Category Archives: #sharetheshore

Hope is the thing with feathers

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I am overjoyed for my adult children. Nearly their entire memory of politics has been dominated by FDT. I sense rays of hope emanating from both. Thank you American voters.

A note about this scene – The tiny chick with its eyes half closed is only two-days-old. Although chicks are fully mobile and can feed themselves within an hour or so after hatching, their eyes don’t fully open until they are about three to to four-days-old. The Dad is snuggling the chick while also brooding, with three eggs remaining in the nest. All three chicks hatched later that same day 🙂

One of my favorite Emily Dickinson poems for this day of glorious hope <3

Hope is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.-

– Emily Dickinson

Piping Plover 2026 Update

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Dear PiPl Friends,

The following is a long overdue update about our 2026 Piping Plover season on Cape Ann. I’ve been reluctant to write as it was a very challenging year for our little friends. One of the first Plovers to return to Good Harbor Beach, our Super Dad, arrived in late March. It was so good to see him looking fit and fat after a winter of foraging at warm weather beaches!  Super Dad hovered for weeks around his usual nesting area. Day after day, he waited with great patience for our handicapped Super Mom to return. After a month it became apparent that she would probably not be returning to Good Harbor Beach. He looked so forlorn and it was all a bit heartbreaking.

Newly arrived Super Dad

Plovers live on average 3 to 5 years and we knew this day would come sooner or later. He and Super Mom had been nesting at GHB since 2016. That’s ten years of battling Crows, and gulls, beach balls and bozos, storm over-wash and over-sanding, and the pervasive off-leash dogs charging through nesting areas. Last year was especially rough on Mom. Her first nest of four eggs was washed away in a super storm. The next nest was predated by Crows, as was the third nest. She laid a total of eleven eggs that summer and that, coupled with the struggles of getting around with one leg, just did her in.

Despite all that, over the course of 10 years these two excellent parents fledged numerous chicks and they are a credit to our ever-growing community of beach going Plover friends, Plover Ambassadors, DPW Crew, and the Audubon team.

In the meantime, on April 13th, a Bluenoser Plover made a one night stopover at GHB on his way to Nova Scotia. What a delight to learn about this little traveler outfitted with a mini radio transmitter. You can read the full story here: Nova Scotian Guest Plover at Good Harbor Beach [ https://wp.me/pO7TR-dWI ]

A brand new pair began courting in our original pair’s familiar territory. They were new to our beach and I think also, new to mating. I was able to film their courtship several times and each time after copulation was complete, the male grabbed the female by the tip of her wing and swung her around and around in a circle half a dozen times. It looked like square dancing although the female did not look like she wanted to dance.

Three more pairs joined the scene and at one point we had four nests at GHB. But then the late May storm blew in and wiped out all the nests save for one. These nests were not over-washed from the storm as happened last year, but over-sanded. A new term to me and one that means so much sand blew in, it buried the nests. Three pairs re-nested but their nests and chicks were lost again to Crows and gulls. One chick survived for several weeks. The one pair whose nest survived the over-sanding – their eggs were eaten by Crows on the very day they were expected to hatch. All this as you can imagine was very tough on the Plovers, the Ambassadors, and on the Audubon team.

The GOOD news though is that more than a DOZEN chicks fledged at other Gloucester beaches. A new fledgling record for Gloucester <3

Feisty Plover parents tag teaming to defend their nest from hungry a Herring Gull

Plovers fare best when they can nest early in the season. The powerful May storms of the past several years have been tough on our Good Harbor Beach Plovers.  Their re-nests are more subject to gull and Crow predation. I have noticed over the years there are a modest number of gulls and Crows on the beach during the spring months. As the beach going crowd swells in the summertime, the scavenging birds start tuning into the trash left behind on the beach. Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls begin to form great flocks, and they are joined by entire Crow families, all hungrily scouring the beach for scraps, shorebird eggs, and chicks. We as a community can’t do much to help in the way of severe storms, but we can be mindful of picking up all our own garbage and helping with that left behind by others. And of course never feed the gulls as that just encourages their association that humans = free meals.

