Category Archives: MassWildlife

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.

Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly at the Essex Greenbelt Film Series!

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Please join me for a FREE screening and Q and A of Beauty on the Wing as part of the Essex County Greenbelt Film and Lecture Series, tomorrow evening from 6:30 to 8:30.

Beauty on the Wing – Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly Mar, 14

WHEN: Thurs., March 14, 6:30-8:30 pm WHERE: HC MEDIA, Studio 101 2 Merrimack St., Haverhill WHAT: Experience the magical migration that happens in our midst, unfolding in backyards, farms, meadows, fields, and along the shoreline, wherever milkweed and wildflowers grow. Stay after the film for a Q&A with Director Kim Smith. Photo: Kim Smith

More from the Industrious Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Time to Hang Your Hummingbird Feeders!

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Despite that our little woodpecker friend has an injury under her right wing, the extraordinarily industrious Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has, for the past five days, worked on, and dined from, her sapwells. She arrives each morning at sunrise, departing around noontime. The timelapse video shows only one hour of her morning, compressed into one minute.

Dubbed Miss Featherton by Charlotte, the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker arrived bedraggled and injured but I think is becoming rejuvenated from the sap. Insects, too, are beginning to appear at the wells. I read that Ruby-throated Hummingbirds often follow the migration of sapsuckers as they too will imbibe on the sap and insects attracted. We usually hang our Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeders out at the end of March, but with all the sap flowing, we hung our feeders a few days ago.Notice the red wound under her right wing from the still taken from the video

Now you see me, now you don’t –

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Is the coast clear?

Nope!

The featured photo above shows an Eastern Screech owl pair, both the gray and red morphs. The Screechie in the nest box is a gray morph

Happy World Wildlife Day! #WWD2024

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Every year on March 3rd, United Nations World Wildlife Day (WWD) is celebrated  The purpose of the celebration is to recognize the unique roles and contributions of wildlife to people and the planet.  Read more here.

A special event for World Wildlife day is being held at the UN tomorrow, March 4th, that anyone is welcome to tune into. Here is the link and more information:

https://www.linkedin.com/events/worldwildlifeday2024uncelebrati7163493005688041473/comments/

#SaveTheDate 📅 🌱 Tune in online to watch the hashtag#WorldWildlifeDay 2024 UN Celebration!

When: 4 March (10AM-1PM EST)
Where: webtv.un.org

This year, we are exploring digital innovation and highlighting how digital conservation technologies and services can drive wildlife conservation, sustainable and legal wildlife trade and human-wildlife coexistence, now and for future generations in an increasingly connected world. 📱💻🐟🐯🌳

Meet our organizing partners: UNDP, ifaw, Jackson Wild, and WILDLABS Community

hashtag#WWD2024 hashtag#ConnectingPeopleAndPlanet hashtag#DigitalInnovation hashtag#TechForWildlife

 

Long-eared Owl Plumicorns

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Did you say plumicorn!?

If you are in any way related to a four- or five-year-old, you have most decidedly been educated on the difference between a unicorn and an alicorn (alicorns are flying unicorns in case you were wondering). My new favorite science word is plumicorn, from the Latin for feather and horn.

The large protruding tufts of feathers on this pair of Long-eared Owls are not ears, despite the owl being named for the protuberances. An owl’s ears are hidden at the sides of its head, next to the eyes, and are covered in feathers.

The tufts atop the head are called plumicorns and they are display feathers. Scientist aren’t exactly sure why plumicorns are there and what purpose they serve but they do have several hypothesis –

  1. The plumicorns may serve as camouflage by breaking up the owl’s outline and making it appear more like a broken branch.
  2. They may help other Long-eared Owls recognize other LOEs.
  3. The plumicorns may enhance the owls ability to mimic a mammal and appear more frightening to predators.

