Category Archives: Life at the Edge of the Sea

Surprise Visit from Tinkletoes!

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Look who came indoors with the nor’easter! A sweet Spring Peeper, also known as Tinkletoes. You can see in the video why they are nicknamed after their super grippy, super power.

We know of Spring Peepers for the male’s rhythmic calls, filling the late winter landscape with a welcome chorus of song. Their wetland melodies lend the Peepers their second nickname, that of Pinkletinks.

Like tree frogs, Spring Peepers have large pads on the tips of their toes that secretes mucus. The mucus enables them to grip surfaces as they are moving about in vegetation.

Only an inch or so in length, these minuscule frogs nonetheless survive extremely cold temperatures handily because of a special fluid they produce called cryoprotectants. Similar to to antifreeze, cryoprotectants allows them to survive tucked away for the winter in places like leaf litter or loose bark.

 

Bad Hair Day

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Brought to you by the mighty Great Blue Heron

Happy 100th Birthday Schooner Adventure!

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Schooner Adventure’s 100th birthday celebration sail at the breakwater –

We startled each other!

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Looking for butterflies and found this beauty, too.

Great Blue heron lift-off

 

Catching up!

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Dear Friends,

I hope you had a lovely end of summer and Labor Day. I feel so very grateful to have our home here in Gloucester, a home where our family wants to gather to share wonderful dinners, fun times, and explore all the beauty Cape Ann has to offer. We’re lucky that I love to cook, our son loves to cook, and husband Tom likes to grill, so there is no shortage of happy meals here. If I had to choose, September and the first half of October I think have to be the most exquisite time of year on Cape Ann, and this first week of September has proven to be true.

So much to catch up with. I want to first share about an outstanding organization, the American Oystercatcher Working Group, which is a co-operative network of biologists, researchers, and resource managers that is dedicated to the conservation of American Oystercatchers. Members work across the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the US, the Caribbean, and parts of Central and South America. The thing is, anyone can join!

American Oystercatcher and 14 day old chick

I was recently contacted by Debra Reynolds, who is on the AMOY Working Group steering and leadership committee. She requested to share my short film about AMOY on their website. Here is the link: Award Winning Filmmaker Kim Smith Delights in American Oystercatchers. You can also find a fantastically detailed species account from Birds of World on their website here.

Methuselah Monarch

I don’t recall if I sent this link for a most impressive insect spotted while filming pond stories, Ammophila nigricans, a species of thread-waisted wasps. Their common name describes them to a tee! I am seeing many more butterflies this summer than in the previous several summers, including just this past week, a Orange Sulphur, Common Wood Nymph, and a first for me, a Yellowjacket attacking a butterfly. Yesterday Charlotte and I saw our first Methuselah Monarch of the season, one of the super generation of Monarchs migrating to Mexico. We have had so many Monarchs on our Common Milkweed, lots of good rainfall, warm days, and no super storms. I hope this all portends of a strong migration along the Atlantic. We can Hope!

Those green eyes and pink legs! Orange Sulphur

Every Labor Day weekend, Gloucester also celebrates Schooner Festival and this year was the 42nd! Here is a link to a time lapse video of the beautiful, beautiful Parade of Sail.

Friends have recently written requesting how to subscribe to my blog, where I can share more photos and videos than in emails. I’ve posted instructions here in case you’d like to subscribe. Please let me know if you encounter any problems.

I hope you enjoy these last few weeks of summer.
Warmest wishes,
xxKim

How to Subscribe to Kim Smith Films – Kim Smith Designs

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Hello Friends,

Recently, a number of readers have written requesting information on how to sign up for either my blog or newsletter. Thank you for that and I so appreciate your interest!

To subscribe to my blog at Kim Smith Designs: Click on the image in the heading or this link and it will take you to the home page. In the lower right hand corner is a Subscribe link. If that does not work, please let me know.

To receive my newsletter via email, please send me an email request at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com.  You will receive an email confirmation from me but it will be through my gmail account and the newsletters also come through gmail. I don’t post my gmail account information here because of nefarious types.

More photos and videos are posted on my website’s blog page than the newsletter because I don’t want to jam up friend’s emails. But I usually provide a link from the newsletter to the blog in case you’d like to see more. You can also follow me on Instagram and Facebook.

Please feel free to email or to leave a comment in the comment section if you encounter any problems.

