Joey, I thought you might like to post this. This cottage is on Ferry Hill on the bank of the creek leading to Montgomery’s Boat Yard. Happy New Year, Marty Daley
Community Photos 1/6/14
Sea Smoke and Surf at Good Harbor Beach from Jaqueline Bennet
Magnolia picture – pre-storm Thursday night From Bernie Romanowski
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“I love the look on the non-defecating eagle’s face. “
Hey Joey,
Happy New Year! I snapped this photo today at the Roger William’s Zoo (AMAZING place fyi…open all year and 1/2 price in January + February). Timing is everything. I love the look on the non-defecating eagle’s face. I could almost hear him saying, “Nice, really nice. Way to represent.” 🙂
-Nichole Schrafft
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Birds of Cape Ann: Buffleheads
Next time you see a flock of ducks, look closely. You may be surprised by the range of different species within the group. Although not always the case, but more often than not at this time of year, I see several species within a flock. What typically happens as I try to get closer to photograph or film a flock of shore birds, the Mallards, which seem very comfortable around people will stay and the somewhat less seen species, such as Buffleheads, Gadwalls, and American Wigeons will fly away.
I counted six different species of birds feeding in the seaweed at Brace Cove in the above photo.
This past autumn, and continuing through this winter, I have been filming and photographing B roll all around the ponds and marshes of Cape Ann. Today begins a mini series about shore birds, ducks, and wading birds, including photos and interesting facts, to help better identify the differences between the ducks and wading birds that migrate through, and winter over, on Cape Ann.
One of several Cape Ann geographical features that allows for such a wonderfully wide range of birds to be found on our shores and marshes is the fact that we lie within a largely unrestricted north south corridor for migratory species of birds and butterflies. What exactly does that mean? From the eastern coastline, all the way from Maine to Florida, and between the Appalachian Mountain range further west is a corridor where there are no barriers such as large bodies of water or mountains to fly over, which allows for unrestricted movement of birds and butterflies.
Male and Female Buffleheads
Male Buffleheads are one of the easiest birds to distinguish from a distance and within a group because of their sharp black and white coloring, comparatively smaller size, and pert, rounded shape. Upon closer inspection the males heads are marked with striking iridescent green and purplish feathers. The photo above shows three males and one female, and she is differentiated by her all over darker color and the patch of white feathers on her check. Rapid wingbeats make Buffleheads easier to distinguish when in flight as well. Their old-fashioned name of “Butterballs” aptly describes these beautiful and welcome winter migrants!
I am by no means a bird expert. I love to film and photograph the natural world around us and along the way find it fascinating to learn about the wildlife and flora that surrounds. Note to all GMG nature and bird-loving readers ~ I hope you’ll comment with your expertise. We would love to hear from you!
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Exploring with my camera
Decided to take a ride and do some exploring with my camera in Gloucester the other day. These three beautiful horses and this cute little goat live not to far away from me. Horses to me are amazing animals with their eyes.
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A Badelynge of Buffleheads
OK technically it is a raft or paddling of buffleheads since they are in the water, but I just couldn’t pass up using badelynge (pronounced bad-ling), which refers a group of ducks on land. Buffleheads are my favorite little sea duck, and I have the pleasure of regularly seeing this group on Smiths Cove from my window.
Buffleheads have evolved their small size in order to fit into the nesting cavity of their “metabiotic” host, the Northern Flicker. Due to their small size, they are highly active, diving almost continuously. They do not tend to collect in large flocks; but are usually limited to small rafts. One duck will serve as a sentry, watching for predators as the others in the group dive in search of food. Buffleheads are among the last waterfowl to leave their breeding grounds and one of the world’s most punctual migrants, arriving on their wintering grounds within a narrow margin of time each year. Buffleheads are monogamous, and the females return to the same breeding site, year after year. (adapted from Wikipedia)
E.J. Lefavour
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How to Raise a Sunken Ship In Rockport Harbor – Nemesis
From Angela Cook At Oasis
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Good Morning Gloucester Forecast With Pete and Marcy
The G.E.T. W.E.T. Crew
Back Shore Encased In Ice-
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The Gift That Keeps On Giving…This weeks GMG Cooks!
This Weeks GMG Cooks…..Thank you for taking the time to share your comments, and photos of dishes that you created from my easy Step-by-Step tutorials. They warm my heart and bring a smile to face every day…keep them coming!
Lia Rix From Lexington Ma. writes~ Eating one of Sista Felicia recipes. Lia made it.
Lia, your Pasta Gorgonzola looks delicious, and I’m thrilled your enjoying my “Gifts Of Gold In A Sicilian Kitchen With Sista Felicia, Harvest” cookbook….your holly berry dinner plates are beautiful! Happy New Year and Happy Cooking! Thank you for sharing your photo.
Michelle Lewis-Nasser writes~ Pumpkin Caramel coffee cake…so good! I’ve made it before but today seemed like the perfect morning for it!
Michelle, I agree it is so good! It’s one of my favorite coffee cakes to make…hum… you have me thinking…This week I have been on a roll of making things with extra pantry items left over from the holidays…I think I remember seeing a can of pumpkin in my pantry…I’m going to check……
Yes… Jackpot! Looks like I’ll be making one this week for my family!
All “Sista Felicia Recipe” photos sent to GMG, Twitter @ Sista Felicia or my personal Facebook page will be posted once per week… send your photos in and join the GMG Cooks Club!
