Category Archives: MassWildlife

PLover and Monarch News, Full Wolf Moon, and Barred Owl in the Snow

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Dear PiPl Friends,

I hope you are doing well. We are keeping our family and friends in our hearts as they struggle to return to a normal way of life after the tragic LA firestorms. I hope the winds die down soon so recovery can begin in earnest. Our daughter shares that she and her boyfriend are bringing supplies to firehouse donation centers and she is keeping her hummingbird feeders well-filled as there are more birds than ever in her garden.

Thursday night I am giving a screening and Q and A of our Monarch film, Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly for the Carlisle Conservation Foundation at the Gleason Public Library. We have super good news to share regarding the Monarch film – the contract has been renewed with American Public Television, which means our documentary will be airing on PBS for another three years! We will have two nature documentaries simultaneously airing on public television 🙂 Our film about the magnificent migrating Monarchs provides a wealth of information not only about the life story of the butterfly, but also suggestions on what to plant to support the Monarchs throughout their time spent in their northern breeding range.

We had a beautiful snowfall this past weekend. Snow storms and snowfalls have become so few and far between over the past few years in our area that I hopped in my car before sunrise and headed north to film what I could, hopefully before the snow stopped. There was hardly a soul about. A wonderful variety of songbirds was foraging in the falling snow and also a very hungry Barred Owl was zooming from tree to tree surrounding an adjacent field. I pulled myself away before she caught her prey because I didn’t want to have any part in preventing her from capturing her breakfast. Fortuitously, the very next day, a friend shared a post on how to tell the difference between a male and female Barred Owl. You can read the post here. I concluded the BO flying to and from her tree perches was a female. It was magical watching her in the falling snow. Link to video of her flying –https://vimeo.com/1047197766 or you can watch it on Facebook or Instagram.

The deadline is fast approaching for underwriting opportunities for our documentary, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. We need to have all the names of underwriters in by January 20th to fulfill our contract with American Public Television. If you would like to join our underwriting pod with a contribution to our film and have your name or your organization’s name included in our underwriting credit pod please email me asap. An example of an underwriting pod  – This film was brought to you by the Apple Tree Foundation, The Shorebird Conservation Fund, Lark and Phoenix Bird, …, and viewers like you (these are just sample names). Please note that every time the film airs and streams on PBS over the next three years, possibly six years, the name of your organization will be acknowledged. Of course, we gratefully accept all contributions to our documentary at any time, but if you would like to be recognized in this way, please let me know.

Common Grackle Eating Plover eggs

I can’t believe that in only two short months Plovers and shorebirds will be returning to our beaches. Please contact me if you would like to join our Plover Ambassador team. Research from scientists in the Michigan Great Lakes region made Plover news this past week. Common Grackles were documented foraging on Piping Plover eggs. This is very noteworthy but not too surprising to our Cape Ann Plover Ambassadors as we have seen our Plovers defending their nests from Grackles. There is a very large roost of Common Grackles on Nautilus Road, opposite Good Harbor Beach. The Plovers distract the Grackles with their broken wing display and tag-team attack behavior. We wondered, were the Grackles posing a real threat or did the Plovers behave this way because Common Crows and Grackles look somewhat similar? Crows notoriously eat Plover eggs at every stage of development, from newly laid to near hatch date. We now know definitively the answer as to why our Good Harbor Beach Plovers are on high alert around Grackles!

Stay safe and warm and cozy,

xxKim

Beautiful Owl in the Snow – and How to tell the Difference Between Male and Female Barred Owls

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A photographer friend, Karen, recently shared a very helpful photo that shows how to tell the difference between a male and female Barred Owl, especially if they are not side by side. Females are generally  larger, but it’s less usual to see a pair together. Reportedly, the white feathers around the male’s eyes form a V-shape, while the female’s feathers form a backward and forward C-shape.

Gregory Wajtera Photo

The Barred Owl that was very actively hunting in the snow I think is a female based on the photo Karen shared. What do you think? 

Love the new Give Owls Space signs at DCR properties!

A second very thoughtful and super helpful article about safely viewing Snowy Owls in my inbox today, this from Mass Audubon –

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Snowy Owls Are Back in Massachusetts—Here’s What You Need to Know

Mass Audubon December 3, 2024

Every fall, usually in November, enchanted visitors make their way from the Arctic tundra to the (relatively) warmer lands in Massachusetts. With white feathers speckled grey and piercing yellow eyes, the return of Snowy Owls brings joy to birders, photographers, and Harry Potter fans alike. These majestic birds spend the winter in open spaces such as large salt marshes, agricultural fields, and even airports, before heading back to their northern breeding grounds around April.

