Category Archives: Piping Plover Film

Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay Airing at Prince Edward Island!

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I am delighted to share that The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay is playing at the City Cinema of Charlottetown, PEI, on Thursday evening. This is a very special screening to me, brought to you by the Island Nature Trust; special because the INT is a fabulous organization striving to protect species at risk and to conserve their habitats. The Island Nature Trust is a model of great stewardship and I am honored that our film has been selected for screening.

Read more about the outstanding work being accomplished by the Island Nature Trust here.

helllo and thank you!

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Dear Friends,

I hope you are doing well. We are all in this together and I just know we will get through these difficult times. I am so proud of my community for the way organizations and individuals are pulling together to help the food insecure, especially The Open Door and Common Crow.

Wildlife stories and dramas continue despite all and I am grateful for that. I’ve only touched very lightly on posting about the amazing fall migration still underway. Look for upcoming stories about a tiny bird with the outsized name, Golden-crowned Kinglet, a pair of sweet Pectoral Sandpipers that stayed for a one-day stopover on their supreme 17,000 -20,000 mile round trip migration, a three woodpecker sighting day, and much more. Aren’t these atmospheric months of September, October, and November wonderful! Stormy weather and high winds sometimes bring not often seen creatures to our shores, only needing a brief respite, before resuming their extraordinary journeys.A male Pectoral Sandpiper – you can see he is a male because males have an inflatable air sac in his chest that he also utilizes to puff out his feathers during mating displays

I don’t think I shared the video about the fabulous four plants for pollinators – The Fab Four Plants for Monarchs (and Bees)! There are still a few Monarchs straggling along, some still even in Ontario. The latest I have ever seen a Monarch in our area was November 4th. It was memorable because it was also the year Barack Obama was first elected president. A note about the Fab Four plants. Common Milkweed can be substituted with Marsh Milkweed, Seaside Goldenrod with Canada Goldenrod or Tall Goldenrod, and Smooth Aster with either New York or Purple-stemmed Asters. The idea is sturdy nectar-rich plants that also provide a convenient landing pad and that bloom late in the season.

I was nominated for the City of Gloucester’s Kindness Campaign by our Ward One City Councilman Scott Memhard, and accepted the award on behalf of our wonderful team of dedicated and kind Plover ambassadors and friends. Please read more here.

November 1st and 2nd are the days Dia de Muertos is celebrated. One of the most evocative locations we were invited to film at during the making of Beauty on the Wing was a small family cemetery in Macheros, a remote village at the base of Cerro Pelon Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.

Honoring our loved ones with offerings on this beautiful Dia de Muertos.
xxKim

The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay comes to Canada x 2

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Dear PiPl Friends,

I am delighted to share two good things. The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay has been accepted to the Brampton Canada International Film Festival, which is a relatively new festival based in Ontario, and we are having a film screening in December at the City Cinema, sponsored by the Island Nature Trust, which is located at Prince Edward Island. We love our neighbors to the north and I am deeply honored. Thank you BCIFF and Island Nature Trust. We are so very grateful for the opportunity to share our documentary with Canadians.

Recently I attended a great talk given by the entomologist and conservationist Doug Tallamy, which was sponsored by a fantastic local organization, 400 Trees Gloucester and hosted by the Annisquam Village Church.  Please read more about local efforts to grow native here.

Winged wonders continue to migrate across our shores, with Little Blue Herons the most recently departed. I posted photos of LBHerons and Snowy Egrets, along with a short video of a dragonfly run-in with a Little Blue here.Monarch Butterflies and native wildflower Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens)

We had another wave of migrating Super Monarchs, the third this season however, the wind conditions have kept the butterflies moving and that is why we are not seeing many in our gardens during this year’s migration. Continue to keep on the lookout. Goldenrods are winding down their blooming period but asters, especially New England Asters and Smooth Asters, are still flowering.

Please continue to share what creatures you are seeing in your neighborhoods. Thank you 🙂 This morning I saw a tiny little member of the weasel family, a Short-tailed Weasel, also called an Ermine or a Stout. She was only about six inches in length, with chocolate brown fur and a bright white belly. She was so fast and darted between rocks before I could take a photo, but we did have a few seconds of startled eye to eye contact. Just adorable!

Thinking about Jane Goodall – her beautiful, thoughtful spirit and the extraordinary gift she left, inspiring all to protect our planet.

xxKim

Gombe, Tanzania – Jane Goodall and infant chimpanzee reach out to touch each other’s hands. (National Geographic Creative/ Hugo Van Lawick)

Just Me and My Shadow

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Happy Bday to our 45-day-old Piping Plover fledgling! He/she is the last of the Good Harbor Beach flyers. The photo/video was taken on Thursday when the little one was 42 days, or six weeks old. This is the age when we typically see them head out for their southbound migration. He’s still here as of Saturday but we are hoping to not see him any day now 🙂

I am very sorry to share that the rescue Plover did not survive. Tufts wrote that the chick had multiple chronic healed fractures and that the wing was held in a permanently drooped position. He would never be able to fly.  I was at first feeling extremely low about this but both our partners at Audubon and Lis from DCR wrote that if left on the beach its demise would have been very traumatic and, if not eaten by a predator, would slowly starve to death.

Thank you so very much to everyone who wrote with well-wishes for the injured Plover.

