen him fly fairly low to the ground in approximately ten foot distances. Within days he will have fully fledged, but it will still be several weeks more I think before he can undertake his first migration to the lower Atlantic states, Bahamas, or West Indies. He and Papa have adapted well to Good Harbor Beach and they very possibly could stay several weeks into August, feeding to build reserves for the long migration south. Or, they could leave GHB and join the Piping Plovers starting to gather at other barrier beaches such as Cranes and Plum Island. Young birds travel with old birds, who show them the way.
Hourly monitoring may no longer be needed, but it doesn’t hurt either to check in with the little guy and Papa regularly. It’s super important for the roping to stay in place as the family continue to use the cordoned off area as a “safe zone.” I will continue to film and update as long as they are at Good Harbor Beach, because that is part of the documentary, too.
The most rewarding moments are meeting on the beach fans of our Little Superstar. They are full of delighted interest and concern for the chick. Just this morning, I met mom Amy and her daughter Emma. They live in Southborough and have been daily following along with the adventures of Little Chick on Good Morning Gloucester. Amy thanked us for sharing Little Chick’s story.
The beach was awash in seaweed, perhaps brought ashore by the storm of several nights ago. Extra wormy and mini-sea creature breakfast deliciousness today.
Well camouflaged in the sand and taking a brief rest before returning to the tide pools.
Warrior Three mastered, and don’t you love the beautiful patterning of the Piping Plover feathers.
Papa never to far off and always, always watching.
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MONARCHS HERE, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE PART TWO AND PLEASE CONTINUE TO REPORT YOUR MONARCH SIGHTINGS
The title of the post could just as easily have read Monarchs, Eggs, and Caterpillars Here, There, and Everywhere. I haven’t seen this much Monarch activity on Cape Ann in over ten years and hope so much the number of Monarchs seen in gardens, meadows, and dunes indicates a strong migration.
Thank you to everyone who has written in with your Monarch sightings! The reports are tremendously informative and fun to read, so please, do continue to let us know. The rainy cool weather has temporarily put the kibosh on mating and egg laying, but they are here on our shores and just waiting for a few warm hours and the sun to come out to renew breeding activity.
Monarchs not only drink nectar from the florets of milkweed, it is the only species of plant on which they deposit their eggs. In the above photo you can clearly see the Monarch probing for nectar with her proboscis, or drinking straw.
Look for the butterflies, eggs, and caterpillars wherever milkweed grows. In our region, they are most often found on pink flowering Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and Marsh Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), as opposed to the orange milkweeds, A. curassavica and A. tuberosa.
Female Monarch depositing an egg on an upper leaf of Common Milkweed.
The eggs are typically laid on the underside of the leaf, near the top of the plant. Tiny golden domes, no larger than a pinhead, Monarch eggs are easily confused with the eggs of other insects.
Once the tiny caterpillar emerges, it will stay towards the top of the plant, venturing further to larger leaves as it grows.
Four Monarchs in One Photo!
I was trying to take a snapshot of two Monarchs flying but not until I returned home did I realize that resting on a leaf were a pair of Monarchs mating. Lara Lepionka had just sent a photo the day before of a pair mating in a tree above her garden. Typically Monarchs will begin mating on the ground, or the foliage of a lower plant plant such as squash or milkweed. They will join together abdomen to abdomen and, once securely attached, the male then carries the female to a safer location. A male and female Monarch will stay coupled together for four to five hours before releasing (see photo below of a pair of Monarchs mating, towards center left. 
Lara Lepionka cell phone photo of Monarchs mating in a tree.
Monarch and Common Milkweed Good Harbor Beach
Not everyone has a gorgeous milkweed patch like Patti Papows. Don’t despair. You don’t have to go far! I am finding tons of eggs and caterpillars on the Common Milkweed that grows around the edge of the parking lot at Good Harbor Beach.
Patti Papows Common Milkweed with Monarch and Bee
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Drizzly Dock
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Harbor Loop Concert tonight has been postponed ~ Livin On Luck and Nadia Robertson 7.27.2017 Hopefully to a later date.