Speaking of garbage left behind on the beach, there is an amazing member of our community, Chris Cefalo, who voluntarily cleans Good Harbor Beach nearly every morning. He picks up Everything, from the tiniest bits of microplastics, food waste tossed into the water, plethora of plastic paraphernalia, beverage bottles and cans, to the discarded beach chairs and tents.  If you see Chris around town, please thank him for all he does to keep Good Harbor Beach clean and presentable for the earliest morning beachgoers.

A note about the 12 foot wide roped off corridor running the length of Good Harbor – You may have noticed the lush green area now following the shape of the dune for the length of the beach. This area was cordoned off by our conservation department  I think about six years ago. This narrowest of corridors, for the most part, restricts people and pets from recreating in the dunes and at the base of the dunes. This one simple act has allowed native vegetation to take hold, first Sea Rocket, and now beach grass. These rooted plants are helping to hold the sand in place and prevent further erosion. If you are concerned about the beach shrinking then please look at the before and after pictures from 2018 when storms had cut away much of the dune face and in some areas, the ravaged dune was 18 -20 feet behind the current line of symbolic roping. Read more here: Please Stop Spreading and Sharing Fake News and Disinformation About Plovers! https://wp.me/pO7TR-e4D. Dunes want to be healthy!

Goals for next year include encouraging the City to rope off a 12 foot wide corridor at the Creek corner as storm protections are desperately needed there (this was not done when the front of the beach was originally cordoned off), advocating more strongly for the use of predator exclosures as we know they really, really work at Good Harbor Beach, and providing more information for our Plover friends and beachgoers.

​With thanks and heartfelt gratitude to our Piping Plover Ambassadors, City of Gloucester DPW Crew, Mass Audubon Team, Chris Cefalo, all our PiPl Beachgoing Friends who regularly check in about the birds, and all PiPl Friends, near and far. <3

Warmest wishes,

xxKim

August Update

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Good Sunday morning Friends,

I hope you are having a lovely summer. Unlike the rest of the country, we in the northeast are experiencing cooler temperatures and I am taking advantage of these cloudy days to write and to get caught up. This is a glorious time of year to capture wildlife and wildlife habitat for my pond film and also, I have been getting some beautiful captures for the Saint Peter’s film.

The link is for a short film that I have been slowly working on (what’s new about me being slow with my film projects!) about the wonderfully quirky and charismatic American Oystercatcher, which is making a comeback. I am planning to add narration at some point but in the meantime here is the link: American Oystercatcher. To learn more about American Oystercatcher conservation and to read about a number of other uplifting stories, I highly recommend the latest book by Scott Weidensaul, The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet. Scott is an extraordinary conservationist and you can learn more about him and his many fields of interest here on Scott’s website. He’s also very generous with his time. When I was working on the Snowy Owl Film Project, Scott was very kind in providing advice on the text.

My family is here for the next two weeks but I am going to try to find the time to provide an end of the season GHB PiPl recap and post some fun pond videos including one about butterfly butt bubbles, heron “bait fishing,” and a fascinatingly dramatic looking wasp (she’s also harmless).

Relishing this last week of August and I hope you are, too!
Warmest wishes,
xxKim

 

 

Gloucester GHS Graduate Henry Hardy Tagging Oystercatchers in NYC!

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Snapshots of Henry Hardy tagging American Oystercatcher chicks in his role as conservation biologist for the Rockaway Beach Endangered Species Nesting Area (RBESNA) with NYC Parks. His job entails coordinating a team that monitors Piping Plovers, American Oystercatchers, Black Skimmers, and terns.

Thank you to Henry (and his Mom Alexandra, from Alexandra’s Bread) for sharing <3

See new short film here:

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

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

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

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

 

Piping Plover Event at the Rockport Public Library!

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Dear Friends,

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay.

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

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

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

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

 

Why the Homeowners in Newbury Have it all Wrong!

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

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

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

 

Please Stop Spreading and Sharing Fake News and Disinformation About Plovers!

