Category Archives: Essex County

Missing Our Little Plover Friends

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One of my favorite scenes from the past summer’s nesting season is this male Plover building a nest scrape.

The male lays on his breast, kicking sand backward to dig out a series of shallow scrapes. He’ll try to impress his mate by decorating their scrapes, tossing in tiny bits of seashells, pebbles, dried seaweed, whatever is readily available. In this case it was sticks, which was a first time for me seeing ‘stick decor.’ This little fellow and his mate valiantly tried numerous times to become established.

Sadly, while the Plover pair were attempting to nest, there were numerous disturbances from excessive drinking and partying on the beach, which leads to urinating in the their roped off areas. Not one, but two pairs, eventually gave up. Plovers giving up doesn’t happen very often. When they abandon their nests it points to one reason and one reason only. Disturbances. Happily though, our Super Mom and Super Dad were able to get an early start and successfully fledged two chicks.

Next year we have to work harder to find alternatives to massive underage drinking parties at Good Harbor Beach. The town of Dennis on Cape Cod has been experiencing similarly increasingly large and chaotic crowds and have taken action to reduce the underage drinking parties. Their solutions may not be our solutions, but I think we can do better to curtail the underage drinking at Good Harbor Beach. Not only will it help keep the teens safer and protect the Plovers, we won’t be stuck cleaning up the massive amounts of trash left behind that pollutes both our beach and dunes.

Good Harbor Beach after an underage drinking party

Killdeer Chicks – Four more Plover Beach Babies Getting Ready to Spread Their Wings

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Adorably long-legged Killdeer Plover fledgling, one of four Killdeer chicks that hatched at a Cape Ann beach this summer

One of the shorebirds often confused with Piping Plovers are Killdeers, which are another type of Plover that nests on beaches. Killdeers not only nest on beaches, they breed at a wide variety of habitats including grasslands and dunes. They have even been known to nest on rooftops, golf courses, and parking lots! If you see a Piping Plover and Killdeer near to each other, it’s easy to see the difference. Killdeers are noticeably larger and their mantle (upper back) feathers are chocolatey shades of brown, not  the soft tan of the Piping Plovers.

One way to tell whether Killdeer or Piping Plover when they are not side-by-side is to look at the collar bands. Piping Plovers have one; Killdeers have two– a wide band that encircles the neck and a shorter band across the upper front part of its chest. If you are close enough to see the eyes, the Killdeer’s pupil is black surrounded by a red iris , while both the iris and pupil of the PiPl is black. The Killdeers legs are pinkish gray, the Piping Plovers legs are orange. There are many other differences but this will get you started when comparing the two.

Killdeer adult and three chicks – note the double black bands, pinkish legs, red iris, and solid black bill.

Piping Plover adult (Super Mom) with singe collar band, light gray-tan mantle, black-tipped orange beak, and jet black eyesKilldeer chickPiping Plover chick

 

Listen to the Killdeer parents calling to the fledglings. Killdeers are thought to be named for their distinctive vocalizations. Kill-dee, kill-dee eventually became Killdeer. I think I prefer Killdee 🙂

Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay – the sweetest story around!

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Good Morning PiPl Friends!

We have wonderfully joyful news to share about our forthcoming film, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. I have started submitting to film festivals and we have already been accepted to three, notably for our community, the local upcoming Newburyport Film Festival!

Equally as exciting is that our film is in consideration for public television. Bringing the documentary to public television requires round two of fundraising. We are looking for Piping Plover Angel Sponsors and this is where your help is needed. We are hoping to connect with environmentally and wildlife conscious individuals, organizations, and corporations to sponsor our film. If you have any suggestions of an organization or individual that may be interested in underwriting The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, please contact me at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com. Our non-profit fiscal partner is Filmmakers Collaborative, which is a 501(c)(3). An individual’s or organization’s gift is tax deductible.

Underwriting a program on PBS provides an incredibly unique and trusted opportunity for promoting your organization. We have up to 60 seconds of promotional spots, which means over the three year period that the film airs on PBS, each and every time the film is played, at both the beginning and end of the film, your promotion will air. Based on the national success of Beauty on the Wing, we are confident The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay will also play to millions of households across the country. The carriage results for Beauty on the Wing are well-documented.  I am happy to provide all the information needed, including donor levels, budget, and more details about promoting your organization.

We are also planning a fundraising screening event! More about that in an upcoming post. And, if so inclined, here is a link to our on-line fundraiser. All fundraising from this point forward goes towards bringing the life story of the Piping Plover to the wide world of public television.

