My View of Life on the Dock
Wild sea and atmospheric light made for some dramatic scenes this morning.
Thank you Community for seeing the wisdom in these changes and for giving voice to these tiny endangered birds.
Last night’s Council vote a was win for our Good Harbor Beach Piping Plovers and a win for all the citizens of Gloucester. There was a tremendous turnout by the Piping Plover volunteers and friends, as well as an impressive number of letters written to the Councilors in favor of the changes to the ordinance. The combination of the two spoke volumes and definitely tipped the scales in favor of the Plovers.
Read more here:
EXCITING AND IMPACTFUL NEWS FOR OUR GOOD HARBOR BEACH PIPING PLOVERS
WHAT EXACTLY ARE THE CHANGES TO THE ANIMAL ORDINANCES CITY COUNCIL VOTED ON LAST NIGHT?
Dogs shall be prohibited from Good Harbor Beach from 4/1 -9/30. Off leash remains on even days of month during season.
Dogs prohibited from Wingarsheek from 5/1 – 9/30 (no amendments to this) Off leash remains on odd days during season.
Sunset clause unless renewed or made permanent by the CC and signed by the Mayor, the provisions of this section shall expire on 12/31/19
Fines of $300 per violation will be double in season for beaches and other off leash areas as determined
Feeding or disturbing wildlife violation shall be subject to a $300 fine per incident/violation
Feeding coyotes directly or indirectly on any public or private property violations shall be subject a $300 fine per incident/violation
Endangered/threatened wildlife buffer zone- buffer zone of 50 feet around an area will be established around an area designated for wildlife. Prohibited activities in the buffer zone include whiffle ball, frisbee, soccer, volleyball, paddle ball, kites, inflatable balls, and any other activities that involve objects that can fly or roll into the restricted area. Violation shall be subject to a $300 fine per incident/violation.
No person shall throw, drop, release or otherwise dispose of directly or indirectly into any Harbor, River, or pond or on any beach or any public property garbage, refuse, rubbish, bottles, cans, containers, paper, cigarette butts, balloons, wrapping material, glass, filth or any noxious or dangerous liquid or solid. Violation shall be subject to a $300 fine per incident/violation.
This ordinance becomes effective 31 days from passage.
Poster by Meadow Anderson
GLOUCESTER’S PIPING PLOVERS NEED YOUR HELP TUESDAY NIGHT
HOW DO GLOUCESTER’S DOGS ON BEACHES ORDINANCES COMPARE TO OTHER NORTH SHORE COMMUNITIES
LIST OF ARTICLES AND LINKS THAT EXPLAIN HOW DOG DISRUPTIONS HARM PIPING PLOVERS
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) prohibits dogs on beaches from April 1st to September 30th
Piping Plover nest in the Good Harbor Beach parking lot.
Even on a cold day, the beach at Good Harbor is very relaxing.
Pat writes:
Joey:
We read with interest Kim Smith’s posting of the visiting Harp Seal on Good Morning Gloucester, Saturday evening. Anne-Lise and I had the good fortune of visiting the southernmost breeding area on her map, the pack ice in the outer Gulf of St. Lawrence. The birthing to weaning period is just 3 weeks annually at the end of February and beginning of March. We flew out by helicopter from Les Iles de la Madeleine, and – yes – we followed the strict instructions of our naturalist. We topped off the experience with some dogsledding to wind down.
Best, Pat Morss
Very late in the afternoon, just as the sun was setting, the juvenile Harp Seal attempted to head back to sea. He began to scooch and wriggle toward the creek, pausing often to scratch and roll around in the sand. At one point he reversed direction and started back toward the dunes.
Just like Harbor Seals, Harp Seals have a tail, too.
After a few more false starts he made his way to the water. Before sliding in, he paused at the water’s edge to drink.
Nearly dead low tide, the water was not deep enough to swim. It was painful to watch him splash and undulate along on his belly in the shallows. He seemed to tire quickly and was very undecided about what to do next. We watched as the young seal made his way slowly around a sharp bend in the creek, then held our breaths as he made it all the way to the foot bridge.