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It seems like every other year or so, Plovers get tangled up in the crosshairs of people’s personal issues and agendas. Disinformation then becomes widely shared and treated as fact. The latest round of misinformation resulted because of the facts that were reported in the GDTimes about the City investigating how to mitigate flooding on Thacher Road. I can’t speak to that project, which I know nothing about other than what was reported in the Times. I can however try to correct all the tall tales that have subsequently been written on social media sites regarding the Piping Plovers at Good Harbor Beach.

Piping Plovers began nesting at Good Harbor Beach in 2016. At that time, the beach was in a deplorable state due to severe storms and lack of ecological management. Here is a photo from around that time. Please notice the exposed rebar which was all that remained from failed dune fencing. People recreated right up to the base of the dune, behind the rebarb,  and thought nothing of traipsing through. Each year the dunes receded further and further.

That first year they nested, the Plovers tried a number of times and each time the eggs and chicks were either squashed or predated. You can read more about the history of Plovers at Good Harbor Beach here Plover Love Story for the Ages #ploverjoyed

I am not going into the entire history here but I would like people to really understand exactly how Gloucester’s citizens have benefitted from helping to protect a threatened and endangered species. We, like many coastal towns across the Commonwealth, are part of a several decades long effort to prevent an animal from going extinct. When you stop to think about that it’s really remarkable that because of these grand efforts, the Plovers are making a comeback in Massachusetts. That is not the case in all of its breeding range but we are succeeding in helping the Plover population recover here in our state.

If the PiPls recovery alone is not enough, think about the dramatic change that has taken place at Good Harbor Beach. Notice in the photo below where the rebar you see in the above photo is nearly buried, you can just see the tips. People ask all the time how can that be in under ten years? Because the dunes want to be healthy. They ask well maybe we should plant beach grass plugs at our beach to help restore the habitat. NO,  you don’t need to do anything other than provide a modicum of protection from foot traffic and pets. Now look at the next photo and see how lush and sturdy the dunes at Good Harbor Beach have become.

The vast, vast majority of our GHB beachgoers are delighted with the Plovers and could care less about the seaweed on the beach. Thank you good Citizens of Gloucester for being excellent Plover Protectors!

The following are several of the questions we Plover Ambassadors are often asked —

  1. Why don’t Plovers nest in trees like other birds? Plovers are ground nesting birds, like Wild Turkeys, ducks, geese, swans, other shorebirds, Puffins, and a number of species of songbirds. Within an hour of hatching, Piping Plover chicks can feed themselves. They run on the ground pecking for insects and tiny sea creatures, just as you might see a domestic chicken’s chick pecking for food on the ground.
  2. Why don’t Plovers nest in the dunes? Over millennia Piping Plovers evolved instinctively knowing that the safest place to nest is on a sandy beach. Why? Because the eggs, chicks, and adults are perfectly camouflaged. They share the soft weathered grays and tans of sandy beaches. Dunes are rife with predators, including mice, rats, skunks, snakes, foxes, and coyotes. This safety in camouflage all changed during the previous century when people began recreating on beaches in much greater numbers.
  3. Will the Plovers stay in the roped off area once they hatch? No. They may for a few days but after that, the chicks roam far and wide, from the dunes to the shoreline.
  4. Then why do we have to keep the symbolic roping in place? The Plovers have learned that roped off areas are, for the most part, safe from human foot traffic. Plover chicks are teeny, about the size of a marshmallow, and are very easily and inadvertently squished. They often rest in the roped off areas during the day when the beach is packed with people and they can’t get to the shoreline for food. It’s like their “home base.”
  5. If the Plovers are feeding themselves, why do they need Mom and Dad? Until about a week before they can fly, Plover chicks cannot self-regulate their body temperature. They need Mom and Dad to provide warming snuggles. Equally as important, Mom and Dad are their chief protectors. They are really good at sounding the alarm for the chicks to stay absolutely still when a predator is nearby. The parents will fly after, and even latch onto the wings of predators like Great Black-backed Gulls, which are 10 times at least their size!
  6.  Why doesn’t the City rake the beach? The City has to submit a beach management plan to the State before raking can resume.