Thank you again for your interest. I look forward to hearing from you 🙂

xxKim

Simply Glorious Parade of Sail feat. Schooner Thomas E. Lannon

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Schooners, schooners, schooners! Strong winds and gorgeous clouds made for one of the most exquisite Parades of Sail ever. The Lannon is the first schooner in the short film and you can watch the crew hoisting her sails at about twenty seconds in. Many of the schooners did not have their sails up in the inner harbor, I imagine because of the wind and risk of running into one of the smaller vessels. The wind also made for some camera shake but it was unavoidable. 

Happy Sailing  <3

Music: “This is the Day” by The The

List of schooners participating in the 42nd Annual Schooner Festival 2026

Large Schooners 80′ of more length of deck: Adventure, American Eagle, Denis Sullivan, Ernestina Morrissey, Harvey Gamage, Tabor Boy

Medium Schooners 45′ – 79′ length on deck: Adirondack III, Alert, Ardelle, Malabar X, Spirit, Thomas E. Lannon, Tyrone, When and If

Small Schooners less than 45′ on deck: Bald Eagle, Blackbird, Eileen Marie, Elizabeth, Phraluang, Green Dragon, Isabella, Lewis H. Story, Redbird, Strombus

2026 Gloucester Schooner Fest Schedule of Events!

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To view the complete event program including lots of great information and history about the Schooner Festival, along with a complete list of participating schooners see the complete program guide here. 

From the 2025 Parade of Sail feat. the American Eagle – At about 2 minutes you can see the American Eagle crew hoisting her sails. The American Eagle was the last fishing schooner built in Gloucester. She launched on June 2nd, 1930 and was powered by both sail and engine. She now makes her home in Rockland, Maine, under the stewardship of Captain Tyler King, a Gloucester native.

Thursday – Community Day 

10:00 am – 4:00 pm Maritime Gloucester Museum & Exhibits Open

5:30 pm – 7:30 pm Schooner Challenge, Gloucester Harbor – Join our local Schooner Captains as they participate in a friendly competition putting their seamanship to the test over an “obstacle” course. Passengers will be given their own set of tasks to win the coveted Rum Bottle Award. Visiting schooners already arrived will join the event. The public is invited to purchase tickets aboard participating schooners. Ticketed passengers and crew will be invited to a post challenge awards party.

Friday – Greet the Fleet Day

All Day Arrival of Participating Vessels 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Maritime Gloucester Museums & Exhibits Open 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Public Sails 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm

“Greet the Fleet” Sail 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Chamber of Commerce Block Party

Saturday – Maritime Heritage Day

8:30 am – 6:00 pm Public Sails

10:00 am International Dory Races Learn more at: internationaldories.com

10:00 am – 4:00 pm Maritime Gloucester – Heritage Day Museum and Exhibits Open, Schooner Deck Tours Free to the public: schooner deck tours, music, food, crafts for all ages, skills demonstrations, community vendors, & family activities. $25 hourly schooner sails on Schooner Ardelle!

12:00 pm – 4:00 pm Schooner Viewing & Deck Tours Schooner Floats – I4C2, 65 Rogers St *Ocean Alliance – 32 Horton St, Rocky Neck Thanks to generous support from our sponsors, we are again able to provide a visitor-based dockside experience that puts the public on schooners for deck tours. This is a free option for the public, but donations are always appreciated.

6:30 pm – 10:30 pm Fireworks Sails Witnessing the fireworks over historic Gloucester Harbor is a magnificent sight. Seeing it above you from the deck of a schooner is a breathtaking experience you do not want to miss. These sell out quickly, so don’t delay. Check various schooner websites for ticketing details

7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Boat Parade of Lights This annual event showcases a parade of local private boats and begins at dusk in the Annisquam River.

9:15 pm Fireworks Display over the Harbor Time is approximate

Sunday – Race Day!

10:00 am – 11:30 am Parade of Schooners – Schooners proceed from the Inner Harbor, past the Fishermen’s Memorial on Stacy Boulevard and Stage Fort Park, to the race starting area off Eastern Point. Various non-profit and business organizations offer Parade of Schooners or Race viewing opportunities

10:00 am – 4:00 pm Maritime Gloucester Museum & Exhibits Open

10:30 am – 2:00 pm Shuttle Bus to Eastern Point Light From St. Anthony’s Church, Farrington Ave to watch the start of the Mayor’s Race. Free of Charge courtesy of the Cape Ann Transportation Authority

1:00 pm Schooner Races

The start of Mayor’s Races for Esperanto Cup & the Columbia Trophy Off Eastern Point. The race course is decided the morning of the race by the Schooner Festival Committee at

New Short Film – American Oystercatcher – A Conservation Success Story!