Piping Plover September Update

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Dear PiPl Friends,

Our youngest fledgling has resurfaced at Good Harbor Beach! He/she had not been since the morning of the fierce hail and rain storm but there she was in the soft sand today, preening and sleeping alongside a mini flock of Semipalmated Plovers. Will they migrate south  together? Piping Plovers are reportedly solitary but are often seen during the non-breeding months foraging in mixed groups of Semipalmated Plovers, Sanderlings, and Dunlins. Several years ago, during their southward migration, I saw a flock of a dozen Piping Plovers tucked in with several hundred Semipalmated Plovers, all resting on the upper part of the beach.

39 day old Piping Plover fledgling with Semipalmated Plovers

Semipalmated Plover range map – orange = breeding, yellow = migration, blue = wintering grounds

You can see from the map that the range of Semipalmated Plovers is vast when compared to Piping Plovers. They nest in subarctic and arctic environments and that is why we do not see them nesting at our local beaches. August is the peak time of year for the Semipalmated Plover’s southbound migration and we have seen many at Good Harbor Beach over the past month. Partners in Flight estimates the global population to be about 200,000 while the Piping Plover population as of 2020 was only about 8,000 adults.

Semipalmated Plovers are often mistaken by beachgoers for Piping Plovers.  During the southward migration, their feathers are faded and worn, which only increases confusion.

Semipalmated Plovers are called as such because only their two outer toes are webbed, ie. semi. The photos show the webbed tracks and the partial webbing of the toes.

From Life Traces of a Georgia Coast

Birds of the World

Piping Plover tracks

Enjoy this beautiful Labor Day,
xxKim

Thank You Montclair Film and The Nature Conservancy!

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Many, many thanks to Debbi Bernstein from Montclair Film, Mary Conti from The Claridge Theatre, and The Nature Conservancy in New Jersey for a fantastic screening and QandA of The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. We had a full house and a very engaged audience with many thoughtful questions. Thank you so much to everyone that attended!

I especially enjoyed sharing the Qand A panel with Damon Noe, who is the Critical Lands Manager at the Nature Conservancy in New Jersey. He has been working on the restoration of South Cape May Meadows, an area on the New Jersey coastline that was destroyed by storms in the 1990s. Least Terns, Piping Plovers, and American Oystercatchers breed at South Cape May Meadows. New Jersey Coastal land managers are dealing with all the same issues that we are struggling with along the Massachusetts coastline, including predation, flooding, and nest wash outs. I loved learning about the innovative methods they are trying and I think we too on Cape Ann can benefit from trying their very successful experiments.

Photos courtesy Montclair Film and The Claridge

Mystery Plover at Good Harbor Beach

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The morning after the first super high tide at Good Harbor Beach we were surprised and delighted to see a third Plover had joined our Fierce Dad and his almost-fledged chick. We found the three on the narrowest strip of beach that had not been impacted by the hurricane tide. They have been seen together ever since!

Mystery/Butterball left, Fierce Dad right30 day old Piping Plover chick

I think my daughter may have solved the Mystery and we believe this Plover could be what would now be the 54-day-old fledgling we were calling Butterball. He appears to be a similar stage of development and it makes sense; after Butterball’s Dad departed, Butterball attempted to forage alongside Fierce Dad’s chick several weeks back, but FDad would have none of it and was in maximum defensive mode for his little one at that time. Now that his chick is older and more independent perhaps he feels it’s safe to socialize with other Plovers; although at one point FDad planted himself firmly between his chick and Mystery.

Below are photos of 40 to 42 day old Plovers from years past and they are the only photos I can locate at the moment of Plovers past 36 days. Our Mystery Plover looks to be at least as old as the Plovers in the photos

This last photo is of HipHop, Super Dad, and HipHop’s 46-day-old sibling. Although the sibling is out of focus, you can see its feather patterning is similar to the Mystery Plover. This was such a sweet sibling; he stayed with HipHop until he could fly. You may recall HipHop who was developmentally challenged. The first year Mom returned to Good Harbor Beach missing a foot, one of her chicks sustained a hip injury.He was nicknamed HipHop for his hopping gait and it took him many, many weeks to catch up to his siblings. Both Super Dad and this one sibling gave HipHop lots of snuggles and stayed with him well beyond the time frame in which they would typically migrate.

For my New Jersey Friends and Family –

For my New Jersey Friends and Family – Montclair Film and The Nature Conservancy of NJ are hosting a special screening of The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay on Tuesday, August 26th at 7pm. QandA with me to follow. To purchase tickets, please go here: https://theclairidge.org/events/the-piping-plovers-of-moonlight-bay/

I hope you can come!

Montclair Film and The Nature Conservancy – The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay One Night Only!

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For my New Jersey Friends and Family – Montclair Film and The Nature Conservancy of NJ are hosting a special screening of The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay on Tuesday, August 26th at 7pm. QandA with me to follow. To purchase tickets, please go here: https://theclairidge.org/events/the-piping-plovers-of-moonlight-bay/

I hope you can come!

Piping Plover August Update

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Dear PiPl Friends,

The anticipated update for the 2025 season with these most beautiful and most vulnerable of mini beach friends I feel is finally ‘safe’ to write. I only write safe because we try very hard to find a balance between sharing information to help create an awareness about the Plovers and also not bringing too much attention to the nesting birds.

First off I would like to thank our outstanding crew of kind-hearted volunteers, especially our core group who sign up for shifts that are an hour or longer and come everyday. This summer we had a very extended season with the chicks (more about that below) yet despite that, they stuck it out to the very end. Thank you to Jennie Meyer, Paula and Alexa Niziak, Kim Bouris, Steve Spina, Sandy Barry, Deborah Brown, Barbara Boudreau, Jill Ortiz, and Marty Coleman. We’d also like to thank our subs Heidi, Velia, Sally, and Jonathan.