I put a twist on my Pasta Gorgonzola recipe tonight … I received a huge wedge of Stilton Gorgonzola as a gift for my New Years Year celebtration last week, from our dear family friend Toby Pett … AKA “The One and only all around great guy Toby Pett and GMG co-podcast host.” We have enjoyed snacking on it with cured olives, roasted red peppers and assorted crackers all week. I had only a small piece saved to make Pasta Gorgonzola for my daughter Amanda before her return to school, her favorite and a recipe featured on page 208 in my cookbook “Gifts of Gold.” Tonight I decided to served it over a bed of baby spinach and few toasted pecans… It was simply Delicious!
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Kill Me With Kindness!
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Sunrise Today: Sun is closest to the Earth!
The sun reached perihelion last night which means it is the closest it gets to earth all year. Can’t you feel those rays up close and personal? This morning from Andrews Point the sun rose to the right of the breakwater. In a few short weeks that sunrise will move behind the breakwater as it heads north to … wait for it … SUMMER!
-Rubber Duck armed with a weenie iPhone 5s
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Snowed in with Kids? Go to Wolf Hollow Today 1 PM
Cooped up in the house for the past few days? Well, it’s a beautiful day out there and what better kid trip then to take them all to Wolf Hollow. The Wolves will be ready for you at 1 PM.
Hours and Directions to Wolf Hollow. A short drive off Cape Ann. Take your camera and send Rubber Duck a photo of your favorite wolf and I’ll post it here at GMG. Way more fun then a dumb football game.
-Rubber Duck
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Community Photos 1/5/14
“And then the sun came out to shine on Brace Rock……January 3, 2014
Robert N. Elwell Jr.
Snowstorm photos from Anthony Marks
Different Seasons at the “Rudder” From John Nasser
What a difference a season makes! Note the GMG sticker on the door way in the summer photo.
Here’s a picture of Kiara age 6 playing in the snow by the docks!
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Frank McCall Lanes Cove Storm Video II
Hi Joey,
I took another walk to Lanes Cove after I finished my shoveling today. The water level was higher than yesterday’s high tide and the breakwater had quite a bit more splash-over. If you watch carefully, you will see water pouring through the breakwater as well. I could not stand in the same place where I took my video yesterday because that location was underwater!
Frank McCall
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Ice Crystal Fish Aquarium From Len Burgess
The ice is back big time on my windows.
I think this photo sort of looks like an aquarium with ice crystal fish. –Len
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Keeping Warm and Cozy!
Too much design work to photograph this afternoon, but I hope to tomorrow morning, early, before round two of the double whammy of storms hits Cape Ann. Love snow days and I hope everyone is keeping warm and cozy in their homes!
Note ~ If while forcing paperwhites they become messy and keel over, as they are want to do, cut the stems and place in a vase of fresh water.
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Stung!
Stung! On Jellyfish Blooms and the Future of the Ocean, by Lisa-ann Gershwin (The University of Chicago Press, 2013)
JoeAnn Hart Submits her book review for Stung!, published December 30, 2013.
I read an entire book on jellyfish, and it was worth every gelatinous minute. Here is my review, originally published on ecolitbooks.com.
They’re here, and we’ve not just cleared out the guest room for them, we’re opened up the front parlor, the master bedroom, rumpus room, and kitchen. Soon we’ll be barricaded in the basement with a stinging, gelatinous substance dripping on us through the cracks in the ceiling. I’m talking about jellyfish. Our relationship with them has changed for the worse. As they fill our fishing nets and clog our nuclear plant intake valves around the world, they reflect our relationship with the entire eco-system. And now it’s time to say goodnight. DNA research has recently stripped the title of First Multi-Cellular Animal from the sponge and handed it to the jellyfish, and they might very well turn out to be the Last.
When I wrote jellyfish into the plot of Float, which was released in early 2013, I could not have imagined how dire the situation would get in such a short period of time. I was still thinking that if we could find a use for them — like turning them into a true bio-plastic — there might be hope. After reading Stung! by Lisa-ann Gershwin, I am not so sure about that anymore. No matter how many we harvest, more jellyfish will just bloom in their place, because the problem isn’t just that there are too many of them, it’s that they are the bellwether for a very sick ocean. As oceanographer Sylvia Earle writes in the intro, As seas become stressed, the jellyfish are there, like an eagle to an injured lamb or golden staph to a postoperative patient – more than just a symptom of weakness, more like the angel of death.
Gershwin puts jellies in the greater perspective of the general ocean health, discussing at length how jellyfish blooms (population explosions) are the result of degraded ecosystems as well as the driver of further decline. So a large part of the book is spent explaining, in layperson’s language but with the fastidiousness of a researcher, how, exactly, jellies are able to take advantage of even the smallest anthropogenic perturbation, the fancy word for manmade disturbances. These include the usual culprits of ocean acidification and warming climates from our carbon waste, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, oil spills, leaching plastics, and radioactive material.
Read the full review here: Stung!
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Gloucester Fishing Throwback- 1983 Billy Brown and Richie Drew Aboard The Janie B
Photos from Tuffy
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Gloucester: A Community of Neighborhoods Quilt Project Featured at Inauguration 2014
Juni Van Dyke and her group of fiber artist’s “Gloucester: A Community of Neighborhoods” quilt project was displayed prominently at Gloucester City Hall for Inauguration 2014. The photos are of just some of the panels on display.
Each fabric panel measures approximately five-foot square and illustrates through iconic imagery characteristics unique to Gloucester neighborhoods. See previous GMG post to read more about “Gloucester: A Community of Neighborhoods” quilt project:
Simply Stunning Work in Progress
Detail of quilt in progress
Maggie Rosa’s extraordinary interpretation of the archetypical Beauport window. The window’s mullions frame a collection of antique glass in varying shades of lavender to deep grape.
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A tangerine sky
The sunsets are have been so amazing this season. Enjoy
Good Morning Gloucester 