At this time year, Robins switch from a diet of fruits and berries to mostly worms and insects. I love to watch as they cock their head, listening for the worms underground. They rarely come up with an empty beak full <3
Hello PiPl Friends!
Cheery news to share from PiPl Ambassador Deb- Friday, March 3rd, a Piping Plover was spotted at beautiful West Dennis Beach, on Cape Cod! It won’t be long 🙂
Thank you so very much to Jonathan and Sally for hosting the PiPl meeting and for organizing and compiling the notes. There’s a great deal to tackle here, but we’ll work away at the list. And many thanks to Jeff for sending the beach regulations, which are also attached. Additionally, Jayne Knot sent along the data from the contaminated Creek reports – very interesting read. I’ve been in touch with Rory McCarthy, who is heading up the Clean the Creek initiative and hope to speak with her this week to see how we can help. She shares lots of great information on her Instagram page at clean_the_creek.
Happy Monday!
Warmest wishes,
Kim
PiPls in a windy March snowstorm several years ago
A very young Grey Seal pup was stranded for several days at Eastern Point Lighthouse. During his time at the beach, the weanling was closely monitored by Cape Ann resident Alexa Mulroy, who is a volunteer for the Seacoast Science Center, along with Gloucester’s ACOfficers Teagan Dolan and Jamie Eastman.
The little guy was only about 24 inches long and was quickly losing his stored baby fat (because he was not eating while stranded on the beach). For the most part, he remained quiet, although he was feisty enough– growling, barring his teeth, stretching, itching and occasionally moving his flippers. He had a number of small cuts on his flippers and his mouth was bleeding. We nicknamed him EP and everyone hoped he would swim off with the next high tide.
The protocol for seal strandings, if they are not obviously sick or seriously injured, is to wait a day or two before locating a place for them to recover. December through February is Grey Seal pupping season and it’s not uncommon to see these very young seal babies on the beach. SSC volunteer Alexa Mulroy placed symbolic roping and several signs around the seal to let people know of his presence. For the most part, people were respectful, and allowed EP to rest peacefully.
Seacoast Science Center, based out of Rye New Hampshire, is the region’s go-to organization for marine mammal rescue. Although they are not permitted to rescue animals on Cape Ann they can, with special permission from NOAA. EP’s rescue was coordinated by Ashley Stokes, SSC Director of Marine Mammal Rescue and assisted by Brian Yurasits, SSC Marine Mammal Rescue Community Outreach Manager and Rebecca Visnick, Gloucester’s Deputy Shellfish Constable.
With each high tide, EP moved away from the water, not towards, and it became clear that he was not yet ready to return to the sea. Constable Rebecca thought EP was a little over a month old and only recently weaned from his mom.
The challenge became to find a place to take EP. The New England Aquarium, National Marine Life Center (NLMC), or Marine Mammals of Maine (MMoME) had any openings. Ashley was persistent and fortunately for EP, there was “room at the inn” at Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium.
Mid-morning on Friday, Ashley, Rebecca, and Brian arrived at the EPLighthouse beach with truck, a dog crate, and equipment needed to give EP a health assessment before transport. Ashley and Rebecca sort of “swaddled” him prior to administering much needed fluids, he was then placed into the carrier and loaded onto the truck. Brian was in charge of transporting EP to Mystic. We hope we’ll have a positive update in the near future!
Ashley, Rebecca, and Brian
Once again I am struck by how we are all connected by these beautiful wild creatures that travel our shores. Just as was Peregrine Falcon 07/CB that hatched in Newburyport, who was treated for injury at Wild Care in Eastham and at Tufts in Medford, and is now hunting along the shores of Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, Grey Seal pup EP was stranded in Massachusetts, rescued by New Hampshire’s Seacoast Science Center, and will undergo rehab at Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut.
Donations to Seacoast Science Center are very much appreciated. We residents of Cape Ann are so grateful and appreciate so much their kind assistance. If not for the SSC Marine Mammal Rescue program, Cape Ann would be largely without a resource for organized marine mammal rescues.
