Lovely long weekend with my family, cooking great dinners and long beach walks. Oh how I’ll miss my daughter when she returns to Santa Monica. All photos Liv Hauck
Tag: Charlotte
WILDLY WINDY GLOUCESTER AFTER STORM
MORE SNAPSHOTS OF THE BEAUTIFUL SHORT-EARED OWL, SNOWY OWL, TENDERCROP FARM, AND IPSWICH CLAMBAKE
Charlotte and I had a wonderful adventure morning checking on the owls at Plum Island. We observed several Harrier Hawks flying low over the marsh grass hunting for prey, a Short-eared Owl perched on a craggy tree, and a Snowy parked for the morning far out in the dunes. We played on the beach and she had a blast zooming up and down the boardwalk at lot no.2.
Tiny white wedge in the distance
We next stopped at the refuge headquarters to play in the marsh boat that is part of the exhibit about the Great Salt Marsh. She brought along her own stuffed Snowy to join on the boat ride.
Next destination was a visit to see the farm friends at Tendercrop Farm. Currently in residence are a turkey, ginormous steer, pony, chickens, ducks, llama, and the sweetest miniature goat who is just wonderful with toddlers.
I purchased the best steaks we have ever had, Tendercrop’s own grass fed rib-eye, made even more magnificent cooked to perfection by Alex, with a beautiful red wine demi-glace.
Everything at Tendercrop Farm is always amazingly delicious. They have the freshest and best selection of fruits and vegetables during the winter months, bar none.
Great bunches of freshly cut pussy willows are for sale at Tendercrop
Last stop was lunch at the Ipswich Clambake. The owners and staff are just the most friendly. The clam chowder at the Clambake is perfection. Charlotte and I shared a mini super fresh fried clam appetizer and that, along with the chowder, made the best sort of lunch to top off our fun adventure morning.
Tendercrop Farm is located at 108 High Road, 1A, in Newbury.
Ipswich Clambake is located at 196 High Street, 1A, in Ipswich.
POTTY SEAT AS SPACE HELMUT
NO EATING YELLOW SNOW
First taste of snow, with some pointers 🙂
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5u0FTJHVEh/
#SNOWYDAYGIRL #GLOUCESTERMA – THE AGE OF WONDER
BANTRY BAY’S DAN MURPHY AND ROB PORTER LAND A WICKED BIG TUNA!
HEARTS IN THE SAND
CEDAR ROCK GARDENS, WOLF HILL, AND MARSHALL’S FARM STAND ARE FULLY STOCKED AND READY FOR MOTHER’S DAY!
While out and about organizing jobs for my landscape design clients with my newest assistant Charlotte, we were planning to take more photos, but it was too dreary. Believe me when I write, all three of our fantastic local nurseries are bursting with beautiful plants and garden ornaments that would make wonderful gifts for Moms, and all the special ladies in your life. The weather forecast for tomorrow is mostly sunny and mid-fifties, perfect weather for plant shopping.
New assistant, Charlotte, and best mother’s helper, our Radio Flyer COLLAPSIBLE wagon!
Mother’s Day Weekend Hours
Cedar Rock Gardens
Saturday 8am to 4pm
Sunday 9am to 3pm
Wolf Hill
Saturday 8am to 6pm
Sunday 9am to 4pm
Marshall’s Farm Stand
Saturday and Sunday 9am to 6pm
When at Marshall’s Farm Stand, stop in to say hi to Angie’s Alpacas, Perry the Peacock, horses, goats, geese, and ducks. Kids are welcome!
GOLDEN PUDDLES
GRAND SUPER SNOW MOONRISE AND MOONSET OVER GLOUCESTER
Last night’s moonrise over the Back Shore was spectacular. Click on the sequence above to see full size. I don’t know why the Moon has a “neck” in the middle photo, or what that reflective appearance is termed, but it was so interesting to see.
February’s Snow Moon was also a Super Moon. It was the the second of a trio of Super Moons taking place in 2019. The Super Snow Moon was also the largest of the three (closest to Earth). The third and final Super Moon of the year is taking place on March 21st.