If you see these kind and caring people around town, please thank them for their dedicated wildlife conservation work that they do so graciously and so tirelessly.

Thank you to Lyra Brennan, Rose Caplan, Jamie Infanti, and all our Audubon partners. We saw a great deal of Emma this summer and she is wonderful, staying extra long hours in the summer’s heat to watch over the chicks. Audubon does such great work and are responsible for not only Good Harbor Beach, but many other shorebird nesting areas all along the Massachusetts coastline. We appreciate their thoughtful and action oriented responses so much, especially  when it comes to some of the more serious issues that arise over the course of the season. With thanks and gratitude to Lyra, Rose, Jamie, Will, Emma, Charles, and Claudia.

Thank you also to Gloucester’s  Joe Lucido, Tom Nolan, and the entire DPW Crew. These guys are amazing and are always working so hard to make our beaches safe and presentable. Despite the double load imposed on the Crew (because of the additional work they are doing during the garbage strike), they are ever present and so very much appreciated.

DPW Crew setting the roping in place n March

We’d also like to thank several gentlemen who are at GHB nearly every single morning, starting in the spring. While most beach visitors are still sleeping, these gentlemen voluntarily pick up the plethora of garbage found littering the beach leftover from the previous day. They ensure our beaches look pristine by the time the gate opens at 8am. Chris Cefalo, his brother Fred, Michael Cook (and there is a fourth gentleman whose name I don’t know), work tirelessly cleaning the beach, from the tiniest bits of plastic to hauling off the larger items like chairs, tables, umbrellas, and tents. If you see these gentlemen around town, please thank them for the good work they do.

And a huge shout out to all the many, many beachgoers who express interest in the Plovers, want to learn more, give the chicks lots of space, and respect the cordoned off areas.

Piping Plover Smooshies

One of the many gifts we receive as Plover Ambassadors is watching tiny baby birds the size  marshmallows develop into beautiful little flyers. The clips are of Fierce Dad and FairFeathered Mom’s offspring; the first clip is of two-day-old hatchlings, the second clip is of two-week-old chicks, and the last clips of the three- and a half-week-old chick.  When Plovers hatch they can feed themselves entirely independent of the parent however, they need to thermoregulate to keep warm (otherwise known as thermo-snuggles and smooshies). The birds instinctively know to tuck under Mom and Dad’s wing to keep warm.

The 2025 Piping Plover Season at Good Harbor Beach

The season started phenomenally well, with the earliest arrival ever of Super Dad and our footless Handicapped Mom. Fierce Dad also arrived on the very same day as this original pair. It is always a much anticipated and joyful moment when we begin to see the first Plovers returning, especially Super Mom and Dad. This resilient little pair are at least 11 years old. We know this because they began nesting at Good Harbor Beach in 2016 and Plovers have to be at least one year old before they can begin breeding. Each year its become more and more tenuous as to whether or not we will see the return of our wonderful original pair. Plovers only live on average 3 to 5 years and this pair, at 11 years young, are quite a respectable age for their species.

Piping Plover Courtship

Fierce Dad and Original Dad spent a good part of the first few weeks in competition for territory and for Super Mom, with Fierce Dad even putting the moves on Mom several times. At one point we had nine Plovers, and four were nesting pairs, the most ever! There were lots of territorial disputes, some ending in serious smackdowns but for the most part, the birds began to settle in to brood their eggs.Piping Plovers Mating

Original Mom and Dad’s clutch was nearing hatch date when on May 22nd, the coast of Massachusetts was walloped by a late season nor’easter. The tide rose higher than we have ever seen in late May and three of the four nests were washed away. As devastating as that was, it was a joy to find one remaining nest, the young parents that are a new pair to Good Harbor Beach. From their nest of three eggs, two chicks hatched.

Over time original Mom and Dad attempted to re-nest.  After a brief recovery period, Mom laid a new clutch of three eggs. However, this second clutch of eggs was predated by a Crow. As the season progresses there are more and more Crows and gulls scavenging the beach, seeking garbage left behind by people. We know it was a Crow from the tracks found around the nest.

Remarkably Mom and Dad laid four more eggs, a grand three clutches, 11 eggs in total. Once again, the eggs were snatched and Crow tracks were found encircling the nest scrape.  Our Handicapped Mom left shortly after the third nest was lost. Super Dad hung on for a bit longer but he too departed. All was not lost as the one remaining chick from the young parents grew and developed into a lovely, albeit super chunky, fledgling and has begun its southward migration. Note – we love super chunky fledglings. They’ll have lots of stored fat reserves to get them through their first migration.

FairFeathered Mom and one-day-old hatchling

Today we still have one almost-fledged chick remaining at Good Harbor Beach. This little chunkola is Fierce Dad and FairFeathered Mom’s offspring, from their re-nest.  Because the eggs hatched so late in the season and the females usually begin migrating before the males, FairFeathered Mom left when her chick was only five days old, leaving Fierce Dad to raise the chick solo. Fierce Dad has lived up to his name, fighting off every gull, crow and even other shorebirds that dare to come within 100 yards of his offspring. He is still parenting the chick who is quite independent at this point. Nonetheless, the almost fledged chick still goes in for snuggles and smooshies and relies on Dad to keep the gulls at bay.