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Life story of the wonderfully quirky American Oystercatcher and their remarkable comeback!

To learn more about American Oystercatcher conservation visit the American Oystercatcher Working Group’s website here.

And to read a great book about AMOY conservation and also a number of other uplifting conservation stories, I highly recommend the latest book by Scott Weidensaul, The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet. Scott is an extraordinary conservationist and you can learn more about him and his many fields of interest here on Scott’s website. He’s also very generous with his time. When I was working on the Snowy Owl Film Project, Scott was very kind in providing advice on the text.

 

A Summer of Monarchs!

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Have you noticed so many more Monarchs this summer than in a very many previous years? Not just Monarchs, but the Ladies, both Painted and American, Tiger Swallowtails, Pearl Crescents, and Summer Azures, too? Our milkweed and zinnia patch has half a dozen Monarchs daily and at every pond that I am filming at for my Pond film, winged beauties grace the water’s edge, sipping nectar from wildflowers growing along the banks of the ponds.

The past few years I had gotten away from raising butterflies but this year Charlotte really wanted to. So we brought indoors a few eggs, which quickly blossomed into a dozen and a half caterpillars as I had forgotten to check for eggs tucked into the buds on the sprigs of milkweed. Each time we cut fresh milkweed to feed the caterpillars, we discovered more eggs. Note- You have to separate out the leaves with eggs and teenies so that the caterpillars that are older do not inadvertently devour them.

Newly eclosed Monarchs

We were hoping to have a butterfly release day with Charlotte’s friends but the last two batches have emerged so early in the morning that they are ready to fly before breakfast. All in all, including the five remaining chrysalides, we have had fifty or so Monarchs emerge from eggs and caterpillars in our garden.

I think perhaps hot weather spells interspersed with some good amounts of rainfall have awakened our local butterfly populations, and steady winds coming from the west are moving traveling Monarchs in our direction.

Notice below that included in the captions along with the names of the butterflies are the wildflowers that are providing loads of nectar and they are all wonderfully garden worthy plants. #plantandtheywillcome!

Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia) and American Lady Butterfly

The tiny Summer Azure butterfly with a mere 7/8 inch wingspan, drinking nectar from Joe-pye

Monarchs and Ironweed

Monarch and Joe-pye

 

American Lady and Joe-pye

Pearl Crescents

 

Bobcats on Cape Ann!

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You may have a neighbor who has seen one or you may have been fortunate enough to see your self, but I think it’s super exciting that there have been numerable reports and sightings  of Bobcats in neighborhoods we don’t usually see them perusing. Friends are having face to face encounters in Manchester, Essex, and the back shore of both Rockport and Gloucester. My friend Karen took these snapshots through her screen door at 9:30 in the morning several days ago.

Do Bobcats eat pets?  Bobcats are carnivorous and will eat freely roaming cats and small dogs however, their preferred food is rabbits, rabbits, and more rabbits. They also eat mice, squirrels, skunks, opossums, muskrats, birds, and snakes. Occasionally they will take down a deer but that may be because the animal is sick, injured, very old, or very young.

Bobcats are common in the central and western part of the state and they are expanding their range through the northeast and southeast. You can easily recognize them as they are typically twice as big as a housecat and have a shortened, or bobbed, tail.

Please write if you see a Bobcat in your neighborhood and share photos and videos if you would like. Thank you!

You can read more about Bobcats in Massachusetts here Learn About Bobcats https://www.mass.gov/info-details/learn-about-bobcats

All photos courtesy Karen Thompson

A tender-hearted honor to fishermen lost at sea 

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Gloucester honored her fishermen, wives, and families at the annual Gloucester Fisherman Memorial service at the Man of the Wheel statue, and then onto the Fishermen’s Wives Memorial statue to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the statue, which was built by Cape Ann sculptor Morgan Faulds Pike.

Hundreds of people gathered at the afternoon service to lay wreaths, listen to words of comfort from local dignitaries, commemorate the addition of names to the cenotaph, and think of their loved ones as they tossed flowers into the sea.