While their arrival causes excitement among many, there are a few important things to keep in mind before searching them out.

Why Am I Hearing More About Snowy Owls Now?

Snowy Owls (or “snowies”) travel south every winter to hunt and feed in warmer weather, but the number that appear each season varies from year to year. An irruptive species, they respond to changes in the conditions of their home territory by moving elsewhere in search of food. Some of the factors that trigger irruptions include variations in their Arctic food supply, severe snow and ice cover in their usual wintering areas, or a superabundance of owls resulting from an exceptional nesting season.

Snowy Owl swooping on beach dune. Photo by Marilyn Blake

Snowy Owls Face Challenges

Most of the owls found in Massachusetts during the winter are young, inexperienced, and face many challenges. They must master hunting prey and evading predators; avoid being hit by vehicles or getting electrocuted; fend off disease and rodenticide poison; and deal with disruptions by people while roosting and hunting. While some challenges are beyond our control, individual actions can help minimize human disturbances.

Don’t Disturb the Snowies While Viewing Them

As a community of bird-lovers and conservationists, we can avoid making survival any more difficult for these spectacular raptors by giving them plenty of space.

Primarily nocturnal, Snowy Owls mostly roost (rest or sleep) during the daytime to conserve energy. Groups of observers can keep Snowy Owls from resting; birds are often forced to fly and relocate repeatedly if multiple photographers or birders approach them. To protect the Snowy Owls, give them the space they need to survive.

Distance is Key: When observing an owl, stay at least 50 yards (150 feet) away. That’s about half of a football field, or five school buses stacked end-to-end. Bring and utilize your binoculars or a zoom camera lens to keep your distance while viewing.
Manage Your Group: When viewing an owl with a group of people, view from one location and never surround or attempt to approach the owl to get a better view or photograph.
Watch for Behavioral Clues: If the bird becomes alert, extends its neck upright, and eyes become wide open, you have disturbed it and you should back off immediately.
By following these ethical birding and bird photography best practices, you can help ensure a successful breeding season for future generations.

How Mass Audubon is Helping Snowy Owls

Norman Smith Photo by John Cole

Logan Airport has the largest known concentration of Snowy Owls in the Northeast. The airport owls help by scaring away other birds that might endanger aircraft. Unfortunately, they are also large enough to pose a threat themselves. To protect both birds and jets, Mass Audubon’s Norman Smith has been safely capturing and relocating Snowy Owls since 1981. These re-releases allow our team to learn more about the birds’ health, flight patterns, and more. Learn more about the Snowy Owl Project

Explore Opportunities to View Snowy Owls Respectfully

Mass Audubon offers bird walks and Snowy Owl-focused programs, where our expert naturalists will lead the way in observing owls without disrupting their much-needed daytime rest.

Stop at the Blue Hills Trailside Museum in Milton for a guaranteed way to see two Snowy Owls up close without disturbing them. The owls in their exhibit cannot survive in the wild due to injuries and now serves as animal ambassadors.

Today in the Gloucester Daily Times – Snowy Owl’s return to region brings back birding debate

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Fantastic article about viewing owls safely in today’s Gloucester Daily Times – 

By Dave Rogers, with contributions from Ethan Forman

The recent return of snowy owls to the region has rekindled a longstanding debate whether birders and photographers get too close to comfort for the birds of prey.

It has also prompted the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge to issue a cautionary statement after one was spotted recently on a refuge beach.

“Promoting ethical wildlife watching behavior is critical to our mission at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge,” the statement reads. “We appreciate the many people who have reached out recently for tips on engaging in ethical wildlife observation, as well as how to talk with their friends, family, and other visitors when they witness unsafe behaviors.”

The refuge also offered a series of tips including staying at least 100 yards away from the birds and other wildlife. If an animal reacts to a person’s presence, he or she is too close.