Along with a great bounty of seaweed washed in with the late May nor’easter, the seaweed was littered with zillions of pieces of small yellow and green plastic

Just as has happened at GHB this summer, nests were washed out along the entire coastline of Massachusetts. With many pairs re-nesting, the conservation biologists from every Mass coastal region saw much lower productivity with these second nests, and in some cases (Super Mom and Dad), third nests.  What does low-productivity mean? Not as many eggs were laid and of the eggs that were laid, fewer than usual hatched. So, for example a second clutch with only three eggs, only one or two of the eggs may hatch.  And all coastal areas across the region experienced higher than usual heavy predation by Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, Crows, and Eastern Coyotes. My own theory for that is because when chicks hatch in May for example there are far fewer flocks of seagulls on the beach. But when chicks hatch in July and August, Crows, Gulls, and Coyotes are acclimated to finding free food, i.e. garbage, at the beach, which leads to greater interest in shorebird eggs and chicks. Also at this later time in the summer, there are thousands of hungry fledglings on beaches begging their parents for food.

We are hopeful that next year we won’t have another late, late nor’easter and all the pairs that attempted to nest at GHB this season will return and try again. If you would like to join our volunteer team of Plover Ambassadors, please contact me either by leaving a comment or emailing me at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com. We would love to have you!

If you would like to learn more about how we can all help protect shorebird wildlife and their habitats, please watch our film The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. Our documentary is streaming on the PBS Passport AP anytime you would like to watch it. Everyone can become a member of PBS Passport by donating to PBS. It’s so worthwhile, especially for young children with curious minds.  What other streaming service can you get for $5.00 a month!!

If you are interested, please click here to read a recent PSA about why dogs are not permitted on beaches during the summer.

 

 

 

 

Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay at the New Hope Film Festival Monday!

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I am very delighted to write that our Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay is screening on Monday, August 18th at 6:00pm. We are sharing the billing with another animal welfare documentary, The Ramba Effect, about an Asian Elephant and her 2,550 mile journey to her new home at an elephant sanctuary. If you are in the New Hope area and would like to see The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay and The Rhamba Effect, please go here: https://www.goelevent.com/NewHopeFilmFestival/e/AnimalWelfareDocumentaries

Piping Plovers at the New Hope Film Festival!

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Dear PiPl Friends,

I hope you are having a lovely summer. I am so looking forward to these last three weeks of August and then we go into the wonderfully atmospheric months of September and October. Is there anywhere in the north Atlantic region where these months aren’t sublime?

I have held off on writing about PiPls all summer because we have had some very late season nesters. I’ll share an extensive report about the Plovers when I feel its safe for them and they are well on their way to fledging. In the meantime, I am very delighted to write that our Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay has been accepted to the New Hope Film Festival and is screening on Monday, August 18th at 6:00pm. We are sharing the billing with another animal welfare documentary, The Ramba Effect, about an Asian Elephant and her 2,550 mile journey to her new home at an elephant sanctuary. If you are in the New Hope area and would like to see The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay and The Rhamba Effect, please go here: https://www.goelevent.com/NewHopeFilmFestival/e/AnimalWelfareDocumentaries

For the NHFF official program guide, please go here: https://online.flippingbook.com/view/102134961/

We also have all new Plover Lover T-shirts in all sizes and a great color, a sort of light sea green. For fans of West Coast Snowy Plovers, these chicks could easily pass for Snowy Plovers too.  Please let me know if you like the new color. They are a beautiful quality, all cotton, unisex sizing from xs to xl. The Tees are 30.00 plus 5. shipping.

We have had some adorable “Butterballs” on the beach this summer. I define a Butterball as a fledgling that is so pudgy it looks nearly as big, if not bigger, than its parent and barely seems as though it can become airborne. Rest assured these Butterballs do fly, eventually <3

Common Tern fledgling squawking to parent, “Feed Me, Feed Me, I’m Starving!”

Happy Summer,
xxKim

Gull Trouble!

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Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls are the species most commonly seen in our region. And both species pose a deadly, serious threat to Piping Plovers.

The gulls eat both Plover eggs and chicks. It’s not just tiny hatchlings they go after. We have seen Great Black-backed Gulls swoop in and take out a 25 day-old nearly-adult bird.

Plover parents employ several strategies for trying to prevent this from happening. They often call to their mate to come help and both will try to avert the gull’s attention. A Plover may drag its wing on the ground, faking injury in hopes of luring the gull away, or it may dive bomb the gull, or latch onto its tail feathers, and all the while making an angry, loud rattling call. Usually, the parents are successful, but not always.

In the above sequence you can see both parents left the chicks unattended in order to distract the gull. This tag teaming is usually very effective and the Herring Gull left after a short time.  Mom ran back to back to locate her babes, calling to the chicks to rejoin her, and soon the two chicks were thermo-snuggling beneath Mom’s protective wings.

Sometimes it takes a gull many minutes to lose interest and the chicks become increasingly vulnerable to predation. In our documentary, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, a Herring Gull swooped off with a chick. Despite the parents best attempts to save their offspring, the Gull mortally wounded both the adult male and the chick.

What is the Number 1 way you can help? – Please Don’t Litter

Prior to 1931, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls did not breed in Massachusetts and were not present year round. Their populations increased significantly during the 20th century  because of the food resource available from landfills. They also prey on other birds and their eggs, and compete for nesting sites.

Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls are scavengers and thrive on the trash left behind on beaches. Never feed the gulls  on the beach. Please do not leave behind garbage and please do not bury trash. Gulls will find the garbage, as will the Crows, which are another species that is  equally as threatening to nesting shorebirds as are Herring and GBBGulls.

Plover Lovers Update!