In all the photos below you can see at every stage of life how beautifully the Plovers are camouflaged in their natural habitat, and why they haven’t evolved to nest in lush green dunes.

Happy Marathon Monday!

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Plovie marathon moves- 

Nova Scotian Guest Plover at Good Harbor Beach!

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​A​ Bluenoser at Good Harbor Beach – the fascinating world of shorebirds!

At this time of year, we Gloucester Plover Ambassadors are at Good Harbor Beach (trying) to keep track of the comings and goings of the Plovers. Some birds are arriving to set up house while others are passing through on their way to their summer nesting homes. Last week while out on Plover patrol, Super Dad was spotted, along with a sweet pair that we’re fairly certain is a mated pair from last summer, and a new little friend. It wasn’t until I returned home and began looking at the footage that I noticed that this unfamiliar one was banded!

Finding a banded bird at Good Harbor Beach is pretty exciting because instead of wondering where the bird came from, you can learn from just looking at the tag . Several years ago Good Harbor Beach was a stopover for a Plover with a green tag and white letters, which indicated that it was banded by Virginia Tech. He had flown from the southern coast of Georgia to Gloucester in just under five days!

As you can see in the photo, N5’s band is white with a black alphanumeric code, which indicates he was banded in Canada. A quick Google search led to several contacts where to report Canadian banded birds and we sure hit the jackpot of information from these kind wildlife biologists, Dr. Cheri Gratto-Trevor and Hilary Mann.

People are always asking us Ambassadors, where do the birds go after departing GHB in August? The following is not a complete picture, but does provide a tiny widow into the flight pattern of one of these remarkable little travelers.

Cheri writes, “White flag N5 was banded as an adult in June 2024 at Sandy Bay, in southern Nova Scotia.  The bird was seen in Fall (Aug) 2024 at Sunset Beach, Tubbs Inlet, NC.”

Hilary writes the following​, ” In 2024, we put a nanotag on N5. This is a small radio transmitter that helps us track birds, when they fly close to a station that is part of the motus wildlife tracking network. We got a track of N5, which you can see below. The dashed lines show the ‘direct flight’, and if this is no line connecting dots as the plover moved south, it just shows that they may have stopped somewhere along the way. N5 crossed from southern Nova Scotia to Cape Cod in about 10 hours, on the night of August 6, 2024. By August 10, it was down in North Carolina. We do not have any detections past August 10, but there are fewer stations to detect the tags south of North Carolina. The tag is glued on, so it falls off in the winter when the battery dies, and we do not have tracks of its Northbound movements.”

Think about that – In 2024, N5 flew from Nova Scotia to North Carolina in four and half days! After first departing Sandy Bay, N5 flew nonstop to Cape Cod, when it appears he was next tracked at either a Rhode Island or Connecticut beach, across the sound on to Montauk, at the eastern end of Long Island, then a non-stop flight to Cape May, which is also an important holdover location for Monarchs waiting for the ideal wind to carry them over the mouth of the Delaware Bay. He is next hitting locations at Virginia beaches and North Carolina’s Outer Banks before arriving at Sunset Beach, which is just south of Ocean Isle at the southern point of North Carolina. 

And in 2025, N5 returned to Sandy Bay, Nova Scotia and successfully fledged two chicks!

Our deepest thanks and appreciation to Dr. Cheri Gratto-Trevor, research scientist emeritus with Environment and Climate Change Canada and to Hilary Mann, wildlife biologist with Canadian Wildlife Service.

I pulled this map off Google to show what a direct flight it is for Plovers flying from Cape Ann to southern Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia Piping Plover N5 in the foreground. The film clip is in 10 times slow motion so you can see the band placed on the upper right tibia.

Read more about banded Piping Plovers seen at Cape Ann beaches here –

FUN 411 UPDATE ON ETM, THE CUMBERLAND ISLAND BANDED PLOVER

BANDED PIPING PLOVERS FROM THE CANADIAN MARITIMES, BY WAY OF ABACO BAHAMAS, NORTH CAROLINA, AND MASSACHUSETTS!