I would like to give a huge thank you to the Cape Ann Garden Club and to Suki Augusti for the recent very generous contributions to our film. Their contributions are going straight away toward our public television fundraiser. We are so appreciative for all the kind contributions from our community.

With gratitude to the following PiPl friends for their kind contributions – Lauren Mercadante (New Hampshire), Sally Jackson (Gloucester), Cape Ann Garden Club, Brace Cove Foundation (Gloucester), JH Foundation/Fifth Third Bank (Ohio), Jane Alexander (New York), Janis and John Bell (Gloucester), Jennie Meyer (Gloucester), Alice and David Gardner (Beverly), JoeAnn Hart (Gloucester), Kim Tieger (Manchester), Joanne Hurd (Gloucester), Holly Niperus (Phoenix), Bill Girolamo (Melrose), Claudia Bermudez (Gloucester), Paula and Alexa Niziak (Rockport), Todd Pover (Springfield), Cynthia Dunn (Gloucester), Nancy Mattern (Albuquerque), Marion Frost (Ipswich), Cecile Christianson (Peabody), Sally Jackson (Gloucester), Donna Poirier Connerty (Gloucester), Mary Rhinelander (Gloucester), Jane Hazzard (Georgetown), Duncan Holloman (Gloucester), Karen Blandino (Rockport), Duncan Todd (Lexington), Sue Winslow (Gloucester), Amy Hauck-Kalti (Ohio), JoAnn Souza (Newburyport), Karen Thompson (San Francisco), Carolyn Mostello (Rhode Island), Susan Pollack (Gloucester), Peggy O’Malley (Gloucester), Hilda Santos (Gloucester), Maggie Debbie (Gloucester), Sandy Barry (Gloucester), The Massachusetts Daughters of the American Revolution, Mary Keys (Madeira, Ohio), Barbara Boudreau (Gloucester), Suki Augusti, Jonathan and Sally Golding (Gloucester), and my sweet husband Tom 🙂 

              *    *    *

Although our film has been “locked” for a number of weeks, and will soon be playing at festivals, I have spent the past several months continuing to document Plovers nesting in our region. This summer was exceptionally magnificent at one very special location. Three pairs nested, with the nests situated in a row, across a very short expanse. The dynamics between the three pairs was fascinating and at times I held my breath hoping no one would be severely injured in the Plover rumbles that took place on an almost daily basis. The truly exceptional news is that Pair One laid three eggs and three chicks fledged, Pair Two laid four eggs and four chicks fledged, and Pair Three laid three eggs and three chicks are well on their way to full fledgedom. It has been a remarkable experience documenting these three families.

The pair whose chicks are nearly fully fledged astounded me the most. In nine years of filming and documenting Plovers, I have never seen a nest so completely and utterly exposed, smack dab in the middle of a busy urban beach. Oftentimes, a nest will be tucked behind a clump of beach grass or Sea Rocket, a piece of driftwood, or a seashell; I have even filmed garbage used as camouflage. While incubating the eggs, the parents often toss in dried beach grass, tiny stones, and bits of broken seashells, but this nest contained none of that. Just three little eggs in the bare sand.

Every time I checked on Pair Three’s nest, there was either Mom or Dad flattened in the sand and hardly noticeable. Incredibly, this is a location that has been severely plagued with predation by Crows. Thankfully, the Crows were not onto this little nest, nor the other two nests.

Hours old hatchlings from the most vulnerable of locations-

 

 

Wiggly Worms for Breakfast and Other Wonderments

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So many wonderful wildlife happenings at this time of year! Caterpillars hatching and growing, songbird and shorebird fledglings learning to forage and to fly, young herons studying the ways of fish and frogs, early migrants beginning their southward journey – I have a huge backlog of wildlife stories/photos/footage to share from pond and sea and will start with this one –

I believe this may be our ‘Rainbow’ House Finch from last autumn. Notice he sports not only red feathers, but also yellow and orange. Read more here about the reasons for the yellow and orange pigments here: https://kimsmithdesigns.com/2023/11/20/yellow-orange-rainbow-house-finch/

 

SPROUTS!

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I hope you can get a sense of scale and vulnerability of these tiniest of beach babies. They are navigating the beach within hours after hatching and even the most aware may inadvertently collide. Please give them lots of space <3

The chicks in the first batch of photos are all less than a week old. The above chick is about three weeks old. My how they grow so quickly (the Sea Rocket, too)!

Super Mom Taking Care of Business!

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Good Morning PiPl Friends,

I hope you are managing to stay cool wherever you live. Looking at the glass half full, several plusses to this very heated summer are that the butterflies  of summer thrive in the warmth (as long as there are flowers to nectar from), and we are seeing many shorebird chicks have already fledged and departed their ‘home bases.’ The fledglings may either be getting an early start migrating or are staging at locations nearby. The maiden voyage of the fledglings is the most dangerous and we wish them all safe travels.