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Dear PiPl Friends,

I am behind in providing updates and I apologize for that. Frankly, with the scale of all that is so very dark currently taking place in our country, I struggle with focusing on what is positive and good in the world of wildlife. Fortunately for them they know none of this. Happy news to share is that our Good Harbor Beach Plovers are recovered from the very late season nor’easter and are back on track with nesting activities. Not only Gloucester Plovers, but Plovers all around the region are regaining their bearings after the catastrophic loss of nests and habitat.

Plovers will re-nest (in other words, lay another clutch of eggs) as much as 3 to 4 times and in some extreme cases, have been known to re-nest 7 times. We always hope the first clutch is successful for several reasons. The earlier in the season the chicks hatch, the earlier they will fledge and be off the beaches. It is also very taxing on the female to lay additional eggs. Conservation biologists are very protective of breeding pairs, in a way even more so than chicks, because pairs that are known to breed are the birds that will carry on the species.

Wonderful news for our documentary The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, which has been accepted to the New Hope Film Festival, a truly stellar festival founded by a gentleman Doug Whipple, with the intention of highlighting independent filmmakers. New Hope sounds like a fun boho arts community and I am looking forward to attending this festival. The dates are August 15-24th and as we get closer to the event,  I’ll let you know more.

Rockport Middle Schoolers Cora and Juniper reached out to me for information about Piping Plovers for a project they were working on for their civics class. Don’t you love that Plovers are part of a civics discussion! I was delighted to help the girls with their project. They did an absolutely fantastic job and with permission, I am sharing the storyboard they put together for their presentation. Many thanks to Juniper and Cora for their interest in Plover conservation. I have been inspired by the two of them to create a shorter program for middle school kids as an hour long film presentation is suitable for high school, but the class periods are shorter in middle school from what I have learned.

My friend Jane in Nova Scotia shares an amazing ‘Plover Resiliency’ photo – the Plovers in her community are nesting at the TOP of the breakwater. The pair have found a tiny bit of grass and sand amidst the rocks. In case you were wondering, as was I, she reports that the tide never goes that high.

And my new Plover friend, Rhonda, in Ocean City, New Jersey, shares that their chicks have hatched and are doing well. Like Good Harbor Beach, the beach where their Plovers are nesting is also a highly trafficked location and has been consistently voted New Jersey’s most popular beach. Rhonda organized a screening of POMB with a virtual QandA at the Ocean City Public Library and the audience was so engaged. It was an utter joy to present to this very enthusiastic crowd. You can read more about the screening here: Ocean City Has Some Good Things to Say About The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay

That’s all the Plover news for now. Happy Sunday!
xxKim

 

Ocean City, New Jersey Has Some Good Words for The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay!

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Through our documentary, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, I have had the joy to meet a kind and dedicated Plover ambassador for Ocean City, New Jersey. Rhonda helps watch over the Plovers in her community. She arranged a screening and QandA  of The PPoMB at her local library, the Ocean City Free Public Library. It has been a pleasure getting to know she and Julie, the librarian. Rhonda wrote a lovely note and I am sharing it for the benefit of other communities and organizations that may be interested in hosting a screening and QandA.

Ocean City is one of New Jersey’s most popular, and most highly populated, beaches. Image courtesy wikicommonsmedia

Good morning, Kim,

Thank you so much for your screening of The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay followed by your generous Q & A session! Your footage is amazing and I could watch your film again and again. 

This documentary is a gift to all of us in so many ways. For those of us who already adore these birds, it is a visual treat to see them up close in all of their cuteness. As someone who only has a pair of binoculars and a wobbly scope, to finally see them with clarity and zoomed-in is glorious! To be able to follow each step of their journey, including the hardships and dangers, really allows those who are not familiar with the world of beach nesting birds an opportunity to understand the threats plovers face and the impact, both positive and negative. Through the plovers’ incredible story and your beautiful images your film raises awareness in the most meaningful way.

I was excited to learn that the adults could feel the heartbeats of the chicks as they were incubating and that the chicks peep even while in their shells! I adored the footage of the chick sitting in the clam shell and the one where the chick does a head over heals cartwheel. And nothing beats the snuggling that they all do as they brood! We had one chick last year that brooded until he was quite old, and the shots that you had in your film of the brooding older chicks resonated with that memory and was very touching.

I am so glad that you made the link and password available so that folks could stream the film from their own device while we also streamed it through the library. That was a great suggestion and worked perfectly. I appreciate the stories and information that you shared during the Q&A session and I could listen to your stories for hours.

Thank you so much for sharing your film with all of us in our city and beyond. We had attendees even from out of state! I hope that this film will be just one step of the many that our community takes to help piping plovers. 

It was such a pleasure to meet you and I hope that as the awareness level around plovers increases in our community that there will be many reasons for us to be in contact in the future!

Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do for plovers. Your film is such a gift to us all.

With gratitude,

Rhonda

Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay Free Virtual Screening!

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Dear PiPl Friends,

Please join me Thursday at 6:30pm for a free virtual screening and QandA of The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. My new Plover friend Rhonda, from Ocean City, New Jersey, has created this event. She is hosting the screening along with the Ocean City Free Public Library. They have very generously made the screening free and open to the public. To register, please go here:

https://oceancity.bibliocommons.com/events/681f62880537f314d2fd563e

Featuring Sweet Warblers and The Bird Collision Prevention Alliance

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Dear PiPl Friends,

This lovely little Yellowthroat accompanied me on a recent early morning walk, or rather, we were both headed in the same direction. The warbler foraged all along the way, snatching insects as he darted from branch to branch before descending to the ground, where he found a rotting log rife with bugs.