Our Charlotte loves looking at the Moon, so when she popped up in bed at 5:30 in the morning and exclaimed Moon!, I bundled her up and off we went to see the Moon setting over the Harbor. I wrote last month that she loves looking up in the sky for the Moon, largely from reading her the story book Good Night, Moon, and now we are reading Buenos Noches, Luna, practicing for an upcoming trip to Mexico.
NASA: When a full moon appears at perigee (its closest point to Earth), it is slightly brighter and larger than a regular full moon—and that’s where we get a ‘supermoon.’ The phrase was coined in 1979.
OUR FUNNY VALENTINE
GLOUCESTER GIRL AT THE WHEEL
The Cape Ann Museum has a wonderful children’s activity room, perfect for a winter day when its too cold to go to the park. Come on by and enjoy!
Caffe Sicilia is super family friendly, too, with friendly faces, yummy treats, and spacious seating. Charlotte had her first bites of cannoli, and of course, she loved it!
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ICE SAILING UNDER THE WOLF MOON
Lovely to see ice sailing at Niles Pond under the twilit January Wolf Moon last week. The sun was setting while the not-quite-full moon had risen early.
Ice Sailing at Niles Pond
I took Charlotte out Friday at dusk to look for the moon and we found it at Niles Pond, along with hockey players and ice sailors. We can thank her favorite storybook Good Night, Moon for her lunar passion.
CAPE ANN WILDLIFE 2018: A YEAR IN PICTURES AND STORIES Part Three: Summer
Go here to read Part One: Winter
Go here to read Part Two: Spring
PART THREE: SUMMER
The most joyous story about Cape Ann wildlife during the summer months of 2018 is the story of the high number of Monarch butterflies and caterpillars in gardens and meadows, seen not only in strong numbers along the Massachusetts coastline, but throughout the butterfly’s breeding range–all around New England, the Great Lakes region, Midwest, and Southern Canada.
Three days after celebrating the two week milestone of our one remaining Piping Plover chick, Little Pip, he disappeared from Good Harbor Beach. It was clear there had been a bonfire in the Plover’s nesting area, and the area was overrun with dog and human tracks. The chick’s death was heartbreaking to all who had cared so tenderly, and so vigilantly, for all those many weeks.
Our Mama and Papa were driven off the beach and forced to build a nest in the parking lot because of dogs running through the nesting area. Despite these terrible odds, the Good Harbor Beach Piping Plover pair hatched four adorable, healthy chicks, in the parking lot. Without the help of Gloucester’s DPW, the Piping Plover volunteer monitors, Ken Whittaker, Greenbelt’s Dave Rimmer, and the AAC, the parking lot nest would have been destroyed.
These brave little birds are incredibly resilient, but as we have learned over the past three years, they need our help to survive. It has been shown time and time again throughout the Commonwealth (and wherever chicks are fledging), that when communities come together to monitor the Piping Plovers, educate beach goers, put in place common sense pet ordinances, and reduce trash, the PiPl have at least a fighting chance to survive.
Little Pip at twelve- through seventeen-days-old
All four chicks were killed either by crows, gulls, dogs, or uneducated beach goers, and in each instance, these human-created issues can be remedied. Ignoring, disregarding, dismissing, or diminishing the following Piping Plover volunteer monitor recommendations for the upcoming 2019 shorebird season at Good Harbor Beach will most assuredly result in the deaths of more Piping Plover chicks.
Piping Plover chick testing its wings.
Not one, but at least two, healthy and very hungry North American River Otters families are dwelling at local ponds, with a total of seven kits spotted. We can thank the fact that our waterways are much cleaner, which has led to the re-establishment of Beavers, and they in turn have created ideal habitat in which these beautiful, social mammals can thrive.
Several species of herons are breeding on our fresh water ponds and the smaller islands off the Cape Ann coastline. By midsummer, the adults and juveniles are seen wading and feeding heartily at nearly every body of water of the main island.
In order to better understand and learn how and why other Massachusetts coastal communities are so much more successful at fledging chicks than is Gloucester, I spent many hours studying and following Piping Plover families with chicks at several north of Boston beaches.