Earlier in the season, I filmed a fascinating sequence. As I was coming onto the beach, from some distance, I could see Super Mom had something much larger than usual in her beak. I was so far away I couldn’t tell what it was but she was shaking it like mad. I began filming and soon realized it was an eggshell. She was trying with all her mini might to break the shell into smaller bits. She managed to somewhat, then put the eggshell in her mouth and flew off with it, discarding the eggshell some distance away at the flats.

We know shorebirds remove the eggshells from the nest, but I had never seen a Plover try to smash it up. Several weeks later, I knew what to look for and saw a second Plover at another location do the same thing. Eggshells left in the nest signal to crows and gulls a hatchling meal and Plovers are very diligent about removing the shells, often within seconds of a chick hatching.

Our Super Mom is such a great Mom. All Plover families are not equal in parenting skills. Some pairs are just plain new at the job, some never really develop good communication with their chicks, and others appear to let their chicks wander too far away. But not our Super Mom and Super Dad; this is their ninth year nesting at GHB and they are truly exceptional parents.

Happy Summer!

xxKim

 

Mama Monarchs!

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Have you noticed how lush our gardens are this year? Perhaps it’s because we never had a sudden deep, deep freeze this past winter but whatever the reason, the blossoms and growth of flowering and fruiting trees, hydrangeas, roses, lilacs, milkweed, and butterfly bushes (to name a few) haven’t looked this grand in a number of years. And our wildflower meadows are also simply spectacular with blossoms. For the past month while looking after the Plovers, we have been delighted with the rich honey-hay smell wafting down to the beach from the Common Milkweed blooming widely across the dunes.

We’ve had a bunch of Mama Monarchs flitting through our milkweed patches and ovipositing a treasure trove of golden drops over the past several weeks. She gently curls her abdomen, ovipositing one egg at a time, while simultaneously, each egg attaches with a quick drying sticky glue. I was showing a friend how to look for the eggs and she was amazed at how teeny they are. Only about the size of a pinhead, we most often find them on the tender new growth emerging in the center of the plant or on the leaves more towards the top of the plant. Wild Monarchs deposit one egg at a time. You can see in the pairs of photos the egg she deposited after carefully inspecting each leaf.

Monarchs held in captivity in breeding cages and tents are observed dumping quantities of eggs in large clusters (not one at a time) on milkweed plants as they are not free to travel around to investigate foliage. This is one reason why Monarch diseases are on the rise. Captive reared Lepidoptera also diminish genetic diversity, weakening a species. If you would like to raise Monarchs, it is highly recommended by organizations such as Monarch Watch and The Xerces Society to raise in small batches, only ten or so at a time, from eggs collected in your garden, not purchased over the internet and from butterfly farms.

Carolina Wren- Our New House Guests!

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We are sooooo delighted to have a pair of Carolina Wrens nesting on our porch!

I believe this is the pair’s second brood. While we watched in June as they fed their lively and very hungry fledglings, they were rebuilding a nest left over from the House Finches.

Re-building is not exactly accurate. After our resident House Finch pair fledges their first brood, my husband usually takes down the remains and cleans up the corner in the eaves. He didn’t do that this year after the Finches fledged. The Carolina Wrens built their nest right on top of the Finch nest. It’s very deep and you can’t see the nesting bird or the eggs unless you look at it from above. Tom stood on a ladder with his phone camera held way over head to try to get an egg count. There appear to be three, possibly four eggs.

We have Carolina Wrens all year round in our garden but this is the first year they have built a nest on our porch. So excited for babies!!

 

Plover Lover Cape Ann Tees are IN at Alexandra’s Bread

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Hello PiPl Friends! Our new tees have arrived just in time for the Block Party. And we’ve added Plover Lover and Cape Ann. I had wanted to include text from the beginning but just couldn’t find the right font. This is a relatively new font added to Adobe called “Adventures Unlimited.” I like it so much that I designed our forthcoming film’s title using it. Please tell me what you think.

We also have brand new 3 inch round decals. They are the perfect size for your laptop or water bottle. Many thanks to the designer at Seaside Graphics, Samantha, for thinking of round decals with the top of the heart cut around.

The tees are available at Alexandra’s Bread at 265 Main Street in Gloucester. We have small, medium, large, and Xlarge. If you don’t see your size at Alexandra’s, we have a few more of each size in stock. If you are planning to do one stop shopping and purchasing some of their wonderfully delicious French bread, cookies, olive bread, and cranberry scones, go early as they sell out later in the day. Many, many thanks to Alexandra and Jon for their generosity in distributing our tees and stickers!