Gloucester was devastated this past winter at the loss of seven fishermen when on January 30th, the FV Lily Jean sank 30 miles off the coast. These are the names of the fishermen and (one) fisherwomen newly engraved on the cenotaph: 2015 Captain David R. Sullivan, 2020 Nicolo Vitale and Michael Porper, Jr., 2026 Captain Gus Sanfilippo, Paul Beal, and son Paul Beal, Jr., John Rousindis, Freeman Short, Sean Therrien, and Jada Samitt.

At both the memorial service at the Man of the Wheel statue and the rededication of the Fishermen’s Wives statue, Lilliana DiMercurio and Allesandro Schoc lifted their beautiful voices in song and music to honor the fishers and their families.

 

Piping Plover Event at the Rockport Public Library!

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Dear Friends,

I hope you will join me Saturday, August 1st, at 11am, at the Rockport Public Library for a public screening of The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. Following the screening, we’ll have a Q and A and an update about our local Plover populations. Link to register: https://rockportlibrary.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/the-piping-plovers-of-moonlight-bay-film-screening-with-live-q-a/

Here on Cape Ann we can be proud of the excellent work we as a community have accomplished. However, as our local Plovers are once again caught in political crosshairs and being bandied about on social media, I urge anyone who would like to learn more about these vulnerable birds that nest on our Cape Ann beaches to please join us. I created the documentary to help people better understand the life story of the Plovers and why working together to safeguard their nesting habitat is a good thing. So whether you already love Piping Plovers, or take issue with, please come!

 

And, I just discovered buried in my office a box of Plover Lover tees. We will have those available as well!

North Shore Lion’s Mane Jellyfish Alert!

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From Revere to beaches all along the north of Boston coast, Lion’s Mane Jellyfish are turning up in great swaths. Not just north of Boston beaches but the South Shore and Cape and Islands, too. We have been seeing some good sized ones, but this morning’s Lion’s Mane takes the cake and was approximately two feet in diameter. It was glowing fiery orange in the morning sun and that color is what tells you it is a Lion’s Mane. Lion’s Mane Jellyfish are the largest in the world and can grow up to three feet in diameter, with mane-like tentacles that can surpass 100 feet long.Lion’s Mane Jellyfish

In Massachusetts we are most likely to see two types of jellyfish. Moon Jellies, which are saucer shaped and cloudyish transparent white, are virtually harmless. Their tentacles are too weak to penetrate human skin.

Lion’s Mane Jellyfish are found in a wide range of sizes in Massachusetts waters and dead or alive, their stinging tentacles can be very painful.They are not poisonous but the sting of a Lion”s Mane can cause a severe allergic reaction. Tell your kids not to touch the dead ones washed up on the beach and keep on the lookout when swimming.

If stung and any tentacles remain on the skin, remove with tweezers, not your bare hands. Flush immediately in seawater and then rinse with white vinegar. Shower in hot water, or even better, soak in the tub with hot water.  If experiencing an allergic reaction such as dizziness, trouble breathing, headache, nausea, fever, or fainting, call your physician.

When my friend Chris Cefalo finds a Lion’s Mane on the beach, he encircles it to help warn folks to keep away. 

The Very Best Milkweeds for New England Gardens! #plantandtheywillcome

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Dear Friends,

Why we LOVE milkweed!

Over the past few days we have seen more Monarchs in our garden than in the previous several years combined. One particularly feisty Mama  has laid claim to the patch of orange Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa). We usually only see this bossy territorial behavior with males. She however flies at any one or thing that approaches. She spends half her time drinking nectar from the A. tuberosa, then flits over to the patch of Common Milkweed (A. syriaca) to deposit a batch of eggs. She has quite possibly done this routine 100 times.

From a visit several weeks ago by a different female Monarch, we have a minimum of 15 caterpillars on the Common Milkweed, all very teeny weeny. Let’s hope the spiders don’t devour them!

Milkweeds are not only the larval host (caterpillar food plant) for Monarch Butterflies, they also provide a rich source of nectar for myriad other pollinators including bees, hover flies, many species of Lepidoptera, and hummingbirds.

Monarch ovipositing egg on Common Milkweed

The very best native (native to the Northeast) milkweeds for our New England gardens, in order of productivity:

Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

Aptly named because it is the milkweed we see growing everywhere, from dunes to meadows, backyards to parklands, and even the cracks of sidewalks. It spreads greatly and if you plant, know you are giving that plot of land forever to the milkweed. Common Milkweed has the most wonderful honey hay scent and is especially potent in the evening. At this time of year when lying in bed at night I love how the dreamy scent comes wafting through the open windows.