Many, many thanks to Gloucester Daily Times reporter Bobby Grady and editor-in-chief Andrea Holbrook for the Times​‘s continued coverage of our Gloucester Plovers. The story appeared in Thursday’s Times with a gentle reminder to give the Plovers lots of space as they are establishing their nesting territories.

The coverage the Times has provided since the Plovers first arrived back in 2016 has been invaluable in helping to create an awareness about these very vulnerable, yet valiant, threatened shorebirds. Thank you again Andrea, Bobby, and the GDTimes!

​Happy Spring,

xxKim

PiPl N5 at time of banding provided by Hilary Mann

Shout Out To Bobby Grady, Andrea Holbrook, and the Gloucester Daily Times for Plover Coverage!

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Many, many thanks to Gloucester Daily Times reporter Bobby Grady and editor-in-chief Andrea Holbrook for the Times continued coverage of our Gloucester Plovers. The story appeared in today’s Times with a gentle reminder to give the Plovers lots of space as they are establishing their nesting territories.

The coverage the Times has provided since the Plovers first arrived back in 2016 has been invaluable in helping to create an awareness about these very vulnerable, yet valiant, threatened shorebirds. Thank you again Andrea, Bobby, and the GDTimes!

Happy Easter, Happy Spring!

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Dear Friends,

I hope so much you are doing well. Spring weather hasn’t quite sprung here in our region, nonetheless we know warmer days are just around the bend.  I haven’t been writing lately, managing health hurdles but they are manageable and things are looking better.

The wonderful good news is that Piping Plovers have been returning to their breeding grounds all along the Great Lakes and Atlantic Coast nesting locations and ours are no exception. The first PiPl arrived on March 26th, one of our females from last year, and Super Original Dad has returned for the ELEVENTH year to nest at Good Harbor Beach. He only landed several days ago and is wiped out from the migration. Super Dad is staying close to his territory and seems to be waiting patiently. Waiting I think for the return of his love, handicapped Super Mom. It will be nothing short of a miracle if she returns, too, as maneuvering with a missing foot takes a great deal more energy. The average lifespan of a Piping Plover is 3 to 5 years. Our Original pair is at least 12 years old and has far exceeded that statistic. Despite the fact that Plover pairs may winter over in two entirely different locations, last year Mom and Dad returned on exactly the same day, March 19th.

Super Dad March 2026

Plovers typically arrive at their northern breeding grounds needing plenty of R and R so if you see them on the beach, please give them lots and lots of space. If they pipe in your direction, you know you are too close. A gentle reminder to all our beach friends – the earlier Plovers can court and mate undisturbed on the beach, the earlier they begin laying eggs, and the sooner the chicks will have fledged. Although Good Harbor Beach is now closed to pets for the season, Wingaersheek is open until May 1st, and Crab Beach, which is downtown adjacent to the dog park, is open all year round

Hats off to our incredibly hard working DPW Crew. Thank you to this great group of guys for placing the symbolic roping and threatened species signs up prior to April 1st. And thank you to the DPW Crew for taking such care and pride of our City beaches.

More good news for Plovers is that we are again partnering with Mass Audubon to watch over the Plovers. The Audubon team of young biologists are some of the most conscientious and caring individuals you will meet and we are so delighted to learn from, and work with, Mass Audubon. If you would like to be a Piping Plover ambassador this summer, please contact me. We would love to have you!

Happy Easter, Happy Spring!
xxKim

A short video of our newly arrived and very loveable, sleepy Super Dad –

Happy Valentine’s Day!, ¡Feliz San Valentin!, Bonne Saint-Valentin!

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This morning while at a local shop I was greeted in the most lovely manner, with ¡Feliz San Valentin! So here is my annual Plover Valentines but this year in English, Spanish, and French. Thank you Elizabeth for the Spanish Valentine’s wishes!​

Piping Plovers (like a great many shorebirds) are a link that binds the Americas, especially in our shared goals of protecting this very vulnerable species. Piping Plovers winter over in the Caribbean and along both the Gulf of Mexico and lower Atlantic United States. They breed in the mid- and northern Atlantic states and maritime provinces of Canada, as well as the Great Plains and Great Lakes regions.