Beautiful Black Swallowtails!

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These newly emerged Black Swallowtail Butterflies in our garden are both females. You can easily see the difference between Black Swallowtail males and females.

The females have a great deal more of the sparkly blue iridescent wing scales, while the males have many more yellow spots.

 

Female Black Swallowtails

Male Black Swallowtail

Charlotte discovered the caterpillars on fennel plants at Cedar Rock Gardens. Black Swallowtail females deposit their eggs on members of the Carrot Family including dill, fennel, parsley, Queen Anne’s Lace, and parsnips.

The Good Harbor Beach Piping Plovers July Update

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Dear Piping Plover Friends,

I hope you had an enjoyable extended Fourth of July weekend! Like many of us, I feel we who live on Cape Ann are so very blessed, not only for our fantastic community sharing in celebrations like St. Peter’s Fiesta and Independence Day, but also for the natural beauty that surrounds us, which in turn attracts a bevy of beautiful wild creatures to our shores and wild spaces.

Super Mom and Dad arrived from their wintering grounds in early spring

Nine years ago a pair of Piping Plovers began calling Good Harbor Beach home. There is so much good that this intrepid little duo has brought to our community. People have come together to help protect the birds and the community has become more educated about nesting shorebirds. Equally as exciting is the growing awareness of the connection between conserving habitats and wildlife. For decades our dunes have been ravished by storms and a lack of basic protections. Because a narrow corridor that runs the length of the beach was roped off for Plovers, it has largely kept people from recreating close to the dune’s edge. Creating this corridor has allowed beach vegetation to take hold. The areas of the beach that have been consistently roped off for the past eight years are clearly the healthiest.

A vital new habitat has developed in the area of the dunes that has been roped off consistently for eight years.The above area has only this year begun to be roped off. Notice how ravaged is the edge of the dune. That is what the edge of the dunes looked like along the length of the entire beach prior to creating protective corridors. You can see that one of the first plants to begin to take hold is Sea Rocket. The same exact sequence of revegetation happened in the area depicted in the first photo – Sea Rocket, followed by beach grass.

It is one of our greatest hopes that the City will continue to leave the roping in place year round. There is a tiny, and fortunately, diminishing, minority of sour anti-Plover/anti-conservation types however, no matter how one feels about making space for Plovers, it is undeniable that by creating protective corridors, the dunes have never looked as lush and as healthy as they do today. I urge you to go and see for yourself!

Additionally, roping off the areas for the Plovers has had zero economic impact on beach attendance. As a matter of fact, since the Blinkay system was implemented, beach revenue has gone up in the past few years.

We have a wonderfully dedicated crew of Ambassadors hourly monitoring the Plovers and educating beachgoers about the presence of Plovers. I’d like to give a heartfelt thanks to Deborah Brown, Jennie Meyer, Jill Ortiz, Paula and Alexa Niziak, Barbara Boudreau, and our newest Ambassadors, Kim Bouris and Sandy Barry. If you see them around town, please thank them for their hours and hours of dedication to our teeniest neighbors.

Last year, the City hired Mass Audubon to oversee Plover monitoring. The Audubon team is phenomenal -so well-educated, enthusiastic, conscientious, and kind. I can’t say enough good things about Lyra Brennan, Malarie Markowitz, and the entire Audubon crew! The Gloucester DPW has been a tremendous partner as well. The DPW did an outstanding job installing the roped off corridor last spring, not once, but twice, as the first installation was destroyed by a late season storm. We are so fortunate to all be working together for Plover protections, from sunup to sunrise!

Chrisotpher Cefalo, retired USMC, Good Harbor Beach

I was remiss when I originally published this post becauseI failed to mention Christopher Cefalo. In every kind of weather, daily he collects trash from the beach; some days there is more than others and I have seen him walk away with several bagfuls. He cleans up everything, large and small however, he specifically focuses on bits of plastics, the tiny pieces that get caught in the wrack that is especially harmful to wildlife. Chris loves Good Harbor Beach and it is largely because of his dedication that the beach looks well cared for when beachgoers begin arriving after 9am. He also keeps an eye out for the Plovers!

Gloucester’s DW Crew Mike Tarantino and Tyler Curtis

Not all monitoring of Plovers is successful (I’ll write more about that in a future post); we did want to share though the joyful news that our Super Mom and Super Dad have fledged two healthy chubby little chicks. We are so proud of Mom and Dad. No matter what curveballs life throws their way, the pair continue to be phenomenal parents!