READ MORE HERE

Photos Courtesy DCR

‘Loving’ Snowy Owls to Death Part One

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A beautiful Snowy Owl arrives after an arduous journey from Arctic lands. The creature wants nothing more than to rest and to hunt. Within a day of its arrival, photos and video of the Owl  are slathered all over Facebook and the bird’s location is revealed. The following morning, the Snowy returns to his perch along the river’s mouth, but now there are 30 plus humans staring him down. The Owl, who would much rather stay at rest, finds the audience disconcerting and flies across the river to the opposite side. Soon enough, the gathering of humans has tracked him down, this time surrounding the Owl. Some humans move in even closer, much, much too close, causing the bird to flush yet again. This time he flies deeper into the dunes. The pursuit does not end. The humans are hot on his trail.

How does this end for the Snowy? I do not know. I was hoping to find Snow Buntings and seals  this morning but had to leave as I did not want to stay to watch the hunt of the Snowy Owl .

There were very few Snowy Owls in Massachusetts last year and I believe there will be much pent up desire to view them this year. Additionally, I think people have developed ‘Owl Fever;’ they just can’t leave these beautiful creatures alone. Perhaps if people understood their needs they would less selfishly pursue the Owls.

A Snowy at rest along the water’s edge or in the dunes is just that, resting.  The Owl needs to sleep and to conserve its energy for hunting and to keep warm. Snowy Owls are unique in that they are more acclimated to hunting during daylight hours than other owl species. They hatched and matured in regions where there has been continuous daylight for much of their young lives. That being said, they occasionally hunt during the day, but are mostly crepuscular and nocturnal, hunting at dawn, dusk, and during the night. Gatherings of humans have been known to park themselves for hours upon hours, waiting for the Owl to take off for its early evening hunt.

Human caused disturbance is not the only reason Snowies are struggling to survive. Like all raptors, they can become deathly ill from the widespread use of rodenticide. I am reminded of the story of the amazing Snowy Owl, Seabrook, who was rescued from death’s door by the photographer Jonathan Herrick and On the Wing wildlife rehabilitators. Seabrook was found by Jonathan as he lay dying on the beach, unable to fly from the rodenticide poison coursing through his body.

How can people help the Snowies?

As human stewards of these magnificent creatures, we are responsible for putting their needs ahead of our own desire to see them or photograph them up close. When you are out and about and happen to see a Snowy, take a few photos, and move on. The owls are completely and fully aware of your presence. Parking yourself for any length of time brings attention to the bird and will surely draw a crowd.

If you are able to capture a few photos, please, please please do not post them on Facebook and other social media platforms until the Owl has departed the vicinity. I have learned the hard way. For example, with other birds that are vulnerable to disturbance, nesting Piping Plovers for instance, I wait until the birds are fledged before sharing photos or footage of the chicks.

Most importantly, give them lots and lots of space, standing a minimum distance of 200 feet away.

A few more tips – 

Stay low and hide behind a shrub, tree, or car if possible.

Move slowly, and if with a friend, speak softly.

Again, please don’t park yourself for hours near a Snowy. Take a few photos and MOVE ON.

And, of course, never use rat poison (rodenticides).

On the Wing wildlife rehabilitator Jane Kelly and USFWS biologist Bri Benvenuti set Seabrook off on his flight for freedom.

Our Beautifully Industrious Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Has Returned!

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Last spring I wrote about a female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that stayed in our garden for over a month. We were fascinated watching her daily activities; so much so  that I was inspired to write a poem and Charlotte nicknamed her Miss Featherton. We are excited beyond measure to see the return of our beautiful YBSS. Just as she did in the spring, Miss Featherton perches in the Dragon Lady Holly throughout the day.  She cautiously guards, and continues to maintain, the sap wells that she so pertinaciously dug. The sap is not flowing as vigorously as during the spring months but there is enough for her to take in a bunch of licks and the wells continue to attract insects. This morning I filmed her snatching a Yellowjacket that had stopped by to investigate the sweet sap.

We read that YBSS drill holes in unhealthy trees and were concerned our tree may beginning to decline. No need to worry though as you can see in the film clip, the holly is absolutely loaded with plump cadmium red berries.

My Yellow-bellied Sapsucker poem –

Sap-licker

Startled songbird silently flings
from approaching steps.

Behavior not usually seen by the insouciant
feathered friends that call our garden home.

Why so timorous?

Neatly arranged squares and holes
riddle the bark of the Dragon Lady Holly.

The masterfully drilled, cambium pierced checkered grid is glistening
in the sun – with deep wells and narrow streamlets of sweetness.

A sap-lick!