The photos are of the sweetest Plover family that miraculously hatched from a nest smack dab midway in the sand of a popular urban beach, with absolutely no camouflaging vegetation, stones, shells, no nothing!  This very vulnerable nest of three made it through to hatch day and all three chicks went on to thrive and eventually fledge. Miracles do happen <3

Plover chicks begin walking within hours after hatching but they are adorably klutzy for the first day or so, with many face plants, tumbles, and stumbles as they are learning to navigate the varied terrain. The chicks hatched on a boiling hot day and the very excellent Dad you see here was protectively trying to help the chick up on its feet and push back under his wing to shield from the midday sun.

 

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.

Best Director at the London Vision Film Festival!

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Dear Friends,

I hope you are doing well. What a lovely weekend weather wise for we in southern New England although we’re getting ready for the big cold snap coming. Right after Dia de Muertos, we plant paperwhites and amaryllis bulbs to force indoors. We switch up the colors of the soft furnishings in the music living room from warm weather blues and greens to white, rose, red, and greens. It’s a cozy (and gradual) way to get in the holiday spirit.

I am so very delighted to write that we received the Best Director Feature Film award at the London Vision Film Festival. It’s a wonderful honor and my first ‘Best Director’ award. I thank all of you everyday. Both Beauty on the Wing and The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay would not have been made possible without your generosity and I am so very grateful for your interest and kind support.

If you have a chance, there’s a very fun new film about the vibrant music scene in Boston during the 70s and 80s, Life on the Other Planet. Beautifully produced and directed by Vincent Straggas, we went to the premiere at the Regent Theatre in Arlington several weeks ago and it is again playing at the Regent on Thursday, November 19th. Along with a great many Boston musicians, my husband Tom Hauck and Fred Pineau from The Atlantics are featured, as well as local Gloucester musicians Willie Alexander and Jon Butcher. There is talk of Life on the Other Planet coming to The Cut!

The Rat

Here’s a link to a short video and photos of the amazing Pectoral Sandpiper that stopped over for a day on its arduous migration to southern South America. I mentioned the pair last time I wrote and wanted to make the video before too much time had passed. I wonder what the predicted whoosh of arctic weather will bring to our shores next!

Sending you kind thoughts and much gratitude,

xxKim

 

 

The Pectoral Sandpiper – Master of Migration and Don’t Fall Asleep Watching this Short Video!

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A new-to-my-eyes shorebird to love was seen at a local cove. A pair of Pectoral Sandpipers stayed for a day  to refuel on the rich feast of invertebrates found in the wrack of seaweed deposited along the shoreline and as you can see, to get some shut-eye.  I had spotted a Yellowlegs and was heading to the shoreline to investigate when I nearly tripped over one of the Pectoral Sandpipers. It was so well camouflaged in the drying seaweed. Only a few feet away was its traveling companion, also equally as difficult to see. They appeared at first glance to be something akin to a shorter legged Yellowlegs but I noticed right away the clean line between its crisply stippled upper chest feathers and bright white lower breast plumage. I knew it was unique to the shorebirds we usually see and had to be something special.

The Sandpipers hungrily burrowed their long bills in the soft sand, coming up with mouthful after mouthful of opaque white invertebrates. This seaweed and sand habitat is extraordinarily rich with small insects. As the seaweed piles up on the beach, the sand washes over and buries it. You may notice when walking the sand underneath your feet feels squishy. That’s because of the seaweed beneath, which also becomes a veritable hot house for insects.

The pair were sooo tired. They frequently dozed off in the midst of foraging and didn’t seem at all deterred by my presence. Perhaps I was the first human they had ever encountered and didn’t know to be frightened. Pectoral Sandpipers have one of the longest migrations known. They may journey from the far southern end of South America, to the high Arctic tundra to nest, quite possibly a nearly 20,000 mile journey. Not only that, but  once the polygynous male arrives at the breeding grounds, he will criss cross the Arctic looking for females. From satellite transmitters, biologists know that they may stop and mate at as many as 24 different locations. Pectoral Sandpipers are masters of migration and it was no wonder they were so exhausted.

