My View of Life on the Dock
What a great time. What great people. Gloucester UK very similar to our Gloucester. Lots of texture. A bit gritty in all the right ways. From humble gin joints to posh dining and everything in between. Regular folk just like here. 🙂
Life on the marsh –
The Marsh Hawk (Northern Harrier) sitting in the grass off in the distance, was holding captive a bunny.
The bunny was staying still and the hawk was, surprisingly, not attempting to capture the rabbit. Perhaps because avian predators, like hawks, hunt by swooping in, and in a short distance stand-off, the hawk would have to sort of hop over to the bunny. Rabbits can hop to escape a great deal quicker than can hawks-on-foot give chase.
The Short-eared Owl arrives and the Marsh Hawk takes cover.
The Snowy Owl appears on the scene…
and the Short-eared Owls are nowhere to be seen.
The Bald Eagle, Ruler of Marsh and Meadow, swoops in. The Snowy departs. 
Why does this little rabbit look so different from the rabbits we see so often in our gardens, alongside roadsides, and in meadows and dunes? Because it is a New England Cottontail!
Massachusetts has two species of cottontails, the New England Cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) and the Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus). The introduced vegetable-and-flower-eating Eastern Cottontail has flourished, while this beautiful and illusive little creature’s numbers have dwindled to an alarmingly low number.
Prior to 1930, New England Cottontails were present in all 14 counties of Massachusetts and it was the only cottontail species appearing among 59 reports, except for 7 from Nantucket where Eastern Cottontails were introduced as early as the 1880s. Between 1924 and 1941, at least 16,200 Eastern Cottontails were imported from the mid-west and released. Another 4,600 were raised and released at a state propagation facility.
The most critical threat to New England Cottontails is loss of habitat. They can only survive in the ephemeral landscape of newly emerging forests, which provide low ground cover for shelter. Once a forest matures, the low growing plants become too sparse to offer food and shelter. Today the New England Cottontail resides in only about one fifth of its historic range.
The photo above of the New England Cottontail was taken at Gooseberry Island in Westport. He shot across the path on the way to the beach and wish I had a better photo to share, but now that I know to look for them there, I’ll try again.
You can compare the difference in the rabbit species in the two photos. The New England Cottontail’s (above photo) ears are shorter and his fur a bit grayer than the Eastern Cottontail (below). When I caught a glimpse of him I immediately recognized the rabbits we saw daily at my grandparent’s home, built in the dunes on a bluff on Cape Cod, where at that time, there were few homes and lots of cool scrubby habitat for wild creatures.
The ubiquitous Eastern Cottontail, Good Harbor Beach
Dwindling New England Cottontail Range Map.
As you can see, New England Cottontails have been completely extirpated from Cape Ann and Essex County.
Learn more about New England Cottontails here.
Furtive creatures that peer at you, while you are filming and photographing them!
While recording audio for my Monarch film at the same field over a several week period, occasionally I came upon a deer family. Not quick enough to get more than a fleeting snapshot however, these two deer were spotted peering at me while I waited in vain for their return, so that I could peer back at them!
Surprise Turkey-in-a-Tree Encounter
Ubiquitous bunny, abundantly present on every film shoot.
Chipmunk
The wrong end of the deer I’m most likely to capture.
Look what we uncovered while working at a client’s garden ~
https://instagram.com/p/3O-OLmDyhV/
Baby rabbits are called kits or kittens and these look like they are Eastern Cottontails, the most common and widespread species of rabbits in North America.
https://instagram.com/p/3O-r9qjyia/
In the future if I accidentally come upon a similar looking nest, I think I would leave it undisturbed. We were very startled by the sight of the baby wild rabbits after pulling away leaves and the downy soft “lid,” or protective covering, and they very nearly were almost raked!
https://instagram.com/p/3O9z4XDygZ/
Dagger like tongue. Way to Represent Rabbit, Way To Represent!
Six different origami rabbit designs I folded last night! Starting from the top center and going counter-clockwise, they are designed by Jacky Chan, Jun Maekawa, John Montroll, Robert Lang, Akira Yoshizawa, and… I’m not sure about the last one in the top right. I might some slight modifications to a very common origami rabbit design.
If I had a nickle for every time The Rabbit uttered the phrase “I am a prism” I probably could have paid for a couple extra nights in Playa.
Although the Easter Sunday has passed, in the church we are still celebrating – in fact, in the Catholic liturgical calendar, the Easter season lasts until May 27. Independent of that, Easter is still hanging around my room, in the form of lots of candy, fudge, and other sweets, being watched over my origami rabbit I folded according to a design by the Japanese origami artist Jun Maekewa.
If you want to try your hand at folding one of these rabbits, someone published an instructional video here.
You would think I might have been relaxed by looking at the first picture but due to my extreme fear of heights my heart was beating about a million beats per second.
Take a good look at that mellon on the Rabbit would you? It’s like Elvis went gay and had sex with bhudda and somehow this was the offspring that resulted. And not the young Elvis that all the young girls wet their panties over, the coked out peanut butter twinkie eating Elvis just before he croaked on the crapper.
I love you man.
Click Here For The Boston Derby Dame Slide Show From The Rabbit
So Far we have used Groupons from Lat 43, Hale Street Tavern, and a couple for Jalepenos. We bought some for Bisuteki and Zoots Dry Cleaners. If these joints want to give stuff away for half price and I go there anyway I ‘m gonna partake. Money in our pocket baby!
Click below for the deal.
The best Nachos anywhere and killer pulled pork sandwiches-
Nachos-
Rabbit I’m just telling you now that if you show up in a wet suit we will show no mercy in our ridicule of your pansy ass.
W will be meeting at Passports at 10:30AM if anyone wants to join us for a pre- plunge warm-up breakfast!
Here’s the list-
Friends of The Blog Who Said they Will Take The New Years Day Rocky Neck Plunge-
Joey
Nephew BJ (Beasley)
Paul Morrison (and his rubber ducky)
Patrick Ryan
Amanda Nash
Ed (I’m game for anything) Collard
Donna (I may be small but I can do anything) Ardizzoni
Eric Lorden
Everett Harlow
Lisa van Sand
Rabbit
Who Else?
Rocky Neck Plunge Info from Brenda Malloy-
Thought it may be a good idea to give people some directions on exactly where the beach is that The Rocky Neck Plunge takes place. It is called Oak Cove Beach at the end of Stevens Way, neither of which names are commonly known to most, even on Rocky Neck!
When one is driving down Rocky Neck and bears right at Sailor Stan’s restaurant, you take the first street on the left ‘Stevens Way’. This is a short street, 2 houses long, then you must go either right or left on Wonson St. If you were to continue straight you go down the gravel path ahead of you, this leads to Oak Cove Beach where the plunge takes place.
Hope to see a big crowd, one and all are welcome!
PEACE!
www.ImagineRockyNeck.com
Ironing Out The Details Of Sunny D and Folly Cove Rum Night at Dog Bar
Be sure to come by and say hi to the whole GMG crew Saturday night at Dog Bar
Godspeed Rabbit! Get home safe and don’t be afraid to call if you’re falling asleep on the ride home!
The Rabbit At Siesta Key beach, originally uploaded by captjoe06.
Safe travels home Rabbit!
One of my bestest buddies gets rushed to the hospital for dehydration after leaving it all on the table in Las Vegas. This in from the cell phone.
The Rabbit Blows A Paw, originally uploaded by captjoe06.
Good Morning Gloucester 