Not every seal you see on the beach is in need of rescue, in fact, most are not. Seals are semi-aquatic and most haul out to sleep, nurse, soak up the sun, or escape predators (sharks!).
Dear Monarch Friends,
This new short, titled Resplendent Monarch Migration, features Monarchs during the late summer southward migration. Also highlighted are some of the more commonly seen butterflies of late summer, including the American Lady, the spectacular Common Buckeye (2:53), Pearl Crescent, Yellow Sulphur, and American Copper. The flora seen includes New England Asters, Seaside Goldenrod, Tall Goldenrod, Smooth Aster (pale lavender), and Common Milkweed. When you plant for the butterflies, they will come!
At 3:30 you can see a small overnight roost beginning to form. As the sun sets, particularly on chilly or windy evenings, Monarchs head for the trees. One by one they fly in, some settling quickly, others restless and shifting to a more preferable spot. By nightfall, all are tucked into the sheltering boughs of the Black Cherry tree. (4:15).
With the warming rays of Sun’s first light, the Monarchs begin to awaken (4:20). If it’s cold and windy they”ll stay a bit longer but typically, the butterflies either float down to the wildflowers in the marsh below, or in the case of this particular roost at Eastern Point, the Monarchs wasted no time and quickly departed. They flew directly south towards Boston by first traveling along the length of the Dogbar Breakwater before heading out to sea (4:30).
It took patience (and a lot of luck) to capture the butterfly heading up into the clouds (5:44). I wanted to share the imagery of the scale of a tiny speck of a creature juxtaposed against the vastness of sea and sky. Imagine, a butterfly that weighs less than a paper clip, journeys 2500 miles to the trans Mexican volcanic mountaintops.
Safe travels oh resilient one!
I have received a number of requests for Monarch footage. I cannot lend the footage from my documentary, Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly, currently airing on PBS however, this past summer, I spent time shooting butterflies in my garden, butterflies in pollinator gardens that I have designed for clients, and at our local marshes and meadows. All the footage was shot in beautiful 4k, which is what organizations are requesting.
Several weeks ago I posted Monarchs and Friends in the Summer Garden and you can see that here. This short features butterflies you may typically see in mid-summer drinking nectar alongside Monarchs.
Cast, in order of appearance:
Monarch Butterfly
Hoverfly
Clouded Sulphur
Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonfly
American Copper
American Lady
Pearl Crescent
Common Buckeye
Monarchs awakening in the morning sun
Compared to year’s past, the 2022 fall southward migration has been a relatively quiet year (so far) for Monarchs traveling through Cape Ann. That is not to say we won’t see another batch or two coming through, but for the most part, we did not have the spectacular roosts that we have seen in some year’s past. We had many travelers flying through during the month of September, but the conditions were favorable and they kept moving along at a steady pace.
I found several roosts in late September. On one evening, the wind was blowing hard from the northwest and the Monarchs were clustered tightly on the east facing side of the tree, to get out of the wind. I didn’t notice the silhouette of Monarch arcs until twilight and counted a dozen or so Monarch arcs.
The golden morning sun revealed several hundred butterflies! It was a joy to see them stirring and fluttering in the dawn light.
Upon awakening, the butterflies didn’t spend any time drinking nectar from the wildflower meadow below as they often do, but headed straight out over the Dogbar Breakwater.
Although Cape Ann has not seen many large roosts this season, two Monarch staging areas, Cape May, New Jersey and Point Pelee, Ontario are both having spectacular migrations!! Monarchs gather at the Point Pelee peninsula before crossing over Lake Erie into Ohio. Likewise, the butterflies stage at Cape May before crossing the Delaware Bay. The butterflies wait for favorable winds to help carry them across bodies of water.
Point Pelee
Cape May (red star)
A picture perfect day for Gloucester’s 38th annual Schooner Festival Parade of Sail. The Harbor was dazzling with boats of every kind, including schooners, fishing boats, sailboats, pleasure boats, tour boats, kayaks, and more.
Spectators lined the shoreline from Stacey Boulevard to Eastern Point.