I returned in the afternoon to find the pair had not moved more than a few feet from where they had been seen in the morning. They were still feeding voraciously and sleeping in-between bouts of foraging.

Pectoral Sandpipers are more likely to be seen in the central part of the country during their autumn migration. Because they are mostly foraging in grassy marshes and wet fields on their typical migratory routes, they, along with several over sandpipers, have gained the nickname ‘grasspipers.’ Pectoral Sandpipers are in the same family as Woodcocks and you can sort of see that in the last clip where the male’s chest feathers are puffed out.

Male Pectoral Sandpipers have a special air sac that lies beneath their breast bone. The air sac fills so that he looks like a feathered balloon and while he flies over the female, he lets out throbbing hoots (and many other extraordinary sounds!).

The wind was still blowing hard when i returned the following morning. Neither were seen and I hoped they had taken advantage of the super strong tailwinds to take them to the next leg of their journey,  what seems mighty epic to this wingless human.

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

Thank you Scott Memhard for the City of Gloucester Kindness Nomination!

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I am so very honored to receive a nomination from our Ward One City Councilor, Scott Memhard, for the City of Gloucester’s 2025 Kindness Campaign.  I accept this nomination on behalf of myself and all our Piping Plover Ambassadors, DPW, Conservation Commission, and Mass Audubon. Our Gloucester Plovers are very fortunate to have such a dedicated and kind team working to keep them safe and their habitat intact.

I’d also like to thank Scott especially, who has been a supporter since the Plovers first arrived in 2016. He has been a tremendous help navigating with the City to develop conservation protocols for the Plovers. The Plovers are under Scott’s ‘jurisdiction,’ so to speak, as Good Harbor Beach is part of Scott’s ward, and we couldn’t ask for a more helpful and engaged advocate.

Thank you to Scott, all our PiPl Ambassadors, the Gloucester DPW, Conservation Commission, Mass Audubon, and all our Plover friends and advocates <3

“I would nominate Kim Smith for her tireless environmental advocacy & her documentary photography and film educational outreach, now on PBS.

For years Kim has worked tirelessly with the Gloucester DPW, Conservation Commission & MA Audubon.  Kim has organized the local citizen group of the Piping Plovers Ambassadors at Good Harbor Beach.

In addition to the Piping Plovers, with her new documentary “Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay”, and working to protect Good Harbor Beach and dunes, Kim has produced a remarkable film documentation “Beauty on the Wing” of migrating Monarch butterflies which pass through Cape Ann every Fall.

Kim is a blessing & a credit to Gloucester. “

To learn more about  Gloucester’s Kindness Campaign, please go here.

And thank you to our little photobomber, Holly, who is generally not allowed on the dining room table

 

Sea Salps Are Back!

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Sea Salps have returned. There is a bunch at Niles Beach currently. Write if you see them at your favorite beach.

Luminescent Sea Salps was filmed at night at a dock on Rocky Neck in the underwater lights of the FV Hot Tuna.

Sea salps are warm ocean water creatures, exploding in population during algae blooms. With beating heart, notochcord, and gills they are more closely evolutionarily linked to humans than to jellyfish. Sea salps are individual creatures that through asexual reproduction, can form linear chains up to fifteen feet long!

Salps are planktonic (free floating) members of the subphylum Tunicata. Tunicates get their name from the unique outer covering or “tunic,” which acts as an exoskeleton. The sea salp’s tunic is translucent and gelatinous; in some species it is tough and thick.