What is meant by “productive” is that from studies comparing which species of milkweed produces the greatest amount of caterpillars, Common is first, followed by Marsh Milkweed.

Common Milkweed

Marsh Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

What Marsh Milkweed lacks in fragrance, it surely makes up for with its deep rosey pink florets. And it is much better behaved, growing in clumps rather than spreading vigorously. Don’t worry about planting in a marsh or wetlands, Marsh Milkweed grows beautifully in average garden soil There is also a pretty white cultivar named ‘Ice Ballet.’

Marsh Milkweed

Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

The most brightly colored of our New England natives, Asclepias tuberosa flowers in shades of tangerine, yellow, and reddish orange. Whereas Common and Marsh are somewhat shade tolerant, A. tuberosa needs a sunny spot with well draining soil.

Butterflyweed

Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata)

Although native I have never seen a caterpillar on the Whorled Milkweed in our garden, and only very seldomly, a Monarch drinking nectar. The leaves are delicate and finely pointed as you can see from the photo below. Our little patch is growing in full sun and the plant only spreads mildly, not invasively.

Whorled Milkweed

To learn more about milkweed and the life story of the Monarch Butterfly, see our film on PBS at Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly

Please write and let me know of your Monarch sightings. Thank you!
Happy July!
xxKim

Save the Date! Saturday August 1st for The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay Film Screening

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On Saturday, August 1st, I will be presenting a film screening of The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, followed by a QandA, at the beautiful Rockport Public Library. With many thanks to Osha Rose for organizing this screening!

For more information and if you would like to register, please go here

The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay.

Discover how we can all become stewards of these pocket-sized, threatened shorebirds.

The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay is a one-hour nature documentary that tells the life story of these captivating and endangered birds. The film features a pair of courageous Plovers and the adventures of their blended brood of chicks. Raising tiny, marshmallow-sized baby birds on a crowded urban beach is a perilous occupation and the family overcomes many life-threatening obstacles.

Piping Plovers are a bellwether species that speaks to how successfully wildlife and people interact with one another, especially in light of the growing threat of habitat loss. These remarkably resilient birds are well adapted to life on the beach however, without adequate protective measures, Piping Plovers will fail in the face of pressure created by people and predators.

We are inspired by the beauty of the Plover’s life story and also highly aware of the formidable challenges these valiant little birds face at every stage of life.

 

Happy 250th Gloucester!

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Gloucester firework’s finale from Smiths Cove

The Beautiful Fiesta

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Sorting through photos and footage from the 99th Saint Peter’s Fiesta and I can’t help but think – Beautiful Fiesta, Beautiful Community.

Buona Festa <3 See you at the 100th!

Why the Homeowners in Newbury Have it all Wrong!

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The homeowners are not being asked to remove the flags because of some anti-American, unpatriotic agenda. In 2009, the residents received many thousands of dollars in federal assistance as part of a replenishment project to save their homes from coastal erosion. At that time, the town and property owners entered an agreement to manage the beach to protect endangered shorebirds.

The agreement is still in place. The reason flags, or any aerial display, are disallowed in shorebird habitat is because the nesting adult birds perceive the flags as an avian predator. The parents will leave the nest to protect the chicks from flags, drones, kites, or whatever the aerial threat. When the Plover parents are away from their eggs, nestlings, and chicks is when the little ones are the most vulnerable to actual avian predators such as gulls and Crows. Because the agreement is in place, the flags, or placing any flag in protected shorebird habitat, is in violation of state and federal law.

Love this image of the visual history of the flag found from the Encyclopedia Britannica

 

Summer Sunrise Sequence

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Trying out a different dedicated video camera, which has an amazing image sensor. The sensor is twice as large as what I am familiar with and it is going to be fantastic I think for scenes with low light.

 

Beautiful Strawberry Moon Over Gloucester

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Last night’s full Strawberry Moon, at Brace Cove.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron(s)!

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\What exquisite breeding plumage – don’t you love the blue-gray feathers edged in white? We’re more likely to see Black-crowned Night Herons in Gloucester Harbor so when a friend texted with a photo of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron I set out the following morning at dawn to see if it was still here. I was on my way to film a segment of the series on “pond babies” that I have been working on and wasn’t expecting the YCNH would still be there. Imagine my delight when finding three all lined up in a row in the beautiful pre-dawn light.