The Long-eared Owls seen here were exquisitely camouflaged. The plumicorns black inner feathers, freckled with white, did look to me like a second pair of eyes- a black eye with light reflecting. See in the photo below if you can see how the Owl appears to have two pairs of eyes, one set atop the other. When the plumicorns are pointed upward, it looks as though the bird’s eyes are open, even though its real eyes may be closed. This would allow the bird to sleep ‘with its eyes wide shut;’ resting to restore its energy for the nightly hunt.

I learned in reading about LEOs that they form pair bonds during the winter. Females LEOs are larger than the males. One was clearly larger than the other although that could be because the least camouflaged Owl of the pair was also super fluffed for warmth. It was gift to see these infrequent visitors to Massachusetts out briefly on a rainy afternoon.

Most of the clips in the video are of the larger sleepier LEOwl, perhaps the female. The second to last clip is of the smaller Owl. I quickly skeedadled as he was aware of my presence and I did not want to disturb him during what should be their peaceful time of day.

Long-eared owls are amongst the most slender of all owls

Well camouflaged! You can see in the above photo that the black inner feathers of the plumicorn looks like an open eye.

 

Long-eared Owls in the rain. Royalty free music from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center “Chansons de Bilitis” Debussy

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY FROM HUBBA HUBBA BOY AND CINNAMON GIRL!

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With the warmer than average temperatures this past week, our winter resident ducks were in courtship mode.  The spunky Hooded Merganser drake seen here positioned himself at the edge of the reeds. He threw back his head, exhibiting his striking crest, while calling repeatedly to his girl.

Listen to the Hooded Merganser’s distinct courtship call, which sounds more frog-like than duck-like.  She, with her richly hued cinnamon colored crest, after a time appeared, and they then drifted off together to forage in the shallow waters of the pond.

Quinnie the Harlequin Catches a Crab!

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Dear Friends,

I had to take the week off from posting wildlife stories as I am in the home stretch of getting our Piping Plover documentary back to the film finishing editing studio. The film is coming along beautifully and we are already getting requests from communities to schedule soft screenings (unofficial screenings). One of the primary goals of the film is to help beachgoers better understand why we want to protect these valiant little shorebirds that are nesting in our midst and I think/hope/pray it will be successful in that regard <3. I can’t wait to share it with you all!

Although I haven’t been posting, I am still filming on early morning walks and am getting a backlog of wonderful wildlife scenes to share. There just are not enough hours in the day!!

With thanks and deepest appreciation to everyone who has so generously contributed to our film. If you would like to make a contribution, please go here to our tax deductible online fundraiser. All contributions go to the film finishing studio and to applying to film festivals.

With gratitude to the following PiPl friends for their kind contributions – Lauren Mercadante (New Hampshire), 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), and my sweet husband Tom 🙂

If you do not see your name listed above, please, please let me know. I absolutely do not want to leave anyone off. My computer crashed again and am working like crazy to recover all the data lost. Thank you!

Stay safe in the pending storm, and have lots of fun, too!

Warmest wishes,

xoKim

The handsome drake Harlequin we nicknamed Quinnie is finding a veritable feast while staying the winter on the shores of Cape Ann. He dives into the fast moving incoming tide, surfaces with a crab, then heads to a nearby rock to floof and digest his lunch.

Long Beach Seal

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Thank you to all who took the time to report the Harbor Seal struggling at Long Beach over the weekend. I am so sorry to share that the seal did not survive.

There were a number of people, and their dogs, touching and sniffing the seal when it was still alive. Please don’t, as much as to prevent terrifying the pup, as to prevent you or your pooch from being bitten.

I have had the greatest success with stranded or injured seals by contacting the Seacoast Science Center in New Hampshire. The SSC team is outstanding! Here is the number where you can report an injured seal: 603-997-9448

The following is advice from the Seacoast Science Center –

What should you do if you spot a live or dead seal or other marine mammal on a beach?