I wait to see her, half hidden and as
quiet as the owl after a long night

Weary and bedraggled, the Sapsucker returns
An arduous migration, no doubt.

She pauses guardedly
No one must know of her creation
with its treasured life fluid seeping down branches.

Her soft yellow belly and stippled feather patterning
Mirrors the spotty bark.

Her camouflage is not blown. She dives in with tender gusto
Delicately excavating the holes with brush tongue.

Wind rustles through leaves and she flings off
Only to return again and again and again
To her life-giving channels of gold flowing through tree veins.

YBSS are the only woodpeckers that are completely migratory. They breed further north and west of eastern Massachusetts and spend the winter months in warmer climates; some females traveling as far south as Panama. I wonder if we will see the return of the male this fall as well. It was just a year ago in December that we had our first ever Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a male, and he was eating the fruits of the Pokeberry bush. It was also the first year with a Pokeberry. The plant is rather ungainly and I had some trepidation about allowing it to take hold but if a bit of awkwardness is the price to pay for a garden inviting Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, I’ll take it!

Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Pokeberry – note the male has a red chin as well as a red cap.

Timeline of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Pokeberry –

Summer 2023 – Newly seeded Pokeberry bush grows six feet first summer (most likely the seed was deposited by a bird).

December 2023 – First ever male YBSS. Stays for several days eating Pokeberries.

March – May 2024 –  Female YBSS created striking grid pattern of sap wells on both the Holly and Magnolia trees, concentrating her efforts much more on the Holly. She spends many weeks drinking the sap, digging more wells, and eating insects attracted to the sap flows. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds discover the sap wells.

Summer 2024 – Ruby-throated Hummingbirds daily drink nectar from the small pinkish whiteish flowers of the Pokeweed.

October 2024 – Female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker returns, with daily visits into November. How long will she stay?

Grow native and they will come!

Super Update on Banded Peregrine Falcon

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Over the weekend, I wrote to our Massachusetts State Ornithologist, Andrew Vitz, about the banded Peregrine Gloucester that I had seen running on the beach. Andrew wrote back right away with lots of terrific information. The beautiful loping falcon is referred to as PEFA 71/CD. She was banded as an adult female after being rehabbed at Tufts Wildlife Clinic. She was released in May 2023 in Hingham. PEFA 71/CD was re-sighted on November 2023, in Hull.

Andrew ccd Dr. Maureen Murray, who is the Director of the Tufts Wildlife Clinic at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Maureen wrote back that she and her team are delighted to know that one of their former patients is doing well and provided even more details.  “A Peregrine Falcon was brought to Tufts Wildlife Clinic at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University by Hingham Animal Control back in March 2023 with a fracture of the right ulna. The injury was bandaged and the falcon responded well to treatment. Eventually the bird was moved to a small outdoor enclosure to begin strengthening the wing. By late April, the falcon was showing good flight in the smaller enclosure, and the bird was moved to a larger flight cage for final flight reconditioning. The falcon was released in Hingham on May 8, 2023.”

We are so grateful for the expert care given to local wildlife by the caring staff at Tufts Wildlife Clinic and Massachusetts Wildlife rehabbers, including our own Jodi at Cape Ann Wildlife Inc.Wondering where a falcon’s ulna is located, a quick Google search came up with the diagram of a Peregrine Falcon’s wing structure. You can see from the short video of Miss PEFA 71/CD that her wings are working perfectly!

 

CALLING ALL GARDENERS – MONARCHS NEED OUR HELP!

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Please don’t tidy up your garden just yet. The Monarch migration is really lagging compared to other years. The weather has not been cooperating and they have been waiting for the winds to shift from the northwest. Finally, it happened and yesterday and we saw our first signs of the migration with several small passels. The issues are that because the migration is later than normal and because of the drought, many wildflowers have passed peak. In other words, the Monarch migration is out of sync with the blooming time of the most nectar-rich native wildflowers.

Monarchs and Seaside Goldenrods back in September

How can gardeners help? If we must tidy up, please at least wait until the end of the October. Leave your sunflowers, asters, goldenrods, dahlias, verbenas, cosmos, Mexican sunflowers, zinnias, butterfly bushes, and Montauk Daisies in place. Even if they appear a bit unruly, in many instances, the butterflies are still able to extract some nectar.

Monarchs migrating in October need our garden stalwarts, such as Zinnias

Tracking the migration overnight roost population numbers from Journey North, you can see that by October 10th, 2024, so far, the Atlantic Flyway population is way, way down.