But then he suddenly stopped, turned around, and swam back down the creek, nearly the whole length of the creek from where he had come. The young seal seemed confused and it was heartbreaking to see. When I left at sundown he was on the flats in the creek.
Good Harbor Beach resident and Piping Plover monitor Sue W. reports that he is still there at 7:15. We’re hoping he makes it out at low tide, which is at 10:11 tonight.
The young Harp Seal appeared very tired when I left the beach at around 5:30.
Many, many thanks to Jane Goodwin, neighbor and Good Morning Gloucester reader, for alerting us to the Harp Seal.
For turtle, seal, and all mammal strandings, please call NOAA at 866.755.6622. Thank you!
Update to the Update
I checked on the little guy at 5:30 this morning on my way out of town to photograph and didn’t see any sign of him, but it was pitch black. I checked again on my way home, around 11am, still no sign, and there did not appear to be any signs of a skirmish with a coyote. The tide was high and the water was up to the top of the creek bed. It would have been much easier for him to slip into the water last night and head back out to sea.
In response to Facebook comments that the location of the seal should not have been posted publicly: The initial post was shared in the evening, after dark, and would not have been posted if people had not been behaving thoughtfully and kindly toward the seal. I believe it is important for adults and children to share the shore with wildlife, to love and respect a wild creature’s boundaries, not hide the whereabouts of the animal. There are exceptions in the case of at risk endangered and threatened species. ❤
A beautiful young Harp Seal spent the better part of the day hauled out between the bank of the Good Harbor Beach creek and the dunes. The seal appeared in good health and was seen resting, stretching, scooching, and sunning. Beach walkers and dog walkers were respectful and kept a safe distance.
Ainsley Smith from NOAA was on the job letting folks know that the seal was okay and that this is perfectly normal seal behavior. Thanks so much to Ainsley and to all the beachgoers today who kept their distance from the Harp Seal. For turtle, seal, and all mammal strandings, please call NOAA at 866.755.6622. Thank you!
I’ve been checking on him periodically throughout the afternoon and will let you know when he makes it back to the water. I hope soon because we know coyotes scavenge the beach at night.
Harp Seals are born during the late winter months in the Arctic. They are born with a lanugo, an extra thick fluffy white coat that keeps them warm on the Arctic ice. During each stage of development, the Harp Seal’s coat has a different appearance. Juveniles have a white coat with widely spaced spots. Every year, the spots move closer together during molting. By the time the Harp Seal reaches adulthood, the coat is silvery gray with a black saddle mark on the back and a black face. See the photo below of a baby and Mom Harp Seal.
Photo Courtesy National Geographic Kids
Harp Seal Breeding Grounds
It’s not something I see often on a cold January walk. Long before you reach the waters edge, from the road, out the window, across the marsh, colorful kiteboarding sails crisscross the horizon. What a visual treat and fun spectator sport. Treat yourself- go see!
It’s not something I see often on a cold January walk. Long before you reach the waters edge, from the road, out the window, across the marsh, colorful kiteboarding sails crisscross the horizon. What a visual treat and fun spectator sport. Treat yourself- go see!
Snapshots from a brief tour around the back shore while out doing errands this afternoon. With temperatures hovering at 5 degrees, Cape Ann was blanketed with a thick layer of impenetrable ice, snow squalls, and sea smoke.
Happy to see the temperatures are heading towards the forties after Tuesday!
A crazy person surfing at GHB 🙂
Gloucester, Massachusetts – So this is morning high tide 10AM
Scenes from Gloucester, MA, January 20, 2019, about 6:30AM and 35 degrees.
Fisherman at the Wheel memorial, Stacy Boulevard,
Three hours till high tide and surf is not placid
Winter storm prep at the High School. It’s easy to see why it’s going to be icy
Snow if you can still get some is perfect for snow cream!
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.
Fledged chick
Cape Ann Museum
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
FILMING WITH THE BBC FOR THE MONARCHS!
Good Morning Gloucester 