With thanks and deepest appreciation to Daisy Nell Collinson and the Gloucester Schooner Festival Committee – Daisy and Stan Collinson’s Schooner Redbird in the foreground
I so appreciate Heather taking the time to talk about Piping Plovers and Monarchs both. She asked tons of great questions and in a short period of time, we got in lots of information! Please see our interview below <3 !
For more about Hip Hop and the Good Harbor Beach Piping Plovers, see here –
And, please join me Thursday, August 18th, at 10am at Essex’s T.O.H.P. Burnham Library for a free all ages (5 plus) Monarch Butterfly event, The Marvelous Magnificent Migrating Monarch. To register, GO HERE
Monarch Butterfly and Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias vericillata)
The howling winds of the April 18th overnight storm brought super high tides, downed trees, downed power lines and poles. We lost one of our beautiful ‘Dragon Lady’ hollies, one of a pair planted when we first moved to our home, and a tree that gave the birds many tree-fruits over the years.
The wind also carried in a somewhat befuddled Great Egret, clinging to a shrub and still trying to gain his bearings when photographed at mid-day.
Super high tide to the base of the dunes
Mom and Dad foraging in the intertidal zone
Mom
Dad
The highest tide during the storm went up and a bit past the base of the dunes. Our nesting pair of Plovers appeared relatively unfazed and, despite the continued high winds at day’s end, were busy courting and foraging at the newly washed over beach scape.
Churned-up
Super great news update from my friend and American Public Television Vice President Judy. She shares that since our documentary premiered a month ago, Beauty on the Wing has been broadcast 276 times, reaching 48.95 percent of the UStv households. She thinks we will have even greater activity in April because of programming centered around Earth Day! We have received emails and messages from viewers around the country, many inspired to create a Monarch habitat.
With thanks and gratitude to our many generous contributors, without whose help this film would not have been possible.
To the lovely woman in Idaho whose name I think is Shelly – if you are reading this – I accidentally deleted your note but would be happy to advise you on how to establish a Monarch habitat at your field. Please feel free to email so we can connect. Thank you!
Good Morning Friends! The following are this week’s showtimes for Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly airing on NY, LA, and San Francisco stations. Thank you for watching <3
| WEDWDT3 | 1 | __W____ | 2:30:00 | 2/17/2022 | 2/17/2022 | New York | 1 | 6.24 % |
| WEDWDT3 | 1 | ____F__ | 5:00:00 | 2/19/2022 | 2/19/2022 | New York | 1 | 6.24 % |
| WEDWDT3 | 1 | M______ | 9:00:00 | 2/14/2022 | 2/14/2022 | New York | 1 | 6.24 % |
| WEDWDT3 | 1 | _T_____ | 13:00:00 | 2/15/2022 | 2/15/2022 | New York | 1 | 6.24 % |
| WEDWDT3 | 1 | ______S | 15:00:00 | 2/13/2022 | 2/13/2022 | New York | 1 | 6.24 % |
| WEDWDT3 | 1 | ______S | 22:00:00 | 2/13/2022 | 2/13/2022 | New York | 1 | 6.24 % |
| KOCEDT2 | 1 | _____S_ | 17:00:00 | 2/12/2022 | 2/12/2022 | Los Angeles | 2 | 4.66 % |
| KVCRDT | 1 | ______S | 16:00:00 | 2/20/2022 | 2/20/2022 | Los Angeles | 2 | 4.66 % |
| KVCRDT3 | 1 | M______ | 5:00:00 | 2/22/2022 | 2/22/2022 | Los Angeles | 2 | 4.66 % |
| WYINDT | 1 | __W____ | 23:00:00 | 2/16/2022 | 2/16/2022 | Chicago | 3 | 2.90 % |
| KQEDDT | 1 | __W____ | 5:00:00 | 2/17/2022 | 2/17/2022 | San Francisco | 8 | 2.14 % |
| KQEDDT | 1 | __W____ | 23:00:00 | 2/16/2022 | 2/16/2022 | San Francisco | 8 | 2.14 % |
| KQEHDT2 | 1 | __W____ | 5:00:00 | 2/17/2022 | 2/17/2022 | San Francisco | 8 | 2.14 % |
| KQEHDT2 | 1 | __W____ | 23:00:00 | 2/16/2022 | 2/16/2022 | San Francisco | 8 | 2.14 % |
| KRCBDT | 1 | ___T___ | 12:00:00 | 2/17/2022 | 2/17/2022 | San Francisco | 8 | 2.14 % |
| KRCBDT | 1 | _T_____ | 21:00:00 | 2/15/2022 | 2/15/2022 | San Francisco | 8 | 2.14 % |
Hello Friends!