The northwest winds are predicted for the next several days. Please write and share any Monarch sightings. Thank you!

Monarch and Mexican Sunflowers – safe travels Monarca!

Blue Jay Caching Acorn!

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What a treat to observe the half dozen or so Blue Jays zooming around the garden, caching acorns for the winter.  They’d perch with nut in beak, carefully eyeing  the ground for an ideal spot. Once located, the Jay would swoop down. I didn’t want to move from my perch and risk being noticed so I couldn’t see exactly how they were hiding the acorn but when they resurfaced, no nut!

Some interesting notes about Blue Jays – Research has shown Blue Jays making over 1,000 trips in one day to hide food. They mainly select undamaged nuts that are viable, meaning if the bird does not recover the nut, it will grow. The record a Blue jay traveled to hide food is 2.5 miles. This behavior has greatly helped helped the the range of expansion of oak trees and now over 11 species of oaks are dependent upon Blue Jay dispersal of acorns.  The rapid expansion of oaks after the ice age may be a result of the northern transport of acorns by Blue Jays.

 

Are Beavers Tool Users?

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In thinking about the happy outcome for Nibi the orphaned Beaver, Massachusetts newest wildlife ambassador, I was reminded of some footage I took of a Beaver over the summer (for the full story about Nibi, visit the Newhouse Wildlife Rescue Facebook page here).

The Beaver dove down to retrieve some kind of vegetative tuber or rhizome, a behavior I have seen countless times. He/she resurfaced, ate half, and then proceeded to use the half eaten rhizome to scrub his face. Okay that’s interesting but perhaps just a fluke. A few minutes later, the Beaver dove again and returned with a fresh rhizome, this time with his left side facing the camera. After munching away for a few moments, he then groomed the left side of his face with the rhizome in his left paw. Wow, so thorough to scrub both sides, and with a “tool!”

The video footage is longer than the usual post but he’s so cute at the end I had to include that, too. You can see his long orange tooth at about 1 minute 20 seconds in.

I wondered, are Beavers considered “tool users?” They build their lodges by cutting down and arranging trees, packing all with mud and that may or may not be called tool use, but to use vegetable matter to groom his face? That certainly seems as though it would qualify as tool use.

 

ECO FILM AWARD! Thank you BFF and Supporters!

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Dear PiPl Friends,

I hope you are enjoying these fleeting days of mild weather. Our local and migrating wildlife surely are! As many of you are aware, while developing the Piping Plover film, I have been filming the third documentary in the trilogy (loosely referred to as The Pond Film). Filming is taking place at area freshwater locations; ponds and marshes of every kind at a multiple of Massachusetts sites. Yesterday I was back at Niles Pond and saw a first at the Pond, a migrating Bobolink! He/she surfaced for a brief moment while foraging in the reeds, long enough to capture a few seconds of footage. During the spring and summer, we can see Bobolinks at a number of Greenbelt properties that manage their sites for grassland nesting birds. Bobolinks are one of the longest distance migrating songbirds, traveling about 12,000 miles every year. When migrating, they are usually seen in flocks and hope this lone Bobolink finds his way.

I want to again thank all who attended our premiere at the Boston Film Festival, and to everyone who couldn’t come but have championed the Plovers along the way. If you receive these email updates, you have been a supporter in one way or another and we are so grateful for your help. I am honored to share that we received the Eco Film Award from the Boston Film Festival! We are so appreciative of the tremendous gift provided by Robin Dawson and the BFF team for filmmakers to share their stories with the public. The Boston Film Festival is a stellar organization, in every way, and we are so proud to have been a part of the 40th annual festival. Congratulations to all the films and filmmakers for your beautifully crafted outstanding films!

We had a fantastic houseful and I was beyond delighted that the audience saw both the humor and the vulnerability of our tiny feathered shorebird neighbors. Thank you also to Michelle Akelson and her fantastic team at Rockport Music for sharing the stunning Shalin Liu. And a very special shoutout to Cape Ann’s incredibly dedicated Piping Plover Ambassadors, and an extra, extra shoutout to the Ambassadors who were at the Shalin Liu lending a hand. Thank you Deborah Brown, Jennie Meyer, Jill Ortiz, Paula Niziak, Barbara Boudreau, Kim Bouris, and Sandy Barry.