Marine Mammal Response Hotline: 603-997-9448

  • Watch quietly from at least 150 feet away
  • Keep dogs away from the animal
  • Do not pour water on the animal
  • Do not offer the animal food or water
  • Do not cover the animal with a towel or blanket
  • Do not try to move the animal
  • Call 603-997-9448 and report the animal’s location, size, coloring, and behavior.

The Gray Seal pup in the video below was rescued last year from Eastern Point by the Seacoast Science Center.

Gray Seal Adults

FATAL ATTRACTION – ROBIN TRAPPED IN BIRD NETTING

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Over the weekend I came upon a sweet American Robin trapped in green bird netting and fighting for it’s life. I waited several moments before approaching, hoping it would set itself free but the more the Robin struggled, the more tightly he became enmeshed. I approached cautiously so as not to stress the bird any more than it already was and was able to very carefully untwist the netting and release.

I was grateful for this easy extraction. Once before Charlotte and I had found a Robin wrapped tightly in bird netting. It took the farmer and I half an hour to carefully cut away the netting digging into the birds flesh and choking the life out of him.

Bats, birds, turtles, frogs, and small mammals all too often become entangled in the green netting draped over trees and shrubs. I could write more about the fatal attraction in planting an ornamental shrub with brilliant red bird-attracting berries, and then covering it with deadly dangerous netting, but what is the point of that?

Instead, the following are just only a few suggestions to help prevent deer browsing:

Wrap in burlap.

For new plantings, consider using individual cages. Paint white as wildlife can see that best at night. Please inspect exclosures regularly to ensure no little wild friends are trapped within.

Hang bars of the strongest smelling deodorant soap you can find, Irish Spring comes to mind.

On a positive note, the ‘winter’ Robins are here, dining on every berry in the neighborhood they can locate. One of the most joyful sights in winter is the criss crossing of Robins through our landscapes as they devour the fruits. For over a month, I have been filming them eating the following:  winterberry, which must be the tastiest as it was the first to go, sumac, crabapples, privet, rose hips, euonymus, and cedar berries.

Many, many thanks to the home owners of the hollies with the green mesh. I knocked on their door to let them know what had happened. Shortly after that, they cut away the green netting. Thank You!

 

A FLURRY OF ACTIVITY IN WOODPECKERVILE!

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The day before the most recent snowstorm, I was taking an early morning walk along a wooded  lane and was delighted by the flurry of activity taking place. There were at least half a dozen woodpeckers (of three different species), busily foraging and storing various food items. I wondered if they sensed the pending storm. The Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers were tapping at deadened bark (and the shingles of a neighbor’s home), and the Red-belied Woodpeckers were calling from the treetops and tucking dried fruits and nuts into their carved out holes.

For a brief few moments I felt as though I was in an enchanted forest. Not only surrounded by the earnest yammering and quick flashes of black and white woodpecker wings, but three does charged past, the Coyote pair was spied at the edge of the woods, a small flock of Cedar Waxwings and winter Robins were dining on rose hips, and a cheery pair of Carolina Wrens,. perched on a granite outcropping, were all on the scene.

Red-bellied Woodpecker storing dried fruits and nuts

Good Morning Sweet Chick!

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Dear Piping Plover Friends,

I hope you are having a joyous holiday season. If you live in the area, please be sure not to miss Gloucester’s Lobster Trap Tree. It’s extra magnificent this year, with 400 traps to honor Gloucester’s 400th anniversary. The tree is fancifully decorated with hundreds of buoys hand painted by local kids. Very generously, the traps for the tree were permanently given to the community by Jim Knott, CEO of Riverdale Mills, with the labor for making the traps donated by Brooks Trap Mill. Every year the tree is built by David Brooks, Shawn Henry and a fantastic group of local volunteers.

The clip is of a young Plover chick and his Dad. I love watching the little ones pop up from the warming wings of an adult. You never know what direction they are going to zoom off to but often enough, they stretch their tiny developing winglets and give a yawn after emerging from thermo-snuggling.