Today Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly is scheduled to begin premiering on over 180 public television across the US. From cities coast to coast (including New York, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, Charlotte, Raleigh, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Columbus, Hartford, and many more), you can check your local listings to find out when Beauty on the Wing is scheduled to air. Additionally, if you don’t see your city listed this week, more stations are planning to add the documentary to their schedule in the coming days.
If you happen to watch Beauty on the Wing on television, please write and let us know. We would love to hear from you!
The one major market that at this date is not planning to air Beauty on the Wing is Boston (??). However, if you are a member of your local PBS station and have contributed more than $60.00, shows are available to stream through PBS Passports. I believe the streaming option for Beauty on the Wing begins this week.
My deepest thanks and appreciation once again to all who so kindly donated to Beauty on the Wing. With your support we were able to complete our documentary, showcase at film festivals, and now bring to a nationwide television audience. Huge special shoutouts to my dear friend Lauren Mercadante who is not only extraordinarily generous, she also loves creating butterfly magic in her garden, and to Jesse Cook, who gave so generously of his music. Thank You Friends <3
Official 30-second promo for American Public Television
Filmed an hour after high tide. The marsh at the EP Lighthouse was entirely flooded and the water in the cove was abutting the road, which had become only a narrow strip between both.
I love the whiteout especially because it obscures that ugly cell tower!
Conserve Wildlife NJ senior biologist Todd Pover makes a site visit to Cape Ann beaches, summer long updates from “Plover Central,” GHB Killdeer dune family raise a second brood of chicks, Cape Hedge chick lost after fireworks disturbance and then reunited with Fam, Great Black-backed Gulls are eating our Plover chicks, thousands of Moon Snail collars at Cape Hedge, Monarchs abound, #savesaltisland, missing Iguana Skittles, and Earwig eating Cecropia Moth cats.
New short film for the Sawyer Free Library The Marvelous Magnificent Migrating Monarch!, Coastal Waterbird Conservation Cooperators meeting new short Piping Plover film, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in the garden, why we love Joe-pye and other wildflowers, butterfly friends, Monarch cats in the garden, what is the purpose of the gold dots found on Monarch chrysalides?,Black Beauty came calling, Tigers in the garden, School Street sunflowers, Hoverflies, luminescent Sea Salps return to Cape Ann beaches, Petal Dancers and lemony Yellow Sulphurs on the wing.
Flower Fairies, irruptive Green Darner migration, mini glossary of late summer butterflies, what to do if you find a tagged Monarch, Painted Ladies, White-tailed Deer family, Monarchs mating, Tangerine Butterflies, yellow fellow in the hood, and Beauty on the Wing first ever live screening at the Shalin Liu.
Bee-sized butterfly the American Copper, Monarch conga line, Thunder and Cloud, abandoned Piping Plover egg, School Street Sunflowers, Monarchs migrating, quotidian splendor, Monarch fundraiser updates, collecting milkweed seeds, the Differential Grasshopper, Cooper’s Hawk – a conservation success story, #ploverjoyed, and nor’easter from the EP Lighthouse.
Bridges between life and death, ancient oak tree uprooted, autumn harvest for feathered friends, Monarch migration update, we have achieved our fundraising goal!, Harbor Seal pup hauled out, flight of the Snow Buntings, and a very rare for these parts wandering Wood Stork calls Cape Ann home for a month.