Big and Bad #ploverlover

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Feeling big and bad, despite the fact that I hatched only hours earlier and my eyes aren’t yet fully opened 🙂Piping Plover hatchling

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)

Beautiful, Beautiful Migration

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Dear Friends,

The much needed rainy weather is giving me time to catch up with you. During this past month the days have been lovely and the early mornings filled with documenting the beautiful migration occurring along our shores. We have had two waves of migrating Monarchs, one very modest at the beginning of September and one recent, quite robust movement, when a large population flew in off the water. The Monarchs didn’t stay though despite that the meadows are rife with Seaside Goldenrod in full glorious bloom. Wind conditions were just right to carry them further along and they only stopped briefly to nectar before attempting to fly over the bay toward Westport.

Autumn Meadowhawk

Saturday was spectacular weather for observing migrating creatures. Warblers were out in full force, which usually means a Merlin is not too far away. Sure enough, he/she was perched at the tip of a tall dead tree, intently scoping out its next meal. That same morning, an American Pipit was spotted wagging its tail feathers while foraging atop a pile of seaweed. A large mixed flock of Semipalmated Plovers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, and Sanderlings were devouring the invertebrates in the surf and seaweed and were joined by three Yellowlegs. An abundance of Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonflies were mating during the warmth of mid-day and I filmed a dragonfly landing on a Little Blue Heron’s leg. Not a good place to perch as it instantly became a heron snack. That beautiful day ended with a last sighting of the Whimbrel pair while three American Oystercatchers flew overhead.

The following morning I eagerly returned to find only our ubiquitous Song Sparrows and Catbirds. It’s interesting and mysterious how migration patterns unfold. There is still a bounty of nectar-rich wildflowers, ripe berries, and fruit for more traveling warblers and what nots. I imagine additional waves of winged wonders will be passing through. Please write and let me know what you are seeing in your neighborhood. I have posted several posts, and more posts are planned, featuring these beautiful creatures so please check in with my website for all the photos and short videos, more than I can send in emails.

Two events/activities for local friends that you may be interested in – Saturday, the 27th, from 2 to 4pm, historian Maria Millefoglie will be at the stunning newly renovated Sawyer Free Library to discuss some little known history about Gloucester, which she uncovered when working on a project for Gloucester’s 400th anniversary celebration. “Branded: Enemy Aliens in Gloucester” chronicles the discrimination towards Italian Americans during WWII. And through the weekend, my friend Paul’s sunflower and dahlia fields are still open. His farm is wonderfully family friendly with adorable pet-able bunnies and goats and you can also pick your own flowers.

Have a lovely week and please again let me know what creatures you are seeing in your neighborhoods. Thank you 🙂

xxKim

P.S. Please keep in mind Lights out for Birds! during these weeks of peak migration. Thank you again <3

WINGED WODERFUL WHIMBRELS!

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For over a week an elusive pair of Whimbrels was foraging along our rocky shores. They were fattening up for the next leg of their journey. About half of the eastern population of Whimbrels is thought to stop next at Deveaux Bank in South Carolina. This special place was only discovered in 2019 when Felicia Sanders, a biologist working for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, happened to witness masses arriving after sunset. You can read more about Whimbrels at Deveaux Bank Here.

Like many, many shorebird species the world over, the Whimbrel population is in decline. More than 50 percent of the population has been lost in the past fifty years. Cape Ann’s many beaches, both public and the more undisturbed locales, offer refueling stations for these winged wonders. Our community is so very blessed to experience a window into their travels and is only made possible because we are providing safe places for the birds to rest and to forage.

Whimbrels are a member of the Curlew family of shorebirds. They are elegant  and large with long, decurved bills, perfect for probing deeply into the sand to extract invertebrates. This is only the third time I have seen Whimbrels on Cape Ann, all three during the autumn migration; once at Good Harbor and twice at Brace Cove.  The birds are returning from their breeding grounds in the subarctic and alpine tundra.

When I was visiting our daughter in Los Angeles this past winter we were delighted to see several Whimbrels foraging along the Central Coast.

Winged Wonders Migration – Yellowlegs Coming Ashore

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We see Yellowlegs at our local waterways during both the spring and summer migration. Yellowlegs are fairly easy to identify when foraging, with their purposeful gait and bright yellow legs however, are these Greater or Lesser Yellowlegs? I think Greater because I heard their penetrating call from overhead  but if you know differently, please write 🙂