His official name is Common Yellowthroat, but I don’t see anything common about the striking feather pattern of this petite bandited warbler.

According to Cornell, Common Yellowthroats are “resident to long-distance migrant. Most populations migrate; some go short distances and others journey all the way from northern Canada to Central America. Some populations in the southern United States and Mexico stay in place year-round.”

Speaking of bird migration, I met in person a new friend this week, Jane Alexander. Not exactly a new friend as Jane and I have been corresponding for many months over email. She stopped by with her son, Tony Sherin, on their road trip northward. What a joy to meet this extraordinary woman and her son. Jane is not only a gifted actress of stage and screen, but a passionate conservationist. And she has been an ardent social activist her entire adult life (The Great White Hope, Testament, Eleanor and Franklin). Her son is a documentary filmmaker and editor (and also a fellow Fujifilm camera lover) so we had lots and lots to talk about.  The time flew by and was much much too short.

Jane has been watching over Piping Plovers at her summer home for decades. She very kindly donated to our documentary The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay and I am so grateful for her generosity and for her true love of these valiant little birds. Amongst many of her projects, Jane has been involved in launching the Bird Collisions Prevention Alliance. Their brand new website is up and running with the tagline: More than 1 billion birds die in collisions with glass every year. The time to act is now! The website includes the reasons as to why birds hit glass, guidelines on solutions on how to help, and a call to action. Please visit the website to learn more more about how we can prevent a billion birds perishing every year.

Note the difference between the female and male Common Yellowthroat

Beaches Ravaged by Late May Nor’easter

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Dear PiPl Friends,

First the bad news – our Super Mom and Dad’s nest was washed away during Thursday’s nor’easter. We are very sad about this especially as chick hatching was imminent.

Our Original Pair have never before lost a nest because of a storm however, several years ago, a pair at GHB did lose their nest due to wash out as it was in a very unsafe place, smack dab in the middle of the beach. That pair successfully renested.

We are much more fortunate than some beaches. Our Plover ambassador friends at Hull lost a total of 25 nests and the high tides have destroyed miles of their symbolic shorebird protections.

Super Mom and Dad after the nor’easter

Fierce Dad catching breakfast after the storm

For the good news – Piping Plovers often renest, especially when this early in the season. One pair was documented renesting a total of seven times in one season.   And it appears as though Super Mom and Dad are preparing to do just that. After a day of looking lost and forlorn, Dad is making scrapes in the sand and calling to Mom. Producing a new batch of eggs is very taxing for the female and our Super Mom is already very vulnerable due to her loss of one foot. A gentle reminder that when you see Plovers on the beach, please give them lots of space to forage, and hopefully, make new eggs.

Despite the extremely high storm tide going all the way to the base of the dunes, Good Harbor Beach survived the storm fairly well and looks better after this nor’easter than any nor’easter that I can recall. Why you may wonder? As a direct result of the symbolically roped off areas in place for the Plovers, beachgoers and pets are restricted from recreating  right up to the base of the dunes. This has allowed native vegetation to take hold, and in some areas, to thrive. This vegetation, such as beach grass and Sea Rocket, holds the sand in place and is our very best defense against rising sea level and the ravaging effects of the highest of tides and gale force winds.

The photos tell the story best

 

Compare the above photos from storm damage in 2018 and how the dunes look in 2024. Note how far back is the dune, the sheer drop off, and complete lack of vegetation. I recall a time when people were so very worried about how much beach we were losing each year to severe storm damage. That is no longer the case!

Click on the above photos from 2018 to enlarge and get a sense of how much the beach has filled in and how much healthier are the dunes.

Good Harbor Beach 2021, 2024, and 2025 – vegetation gradually taking hold and the sand is filling in.

A plethora of Atlantic Surf Clams tossed ashore by the sea

What are these peculiar mounds dotting the beach after the nor’easter? The photos are included to show how much the sand shifted during the storm and how vegetation helps keep sand in place

Soooo much seaweed at Brace Cove! The insects attracted to the drying seaweed is fantastic for wildlife, but get ready for super smelliness!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend,

xxKim

Huge Shout Out to the Gloucester High School Gender Equity in STEM Club!!

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Early this week I had the absolute joy of presenting The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay to the Gender Equity in STEM Club at GHS. The students were amazing! The film is an hour long and despite the fact that the program was held after school and after a long day of classes and activities, they were fully engaged and asked many astute questions during the QandA following the screening.  Student advisors to the Club, GHS biology teacher Eric Leigh and coordinator Roseann Vidal are a pleasure to work with. Thank you to the students and advisors for making the screening of The PPOMB a very rewarding experience for this filmmaker!

With deep gratitude to Applied Materials, who, along with the Gloucester Educational Foundation, supports the Gender Equity in STEM Club. The presentation of The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay was also funded by a generous grant from Applied Materials.

To learn more about the Gender Equity in STEM Club, read the following article by Gloucester High student, Ruby McElhenny.

The Gender Equity in STEM Club: Why it matters

Happy Mom’s Day!

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Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms, Aunties, Grandmoms, Sisters, Friends, and Dads who are Mom’s, too. Thank you for being you <3 Wishing you joy and happiness on this sunniest of Mother’s Day. xoKim

Our Good Harbor Beach footless Super Mom

One of ten clutches of eggs that Super Mom has laid at GHB since she and her mate first arrived in 2016.

In 2021, Super Mom’s right foot became very tightly wound with seaweed and fishing line. The following year, she returned to Good Harbor Beach footless. Yet despite that, her handicap does not prevent her from doing all the usual things Plovers do daily.