Listen for their exceptionally loud quarking call as the three head out for the morning.

Yellow-crowned Night Herons eat mostly crustaceans (crayfish and crabs) including Fiddler, Marsh, Blue, and Green Crabs. They also feed on mussels, snails, insects, worms, lizzards, snakes, small rodents, eels, pipefish, worms, and even small birds.

According to the survey taken during Mass Audubon’s Breeding Bird Atlas II, the only confirmed record of Yellow-crowned Night Herons breeding in Massachusetts were in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard so we are probably looking at a trio of migratory birds. There is also an adult at one of my pond locations and a number of recent sightings on Cape Cod.

So many thanks to my friend John S. for letting me know the YCNH were at the Harbor!

Compare and contrast –

Yellow-crowned Night Heron 

Yellow-crowned Night Heron Juvenile on Cape Ann

Black-crowned Night Heron Gloucester

Several years ago, this Black-crowned Night Heron juvenile did not migrate and stayed on Cape Ann for an entire winter.

Yellow-crowned Night Herons (Nyctannassa violacea) and Black-crowned Night herons are the only two night herons in the genus Nyctannassa. BCNH are found around the world whereas YCNH are only found in the Americas.

Yellow-headed Blackbird Rarely Seen in Massachusetts

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On a recent overcast morning while out filming wildlife for the pond film, a strange little character caught my attention. She was feeding in the seaweed like there was no tomorrow. Her conical shaped bill made me think she was some type of blackbird but she was considerably larger than the brownish female Red-winged Blackbirds I typically see foraging in the seaweed. The Red-winged Blackbirds are usually stuffing a bunch of insects in their beaks then flying off to their nests. Not this one, she appeared as though she had not eaten for days and days. Her plain brown feathered back was camouflaged beautifully in the seaweed. She suddenly turned and faced in my direction and I got to see her very cool feather patterning, a vivid yellow breast and yellowish/rusty mottled head. I lingered and filmed her for quite awhile but the footage is not that as exciting as i would have liked. She only very occasionally paused her feverish foraging to preen for a brief moment.

What fun to return to my desk and discover she is the Yellow-headed Blackbird and a very rare visitor to Massachusetts, to the entire eastern half of the country for that matter.  I checked in on her over the next several days and again she was eating non-stop, even while it was raining. She departed during Friday night’s storm and I hope so much she finds her way back to the central part of the country.  Please write and let me know if she lands in your neighborhood.

Photo of male Yellow-headed Blackbirds, from wikicommons media.

Photo credit:  USFWS Mountain-Prairie – Yellow-headed black birds at Cokeville Meadows, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48171686

Yellow-headed Blackbird range – blue = breeding range; red = wintering grounds

Joyous Earth Day!

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Treasuring our wild creatures and wild spaces <3

When you’re standing stone still focused on filming a territorial Big Fight between Red-bellied Woodpeckers and a Great Blue Heron in gorgeous full breeding plumage swoops across the water, landing mere feet from where you are perched. Treasuring our wild creatures and wild spaces <3

Urgent – Please Drop a Quick Line to Your Legislator Today to Phase Out the Use of Rodenticides!

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Dear Friends,

On Wednesday, April 15, the State Senate will vote on whether to adopt a proposal to phase out the use of anticoagulant rodenticides that are harming wildlife and pets. 

Adding the bill as an amendment to the Mass Ready Act will help ensure that our state phases out the use of rodenticides that are poisoning thousands of wildlife and pets in Massachusetts every year.

We need them to hear from as many supporters as possible before they vote this Wednesday. Let’s get this amendment passed to protect our wildlife and pets! Please sign the form at the link provided below.

Link to easy-to-fill-out form

​What a difference a few weeks makes compared to the balmy 70 degrees temps today! This ​sleepy pair of Long-eared Owls ​seen in the video are hunkered in​, weathering snow and wind​ during a late season snowstorm. LEOs roost in dense stands of vegetation and are seen in Massachusetts primarily during the winter months. Their diet consists mostly of small rodents including mice, rats, shrews, and voles. LEO’s, along with all birds of prey, are at extreme risk of being poisoned by rat poison. As the rodent ingests the poison, so does the bird, and the consequences are often deadly to the predator.​