More good news to share for the film. We have been accepted to two festivals in Ontario, one headquartered in Toronto, and the other Brooklin. I have also applied to several additional festivals in eastern Canada as Plovers breed along the coasts of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, PEIsland, New Brunswick, the Magdalen Islands of Quebec, and on both the US and Canadian sides of the Great Lakes. I was so hoping there would be interest in our documentary from our PiPl Friends in Canada and there very definitely is!

We are currently raising funds to bring The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay to public television. If you know of an individual, organization, business, or foundation that may have a particular interest in Massachusetts, wildlife, birds, conservation, eco/environmental films, and would like to be an underwriter, please let me know. In our funding presentation deck, we provide a great deal of information showing how it works and the extensive benefits to the underwriter.

And please write and let me know of any interesting and unusual wildlife sightings you encounter during this beautiful fall migration.

Happy Sunday!
Warmest wishes,
Kim

The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay Easter Eggs

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There are a bunch of eggs in our Plover film. Not only Plover eggs, but Easter eggs. Some are more obvious than others. I hope you have fun finding them!

A characteristic behavior of many male Plovers when they first arrive to a potential breeding site is called “flight display.” The birds circle around and around a location, piping loudly. A male showing flight display behavior will do this for several days, and even longer. Hopefully, he will eventually attract the attention of a female. The above clip is an obvious Easter egg 🙂

Thank you to everyone who is planning to attend.  We are so very much looking forward to seeing you!

Stunning Rare Massachusetts Butterfly – The Bronze Copper

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An utter joy this morning encountering the exquisite Bronze Copper butterfly, not often seen in Massachusetts (especially in Essex County). The butterfly is listed as endangered in New Jersey and a species of concern in Connecticut.

The Bronze Copper is larger than it’s much more commonly seen close relative, the American Copper, but still relatively small at only 1 and 1/4 to 1 and 7/8 in inches.

The male was drinking heartily from the Seaside Goldenrod. It’s caterpillar food plants are members of of the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae), including curly dock (Rumex crispus).

Compare to the American Copper

 

 

Eye to Eye with a Painted Turtle

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The extraordinary eyes of a Painted Turtle. Just one of a number of recent eye to eye encounters with pond wildlife, including a Coyote!
Double click on the photo to get a close-up view of the turtle’s eyes.

Reminder to Reserve Tickets at the Shalin Liu for The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay Documentary Premiere!

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Dear Friends,

I hope you are enjoying these wonderfully warm last days of summer. I can see the critters sure are! Herons, butterflies, frogs, dragonflies, beavers, bees, hawks, Kingfishers, (even a Merlin!); our ponds, meadows, and shores are teeming with wildlife preparing for winter.

I have been super busy fundraising and organizing deliverables for festivals and apologize for not sharing some of the incredible stories taking place right here in our own backyards. As soon as I get further along in all, I’ll share the images and footage. Some of the most fascinating moments have been watching a beaver. I think I posted on my website a video of a beaver rubbing his belly. A few days later, I observed him/her as he exfoliated (for lack of a better word) his face. First he dove down and retrieved a water lily tuber, which is an especially favorite beaver food at this time of year. After eating half, he then used the tuber to scrub the left side of his face. I thought perhaps this was an anomaly. Five minutes later he dove down, retrieved a second tuber, agan eating half. Then he scrubbed the right side of his face with the tuber. It was charming and funny and amazing to see and to film. Coming soon 🙂

Please be sure to reserve your seats at the Shalin Liu for the premiere of our documentary, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. Here is the link: https://rockportmusic.org/boston-film-festival/ It’s a truly heartwarming story and I think Massachusetts residents especially will be delighted with the film. Also, we are having a Q and A following the screening. Tickets are free but you do need to reserve in advance. That the tickets are free is a wonderfully generous gift to our community from the Boston Film Festival and Rockport Music. The 23rd is a Monday and 5:15pm is early enough in the evening for kids to see on a school night. Please bring your family and friends. We would love to see you there!

Warmest wishes,
xxKim

From teeny hatchlings to the miracle of fledging on crowded urban beaches, come celebrate the beautiful life story of the Piping Plover with us!

PIPEVINE SWALLOWTAIL CATERPILLARS HATCHING!

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Our beautiful Mom Pipevine Swallowtail left several clutches of eggs and both hatched yesterday. They are so teeny tiny, but I think there are about 25 caterpillars in all.