This is just one of hundreds of clips from our forthcoming documentary. Film finishing editing is going beautifully and we are planning to have a cut ready to submit to festivals in January.

Please consider making an end of the year tax deductible donation to our ongoing film funding efforts. Your contribution goes directly to the cost of finishing the film and is absolutely invaluable!

Donate here to our Network for Good online fundraiser .

We are deeply appreciative of every gift given, small and large. For large contributions, your name and organization’s logo is prominently displayed at the beginning and end of the film, with opportunities for up to 30 second promotional spots.  Please feel free to call or write with any questions regarding sponsorship. 

With gratitude to the following PiPl friends for their kind contributions – 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), and my sweet husband Tom 🙂

Thank you so very much for your support and for seeing the tender beauty in the life story of the Piping Plover.

Very best wishes,

xxKim

https://filmmakerscollab.networkforgood.com/projects/55077-filmmakers-collaborative-the-piping-plovers-of-moonlight-bay

GRAND NEWS FOR PIPING PLOVERS AND PROGRESS UPDATE ON OUR DOCUMENTARY #ploverjoyed

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Dear PiPl Friends,

Based on preliminary data from Mass Wildlife’s Endangered Species and Natural Heritage Program, approximately 1,145 pairs of Piping Plovers nested on Massachusetts beaches in 2023. This number is remarkable considering that when conservationists first began monitoring PiPls on Massachusetts beaches, there were fewer than 200 pairs. Because of the dedicated work of coastal waterbird conservation partners, volunteers, and regular beach going citizens, who all care deeply about the fate of these vulnerable little shorebirds, 50 percent of the Atlantic seaboard Piping Plover population now nests on Massachusetts beaches.

The short features two PiPl chicks and Dad Plover crossing handicap mats. The blue roll-out accessibility Mobi-mats have been installed at a number of Massachusetts beaches. They are wonderfully helpful for accessing the beach for wheel-chair bound people, and for families with baby strollers and wagons. I wondered how the Plovers would react. After a few moments of hesitation, our little Plover friends appeared unafraid, striding confidently across, and even stopping to investigate a bug.

The footage is from the forthcoming film, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. We are finessing, finessing, and finessing. With each edit, the film grows stronger. I am so proud of the work we have accomplished so far and in January we will begin submitting to film festivals!

Although Piping Plovers are slowly returning to the shores of Massachusetts, the Atlantic Coast Plover population as a whole remains at tremendous risk. Climate change, loss of habitat, vandalism, and predation are the primary challenges impeding the birds’ recovery. These same challenges are affecting not only Piping Plovers, but nesting shorebirds from coast to coast. I am thinking about the Western Snowy Plover, a closely related species that nests along the coast of California. Our documentary features the conservation policies and protocols of Massachusetts organizations. Whether a beachgoer recreating on the Atlantic Coast, shores of the Great Lakes, or Pacific Coast, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay will be tremendously valuable in helping communities better understand why these protocols are in place, precisely how the policies help Plovers, and how we can collectively, and individually, help plover species recover nationwide. And, I think too, you will be smitten by the loveable Plover family featured in our film.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to our online fundraiser to help complete our documentary. Filming is finished, however, post-production and festival costs have sky-rocketed; they are much greater than when we released our sister film project about species at risk, Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly. Working with the community to produce Beauty on the Wing was by far the most meaningful way to launch a film and we could not have done it without your help.

Please donate here to our Network for Good online fundraiser .

Feel free to call or write with any questions. We are deeply appreciative of any gifts given. Thank you.

With gratitude to the following PiPl friends for their kind contributions – 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), Sally Jackson (Gloucester), Marion Frost (Ipswich), Cecile Christianson (Peabody), Donna Poirier Connerty (Gloucester), Mary Rhinelander (Gloucester), Jane Hazzard (Georgetown), and my sweet husband Tom 🙂 Thank you so very much for your support and for seeing the tender beauty in the life story of the Piping Plover.

Very best wishes,

xxKim