Piping Plovers, and many species of shorebirds, have a foot tamping technique, where they rapidly shake their feet in the sand to stir up invertebrates. Also called foot trembling, the action brings invertebrates to the surface where the Plover sees and catches the prey. Watch how Super Mom expertly forages for tiny mollusks and in this case, appears not hindered by her missing foot. Not all is great for our footless Mom, though. Occasionally I see her legs become very tired and she does a series of spazzy movements across the sand, as though she is having some sort of leg cramping going on.

The first clip is in slow motion so that you can see the technique; the second clip is in real time.

 

Piping Plovers Coming to France! Les pluviers siffleurs de Moonlight Bay

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Our Piping Plovers are crossing the Atlantic Ocean! The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay will be featured at the splendid Festival de l’Oiseau et de la Nature on April 18th and 19th.

This annual festival takes place at the Bay of Somme and is not only a film festival but a magnificent celebration of the natural world. There are over 400 guided walks, photo and art exhibits, screenings of the best nature documentaries, activities dedicated to children such as workshops and shows, debates, and conferences.

Our documentary has been translated into French for the exhibition and the festival organizers have created a new trailer, also in French, which you can watch here: https://www.festival-oiseau-nature.com/film/les-pluviers-siffleurs-de-moonlight-bay/

Les pluviers siffleurs de Moonlight Bay

Un film de KIM SMITH 

Ce documentaire raconte l’histoire de pluviers siffleurs, des petits oiseaux menacés. Ses héros sont un couple courageux et leurs turbulents petits.

Elever des poussins de la taille d’un marshmallow sur une plage urbaine très prisée n’est pas de tout repos et la famille doit faire face à de nombreux obstacles. Les pluviers siffleurs sont des indicateurs qui montrent comment humains et faune peuvent cohabiter, en particulier dans le cadre de la réduction de leur habitat. Ces oiseaux très résilients sont bien adaptés à la vie sur la plage, cependant, sans mesures de protection adéquates, ils ne pourront résister à la pression causée par les humains et les prédateurs.

Google Translate

This documentary tells the story of piping plovers, endangered little birds. Its protagonists are a courageous couple and their boisterous young.

Raising marshmallow-sized chicks on a popular urban beach is no easy task, and the family faces many obstacles. Piping Plovers are indicators of how humans and wildlife can coexist, especially in the face of shrinking habitats. These highly resilient birds are well adapted to beach life; however, without adequate protection measures, they will be unable to withstand the pressures caused by humans and predators.

Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay to Air in LA on Tuesday April 15th at 8pm

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See what Los Angeles PBS has to say about our film!

The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay airs Tuesday, April 15 at 8 PM

“Against the ever-changing tides of the Atlantic, a tiny but mighty family fights for survival. The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay follows a devoted pair of these rare shorebirds as they raise their marshmallow-sized chicks on a bustling urban beach. Every day is a test of their resilience—avoiding predators, braving unpredictable weather, and navigating a world where humans and wildlife collide. Will their fragile brood make it to adulthood?

This heartwarming and visually stunning special takes you inside the incredible journey of one of nature’s most determined parents. Witness breathtaking moments of survival and the deep bonds that keep these feathered families together. A story of hope, adaptation, and the delicate balance of our ecosystems.

Tune in for an unforgettable look at one of nature’s most compelling underdog stories. Sometimes, the smallest creatures have the most powerful stories to tell.”

California Friends, please check listings as The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay is airing at your local stations – KCET, KOCE, KVCR, KPJK, KQED, KQEH, KRCB, and KVPT.

California Friends, please check listings as The Piping Plovers of Moonlight bay is airing at the following California stations – KCET, KOCE, KVCR, KPJK, KQED, KQEH, KRCB, and KVPT.

The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay Now Airing Nationwide on PBS!

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Hello PiPl Friends!

Checkout this lovely graphic created for us at American Public Television for our release on PBS!  Beginning today, April 1st, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay is airing on public television. Please check your local listings for times.

As a Passports member, you can stream the film at anytime. We find our family’s membership to PBS invaluable; the programming is stellar and costs a fraction of any other streaming service, just $5.00 per month. We are members of New Hampshire PBS, which is also one of the 290 stations nationwide airing The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. Here is the link on how to join: https://nhpbs.org/watchmore/ 

 

Plover Love Story for the Ages #ploverjoyed

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Dear Friends,

We have wonderful news to share. Our Gloucester Plovers are returning! Not only that, but the original pair that have been nesting at GHB since 2016 were the first to arrive. Both Mom and Dad appeared on the very same day, March 19th, the earliest date ever.  At this time of year, my husband and I check the beach daily so that we can track from year to year when Plovers begin arriving. Last year I believe it was March 25th.

Super Dad and Handicapped Mom, March 19, 2025

A Plover love story for the ages is how my friend Todd describes it when Plover pairs nest together for many years. These two sweet Plovers must be at a minimum of 11 years old because Plovers don’t begin breeding until they are at least one year old. Eleven years is quite a ripe old age for Plovers as most live on average only five years. We wait with a combination of fear and excitement each spring, hoping and praying our Plover family makes it through another winter, especially now that Mom’s right foot is missing. She lost her foot several years ago after nylon fishing line and seaweed became tightly wound around her lower leg.