Nadia Robertson
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Summertime fun at the Annisquam Footbridge
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WORK PROGRESS UPDATE AT GOOD HARBOR BEACH WITH JOE LUCIDO, PHIL CUCURU, AND MIKE “THE NEW GUY” TARANTINO
Joe Lucido, Phil Cucuru, and Mike Tarantino
Today the sign was installed at the new guest area at the footbridge. The sign will display information about Good Harbor Beach and, as was the previous sign, will be maintained by the community group “Friends of Good Harbor Beach.”
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Stage Fort Park | that darn grass and topics galore for proposed plans
Scenes from last Thursday’s public display and discussion about proposed plans to Stage Fort Park, held during the Cape Ann Farmers Market.
The plans are similar to ones you may have seen over the last year, though it is always something else to inspect them in person, walk through a site, and hear feedback, input and questions. I’ve considered the plans before, but had not realized that the parking lot was going to be shifted and expanded double wide at the top abutting the dog park. Some neighbors liked the idea of an altered viewshed, others not so much. People talked about cleaning up the broken glass, trash management (great praise for DPW dealing with this every day), repairing the stone steps, the beach, bringing back some of the fanciful playground elements, trees and maintenance. There was pretty much universal praise for the Rotary and the farmers market. I was told there was mention of altering the Tablet Rock plaque, which does not need it, though I did not hear any. I was there for the duration of the meeting and even a tad beyond as Steve Winslow was kind enough to lead a tour into the field and perimeter afterwards. A great challenge is maintaining the meadow expanse which many feel is ragged around the gazebo while serving crowds. The proposed plans center about the gazebo and parking lot, and did not cover the area along the harbor (across from the cupboard) where the annual Waterfront music festivals occur as well as elements listed above.
In case you missed the Mayor’s Facebook page, here is a summation from the evening and invitation to join in.
Stage Fort Park three nights later plus historic photos
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Half Price Menu At The Rudder and Studio Restaurants On Rocky Neck Today July 27, 2017
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GLOUCESTER HIGH JV CHEERLEADERS PRACTICING AT GOOD HARBOR BEACH!
Gloucester High School Junior Varsity cheerleader’s beach practice.
Great group of girls and coaches, along with their sweet littlest helper, Aria, making an important phone call. Thanks to the girls for their help today with the Piping Plover documentary!
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Training on Shore Road
On Wednesday night the Coast Guard to was training off of Shore Road. Thank you Coast Guard
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Local artist Naomi Lee is exhibiting at the Lone Gull 146 Main St Gloucester for the month of August 2017
All paintings are different dimensions 11” by 14”, 16” by 20” and the 3 dimensional ones with sea glass are approximately 11” by 14”.
The ones below are approximately 3” x 3” and 6” x 6”
These are 4” by 4”
Naomi will have different mediums to see such as watercolors, oils, and acrylic paintings. She will also be exhibiting for the first time in Gloucester, her new approach to art. She has taken the things she has found along the shore and combined them with her acrylic paintings to make a 3 dimensional piece of art. Come see Naomi personally on Thursday August 10 from 12-1:30 or Saturday August 26 from 11-12:30 and choose your own complimentary greeting card!
Naomi Lee
Gloucester, MA
call or text for more info 1- 781-710-1080
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Orville Giddings Tonight @The Rhumb Line’s Dave Sag’s Blues Party 8:30pm 7.27.2017
Tonight Mr. Orville Giddings jumps into the pool of love at Fred’s Paradise Rhumblestiltskin Club. Long a staple of the burgeoning Ipswich musical scene, O is sure to put a little Gleem® in your smile. He writes great songs, sings ‘em well, and is just an all-around pleasure to work with.
Joining us will be “Dr. John “ Cameron ,keyboard centipede, and L’il Steevee Chaggaris on the skins.
40 Railroad Avenue
Gloucester, MA 01930
(978) 283-9732
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On Stacy Boulevard flags flutter by Fisherman at the Wheel
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Visitors from Middleton and Lynn Mass
Group from Middleton Mass
Family from Lynn Mass
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Cobalt silhouette
A cloudless sky paired with still waters were the perfect backdrop to this lone skiff on the Essex marsh yesterday morning.
Good Morning Gloucester 