In my travels, I watched Least Terns (also a threatened species) mating and courting, then a week later, discovered a singular nest with two Least Tern eggs and began following this little family, too.
Least Tern Family Life Cycle
Maine had a banner year fledging chicks, as did Cranes Beach, locally. Most exciting of all, we learned at the Massachusetts Coastal Waterbird meeting that Massachusetts is at the fore of Piping Plover recovery, and our state has had the greatest success of all in fledging chicks! This is a wonderful testament to Massachusetts Piping Plover conservation programs and the partnerships between volunteers, DCR, Mass Wildlife, the Trustees, Greenbelt, Audubon, and US Fish and Wildlife.
Monarch Madness
Friends Jan Crandall and Patti Papows allowed me to raid their gardens for caterpillars for our Cape Ann Museum Kids Saturday. The Museum staff was tremendously helpful and we had a wonderfully interested audience of both kids and adults!
In August I was contacted by the BBC and asked to help write the story about Monarchs in New England for the TV show “Autumnwatch: New England,. Through the course of writing, the producers asked if I would like to be interviewed and if footage from my forthcoming film, Beauty on the Wing, could be borrowed for the show. We filmed the episode at my friend Patti’s beautiful habitat garden in East Gloucester on the drizzliest of days, which was also the last day of summer.
Happy Two-week Birthday to Our Little Pip
Common Eider Ducklings at Captain Joes
Little Pip Zing Zanging Around the Beach
Piping Plover Update – Where Are They Now?
42 Pairs of Piping Plovers Nesting at Cranes Beach!
Welcome to Good Harbor Beach Mama Hummingbird!
Least Tern One Day Old Chicks!
Welcome to the Mary Prentiss Inn Pollinator Paradise
Piping Plover Symbolic Fencing Recomendations
Good Morning! Brought to You By Great Blue Herons Strolling on the Beach
OUTSTANDING COASTAL WATERBIRD CONSERVATION COOPERATORS MEETING!
Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Grow Native Buttonbush for the Pollinators
A Fine Froggy Lunch for a Little Blue Heron
Snowy Owls in Massachusetts in August!?!
Monarch Butterfly Eggs and Caterpillars Alert
Snapshots from Patti Papows Magical Butterfly Garden
Keep Those Monarch Babies Coming!
A Chittering, Chattering, Chetamnon Chipmunk Good Morning to You, Too!
Butterflies and Bird Pooh, Say What?
Thank You To Courtney Richardson and the Cape Ann Museum Kids
A Banner Year for Maine’s Piping Plovers
Snowy Egret Synchronized Bathing
Good Harbor Beach Super High Tide
Otter Kit Steals Frog From Mom
Monarch Butterfly Ovipositing Egg on Marsh Milkweed: NINETEEN SIBLINGS READYING TO EMERGE
LIV AND CHARLOTTE AT THE LOBSTER TRAP TREE
Whenever at the Lobster Trap Tree to take a photo or passing by, there is a steady stream of people–families, couples, and groups of friends–stopping to pose and take snapshots. It’s a Gloucester thing for sure!
The tree will be up most likely though the end of January. David Brooks shares that the time of dismantling is weather dependent however, the BIG BUOY PARTY FAMILY FUN NIGHT is Friday January 25th, so don’t wait too long to take a photo at Gloucester’s beautiful (and the World’s Best) Lobster Trap Tree.
WONDER-FILLED
WINTER’S COLD MOON
SHADES OF THINGS TO COME
GOOD HARBOR BEACH SUPER HIGH TIDE
I had an unexpected extra afternoon off with Charlotte so we decided to check out today’s high tide and waves at Good Harbor Beach. In some areas, the tide came up all the way to the edge of the bluff. The waves weren’t high, but the undertow was super, super strong, nonetheless, folks were swimming and surfing in the surprisingly warm water.
You can see in the above photo how high was the tide today.
Sand taste-testing
Ssshhhing nobody but me, then time for a quick catnap
See you again soon beach!