She laid several additional clutches over a period of several days and these batches are way up in the treetops. Good thing our Pipevine plant is so vigorous, possibly about 15 feet high, with still plenty of growth left in it for the season.

The eggs were oviposited on August 13, emerging on the 20th – a one week gestation period.

A ZABULOUS ZABULON ENGAGEMENT!

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These tiny pretty skippers in our garden were in an amorous way. After much wing shimmering and nudging, the pair flew off together where they were not seen again until later in the day.

I believe they are Zabulon Skippers. I just love saying that name, Zabulon. Doesn’t it sound enchanting? When the wings of the Zabulon Skipper are fully spread, they only measure a mere one to one and a half inches!

Skippers are butterflies in the family Hesperidae and are named for their super quick darting flight habit; when these two were spotted seeming in repose, I turned my zooming camera’s eye to see what would happen next. While vibrating their wings in turns, the male moved in closer and then repeatedly placed his head between her hind wings.

 

Skippers differ in a number of ways from other families of butterflies. Several ways to tell the difference when out in the field are that skippers have antennae with clubs at the tip that hook backwards, similar to a crochet hook. All other butterflies have knob-like tips to their antennae. Skippers also have stockier, more robust bodies

According to the Massachusetts Butterfly website, Zabulon Skipper caterpillar food plants “include Tridens flava (purpletop) and Eragrostis spp. (lovegrass). They deposit their eggs on a wide variety of grasses in the wild, and its full range of host plants has not been fully investigated, especially in Massachusetts.” The adults nectar from a number of flowering plants; the day they were courting in our garden, the male was drinking nectar from the bell-shaped blue blossoms of our Clematis ‘Betty Corning’ and they were zipping around the Zinnia patch.

Zabulon Skipper – male

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!

MONARCH ALERT! #plantandtheywillcome

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This past week, Monarchs have been spotted at my friend Patti’s garden in East Gloucester, at Wolf Hill Garden Center, and in our garden. I was overjoyed to see she was a female, depositing eggs on the tender new foliage of Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca).

Please write and let us know when you see your first Monarch. Thank you!

Wolf Hill is carrying a fabulous array of native plants, including both A. syriaca and Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa).

Monarch egg – a miniature golden dome, the size of a pinhead

CONSTRICTOR SNAKES IN MASSACHUSETTS!

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We were very, very sad to see this long, slender dead snake on our street however, it gave us the opportunity to learn more about the snakes in our neighborhood. We have here a beautiful Eastern Milksnake. Reading more, it appears to be one of two of the 14 species of snakes found in Massachusetts that is a constrictor, the other being the more rarely seen and declining Northern American Racer (a species listed as ‘of Special Concern’).

Fun facts – Milksnakes are generally nocturnal; they don’t bask in the sun and usually hide throughout the day. Milksnakes don’t actually squeeze their prey to death but suffocate it. Milksnakes will vibrate their tail when disturbed.

Don’t you love the patterning in the scales, both the checkerboard underside and the upper surface? Unfortunately, Milksnakes look similar to the venomous Eastern Copperhead, and they are often needlessly killed because of the resemblance.

How to tell the difference between the non-poisonous Milksnake and the Copperhead: They can be distinguished by a few basic characteristics. “The head of a Copperhead is copper-colored and never marked, while the Milksnake’s head has the light “V-” or “Y-shaped” mark.

Note the “Y” mark on the Milksnake’s head

The Copperhead has a wide triangle-shaped head joined to a narrow neck; the Milksnake’s head is narrow. The Copperhead has only one row of crossbands down its heavy body in contrast to the Milksnake’s 3 to 5 rows of blotches down a slender body. The Milksnake has smooth scales while the copperhead has keeled scales (raised ridge along the center of each scale).” From the Connecticut Department of  Energy and Environmental Protection.

Read more about snakes of Massachusetts here.

Good Harbor Beach Gray Seal Update

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The young Gray Seal pup at Good Harbor Beach has returned safely to the sea. He spent the day at the beach under supervision while most people and dog owners kept themselves and their dogs a safe distance from the resting seal.

This is the time of year when seals are becoming weaned from their Moms. They are found on shore for a variety of reasons, often simply to rest. Not always though. Sometimes they may be injured, starving, trying to escape danger, or ill.

Please keep at least 150 feet away from a resting seal and call the Seacoast Science hotline (603-997-9448) to let the staff there know of the stranding.