When you think about it, we have been through so much with this little Mom and Dad. The first several years especially were extremely challenging. Beachgoers did not yet understand how to help protect the birds and pets had the run of the beach. In fact, conditions were so bad on the beach that in 2018 Mom and Dad decided ‘enough with dog disturbances,’ and the safest place to nest was the GHB parking lot. Because of this, Massachusetts State and US Federal wildlife officials became heavily involved with helping to protect Gloucester Plovers and the local government began to take Plover protections more seriously. Little by little, things began to change for the better.

I remember our tender little handicapped Plover, nicknamed HipHop for his gimpy walk. It was Mom’s first season breeding without her right foot and she was extremely clumsy when transitioning to get in and out of the nest and when she was snuggling the chicks. I think she must have injured HipHop somehow because his injury manifested itself when he was about ten days old. Mother and chick were quite the pair with their hip hopping gaits. We thought HipHop would never grow to the size of his siblings and wondered if he would ever be able to fly. Mom departed early as is not unusual for females to begin migrating before their mates. Our Super Dad stayed with HipHop for many weeks after and throughout the entire summer. Both departed around the beginning of September, but not until HipHop was flying just as well as his siblings.

Dean Horne, Brian Watson, John Trupiano, and Adam Kelley installing Piping Plover protections

Thank you to the Gloucester DPW crew for installing the symbolic ropes and Plover signs. We appreciate everything the DPW does to keep Plovers safe and our local beaches looking beautiful!

If you happen to see Plovers on the beach, please give them lots and lots of space. Know that they are weary from the long migration and need to rest and refuel before ‘setting up house.’

Piping Plovers are returning to beaches all along the Atlantic Coast. The addendum to this note is for several new Plover friends from beaches in Maine and New Jersey who have written to ask how they can better help their community’s Plover families successfully fledge chicks.

Happy Spring from Ploverville!

Warmest wishes,

Kim

Actions that communities and beachgoers can take early in the season to help Plovers successfully breed include the following. I can not stress ‘early in the season’ enough. The earlier the Plovers nest without disturbances, the earlier they will begin laying eggs, and the earlier the chicks will fledge and begin migrating.

1) Disallow all pets on the beach, ideally beginning March 15th, April 1st at the latest.

2) Install symbolic roping around known Plover nesting areas by March 15th.

3) Install informational signage on beaches where Plovers nest by March 15th.

4) Do not permit off-road vehicles on beaches where shorebirds are nesting.

5) Do not rake the beach. Beach raking destroys a vital food source and machines can scoop up and kill chicks that can’t yet fly out of the way of danger.

6) Respect symbolically roped off areas. Do not play ball close to the roping. It is against state and federal law to run into the nesting area to retrieve a ball or for any other reason. Do not allow pets to run through the roped off areas and do not cross the roped off areas to take shortcuts through the dunes.

Thank You Plover Friends!

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Thank you to all who attended our documentary screening of The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay on Sunday afternoon. We had a terrific group of attendees, both very generous and wonderfully engaged in the Qand A following the screening. I loved discussing Plovers and filmmaking with our guests and appreciate so much everyone who took the time out of their busy schedules to come and support the film.

Many, many thanks to Sarah, MAGMA’s founder and director, for hosting the event. In addition to offering a range of youth and adult dance classes, MAGMA provides an exceptional space for the community. Sarah hosts a range of events including films, dance performances, and local musicians, from punk bands, to string quartets! See MAGMA’s upcoming events here.

A very special shout out to Piping Plover Ambassadors Jonathan and Sally for their continued support and kind generosity. They provided all the beverages, Jonathan made an excellent bartender, and they both made everyone feel very welcome.

Male and female Piping Plover

The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay Screening and QandA this Sunday!

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Dear Friends,

I hope to see you Sunday at our film screening fundraiser. Refreshments will be provided and following the screening, we’ll have lots of good discussion and wonderful news to share. 

For tickets please go here.

Although the postcard says handicapped accessible, unfortunately the elevator is now temporarily not working. Please let me know if you have purchased tickets and can no longer attend due to inaccessibility.

The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay is a 57-minute narrated documentary by Kim Smith that tells the story of the Piping Plover as it unfolds along the North Atlantic coastline. The film features a pair of courageous Plovers that overcome life-threatening obstacles while nesting at one of the region’s most popular beaches.

On Sunday March 23 at 4pm, MAGMA will host a fundraiser to help support the production and distribution of the film. This evening will include a showing of the film and a Q & A with filmmaker Kim Smith. Refreshments will be served. Suggested donation for this event is $50 (or what you can afford). For tickets please go here.

Each spring, northward migrating Atlantic coast Piping Plovers return to breeding sites located from North Carolina to Newfoundland. Amazingly, nesting often takes place on public beaches, where anyone can observe their beautiful life story unfolding. But in such areas, where people enjoy a full range of recreational activities, nesting and raising chicks is a perilous occupation.

Set against the backdrop of the ever-dynamic Atlantic shoreline, the documentary illustrates how conservation partners have provided safe corridors that allow these highly vulnerable birds to raise chicks to fledge at even the most well-loved beaches.

The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay is a film for all ages, and was created to inspire a love for wild creatures and their habitats, and to develop a deeper understanding of the vital role that wildlife play in our interconnected ecosystem.

Every stage of the Plover’s life cycle is experienced in vibrant HD and 4K close-up, from egg to chick to adult.

Production and distribution of The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay will be made possible by tax-deductible contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations, and public agencies.

To date, among other generous donations, we have received a leadership grant of $15,000 from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

Gifts for The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay will support post production and distribution costs,  color and sound editors, picture mastering, studio time, festival fees and applications, music and map rights, and an underwriting agent to bring the film to the wide audience of public television. Our goal is to raise $115,000.