From a nest of four eggs, one chick did not survive the very first night. A second chick was lost about a week later. The two remaining chicks thrived and grew to fly. We have lots of wonderful stories to share about their adventures 🙂

The maiden voyage of the Plovers is the most dangerous. We wish our tiny tender fledglings safe travels.

I’ll be posting more about Plovers in the coming weeks. Our Plover documentary is progressing beautifully (updates about that soon,) and I am dropping off new Plover tees and stickers this week at Alexandra’s Bread. 

Warmest wishes,

KimOne-day-old Piping Plover Chicks

July Fourth Panoramas from Good Harbor Beach

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As I was leaving the beach early this morning after my ‘Plover Patrol’ shift, the beach was already filling up with families setting up their tents for a full day of fun. Happy Independence Day!Click on panoramas to embiggen.

FRIENDS AND FAMILY PHOTOS FROM ST. PETER’S SUNDAY PROCESSION AND MASS

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Oh Happy Day! What a beautiful mass and procession in celebration of Saint Peter. 

As always, all images from Fiesta are free for individuals. Please email me at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com if you would like to print.

Viva San Pietro and Buona Festa <3

Scenes from Men’s Seine Boat Competition

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Congratulations to seine boat crew ZFG and Coach Paul Giacalone for a hard fought victory!

ZFG crew Gilbert Brown, Jerry Ciaramitaro, Mike Harmon, Pete Mondello, Jared Morris, Kellen O’Maley, JJ Palazzola, Alex Rodolosi, Peter Taormina, Sam Taormina, and Vincenzo Terranova

Sunday Greasy Pole Walker Steve LeBlanc “Unretires!”

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 Steve LeBlanc returns to the Greasy Pole for a stellar walk!

DEREK HOPKINS 6 TIME GREASY POLE CHAMP VIDEO AND SLIDESHOW

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CATHERINE FRONTIERO SUNDAY GREASY POLE WALKER VIDEO

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Catherine Frontiero, first time Greasy Pole Walker, had a great walk across the pole in the first round of competition. Congratulations Catherine!

DEREK HOPKINS YOUR SUNDAY GREASY POLE CHAMPION

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Congratulations to Derek Hopkins and the Hopkins Family! Derek is now a six time Greasy Pole Champion. Video to follow tomorrow  🙂 🙂

Favorite Scenes from St. Peter’s Fiesta Opening Ceremony

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TYLER PARISI YOUR SATURDAY GREASY POLE CHAMPION

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Despite the cold and windy rain, the Walkers persevered. Tyler Parisi, 20th in line, gave a fantastic walk in the fourth round. Congratulations to Tyler!

YUMMMMM Caffe Sicilia Cake!

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Caffe Sicilia’s wonderfully delicious cake is much beloved 🙂

Favorite Scenes from St. Peter’s Novena and Procession to Beach Court

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The best part of Fiesta is many generations sharing traditions and having a joyful time together <3

Buona Festa!

 

Last Night of Novena to St. Peter

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Tonight’s Novena begins at 6Pm <3

Check-Out Northshore Magazine’s Fiesta Article, Featuring Interviews with Tom Favazza, Laura Ventimiglia, and Joe Novello

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The June/July issue of Northshore Magazine features an article about Fiesta. Written by Gloucester author Sarah Shemkus, extensive background information is provided by Laura Ventimiglia, Joe Novello, and Tom Favazza, with photos provided by Joel Laino, Tom Favazza, and myself.

Northshore Magazine is available to purchase at most CVS and Walgreens on the North Shore. In Gloucester, the current stock is as follows –

• Shaw’s Supermarket at 127 Eastern Ave, Gloucester, MA 01930 with 18 copies available

• Stop & Shop at 6 Thatcher Rd, Gloucester, MA 01930 with 26 copies available

• Walgreens at 201 Main St, Gloucester, MA 01930 with 5 copies available

• Walgreens at 127-135 Eastern Ave, Gloucester, MA 01930 with 6 copies available

You can also subscribe and purchase single copies at the link here.

TREMENDOUS THANK YOU TO THE FIESTA NOVENA LADIES COMMITTEE!

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The beautiful and talented Novena ladies have worked so hard hosting the nine days of prayers to St. Peter. Their grace and welcoming ways toward all who come make the event a joy to attend. Thank you!

The Novena to St. Peter continues through Tuesday evening and begins at 7pm. On Tuesday evening, the Novena begins at 6pm. All are welcome.

Left to right: Grace Cusumano, Caryn Ryder, Anne Sanfillippo, Jean Linquata, Nina Groppo, Faye Quinlan

Imagine – each piece of confetti on the altar stage backdrop was hand glued!