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
Thank you to all our Piping Plover ambassadors, volunteers, shorebird organizations, film donors, and well-wishers. Your kind support over the years for both our volunteer program and film project is so very greatly appreciated.
We have many people and conservation organizations to be thankful for, especially here in Massachusetts, where we are at the forefront of Piping Plover recovery. Organizations such as Mass Audubon’s Coastal Waterbird Program, Mass Wildlife, Trustees of Reservations, and Essex County Greenbelt Association have created stellar programs to help protect , monitor, and engage in our communities. Nationwide, Piping Plovers were once on the brink of extinction. In 1986, there were fewer than 200 pairs breeding in Massachusetts. Preliminary data from MassWildlife reports that there were 1,196 nesting pairs in 2024, a whopping 500 percent increase from 1986. PiPl recovery is not as bright in other regions as it is in Massachusetts. Plovers are counting on Massachusetts peoples and programs!
We have new and expanded Plover projects and programs planned for the coming year and more good news to share for our forthcoming documentary. If you are interested in becoming a Piping Plover Ambassador, please leave a comment or email me at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com.
Wishing us all peace and joy and more conservation success stories in the coming New Year!
Piping Plover first-hatch-year Elwood, who was banded as a tiny baby in Delaware this past spring, was recently photographed in Jacksonville, Florida! Photographed by Jacksonville resident Brett Moyer, Elwood was spotted foraging at the tidal flats of Huguenot Memorial Park. Sightings of birds making their first year migration are particularly rare.
PiPls are listed as endangered in Delaware. Historically, they typically nest at Cape Henlopen State Park but since 2016, PiPls been breeding in increasing numbers at Fowler Beach in Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, according to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources.
In thinking about Thanksgiving, I just wanted to say thank you to all of you for your generous contributions and tremendous help in our efforts to bring our documentary to public television. We still have aways to go, but are making good headway in the fundraising department. Your gifts have been tremendously impactful and we could not have gotten this close without your help.
After my last post about the continued harassment and heartbreaking death of one of the recently arrived Snowy Owls, I wanted to share with you a much more joyful story for Thanksgiving, a story about a very inspiring person and her gift to our Plover documentary.
Through a mutual friend, Scott Hecker, I have met the actress and wildlife conservationist Jane Alexander. Many of our PiPl friends in Massachusetts will recognize Scott’s name. He has been a resolute force in Atlantic shorebird conservation for decades. Scott led Mass Audubon’s Piping Plover recovery efforts, resulting in the threatened species’ state population increasing from 126 pairs in 1987 to 530 pairs by 2002. He subsequently served as Director of National Audubon’s Coastal Bird Conservation program and currently works with the International Conservation Fund of Canada to manage and develop the organization’s shorebird conservation efforts.
Jane Alexander is the multi-talented Emmy and Tony award winning stage and film actress, producer, and director who you may recall, starred with James Earl Jones in the groundbreaking film, The Great White Hope, political thrillers such as All the President’s Men, and many, many other plays and films that have captured the zeitgeist of our times. She also served as chairwoman for the National Endowment for the Arts under President Clinton.
In addition to her wide-ranging theatrical accomplishments, Jane is also a dedicated conservationist and champion of creatures great and small, and their habitats. She uses her powerful voice to write beautifully thoughtful stories about wildlife. I have loved reading her most recent book, Wild Things Wild Places, Adventurous Tales of Wildlife and Conservation on Planet Earth and think you will love it, too. One of the main themes of the book is documenting the work that field biologists are doing within communities to save the species where the species they are studying lives. She writes about biologists who are helping people understand what they have in their own backyards and to feel pride in their beautiful place, recognizing there is no conservation without inclusion.
Jane is also a Piping Plover guardian at her home in Nova Scotia! She has been monitoring Piping Plovers in Shelburne County for close to 25 years. Jane spoke about her responsibilities in an Audubon article “Bird Talk with Jane Alexander,” “I go out two times a week to check on the nests that we know of on the beaches in the southwest area here in Nova Scotia. If there are people with dogs off the leash, I speak to them. I make sure the signs are still up, and if it’s a beautiful, sunny day and there are many people on the beach, I talk to them about the birds. Lots of people are doing this all over the Maritimes during the nesting season, which began about a month ago and will go rarely past the second week of July.”
In addition to the many conservation organizations she works with, Jane has been deeply involved with the Indianapolis Zoological Society for a number of years. She is an honorary chair and jurist for the Indianapolis Prize, which was explained to me as something akin to the Nobel prize for conservationists. It is the world’s largest individual award given for animal conservation and brings attention to the achievements of Earths greatest conservationists.
As a thank you gift for Jane’s invaluable guidance to the deliberation committee, she was given a $5,000 honorarium. Jane in turn has directed her honorarium to our documentary, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. Jane’s honorarium will go towards our fundraising efforts to bring the film to public television.
Thank you to Jane Alexander and the Indianapolis Zoological Society. Words cannot express how very deeply touched I am by this incredibly generous gift.
Happy Thanksgiving and thank you my dear friends for your continued support of The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay.
Warmest wishes,
xxKim
With gratitude to the following PiPl friends for their kind contributions – Jane Alexander (Nova Scotia) Lauren Mercadante (New Hampshire), Cornelius Hauck (Cincinnati), Sally Jackson (Gloucester), Cape Ann Garden Club, Brace Cove Foundation (Gloucester), JH Foundation/Fifth Third Bank (Ohio), Janis and John Bell (Gloucester), Jennie Meyer (Gloucester), Alice and David Gardner (Beverly), JoeAnn Hart (Gloucester), Kim Tieger (Manchester), Joanne Hurd (Gloucester), Holly Niperus (Phoenix), Bill Girolamo (Melrose), Claudia Bermudez (Gloucester), Paula and Alexa Niziak (Rockport), Todd Pover (Springfield), Cynthia Dunn (Gloucester), Nancy Mattern (Albuquerque), Marion Frost (Ipswich), Cecile Christianson (Peabody), Sally Jackson (Gloucester), Donna Poirier Connerty (Gloucester), Mary Rhinelander (Gloucester), Jane Hazzard (Georgetown), Duncan Holloman (Gloucester), Karen Blandino (Rockport), Duncan Todd (Lexington), Sue Winslow (Gloucester), Amy Hauck-Kalti (Ohio), JoAnn Souza (Newburyport), Karen Thompson (San Francisco), Carolyn Mostello (Rhode Island), Susan Pollack (Gloucester), Peggy O’Malley (Gloucester), Hilda Santos (Gloucester), Maggie Debbie (Gloucester), Sandy Barry (Gloucester), The Massachusetts Daughters of the American Revolution, Mary Keys (Madeira, Ohio), Barbara Boudreau (Gloucester), Suki Augusti, Jonathan and Sally Golding (Gloucester), Sue Winslow (Gloucester), Cecile Christensen (Peabody), Marty and Russ Coleman (Dallas, Texas), David Brooks (Troy, Michigan), Karen Maslow (Gloucester), Lisa Craig (Winchester), Menotomy Bird Club (Winchester), Lyda Kuth (Belmont), and my sweet husband Tom 🙂
Friends, the Piping Plovers are on Good Harbor Beach!! They arrived on March 22nd and are definitely here to stay. The endangered/threatened species signs have Not Yet been installed, so most people are unaware that they are nesting at Good Harbor.
These are the signs that were installed last year on March 27, two days after the Piping Plovers arrived. Dave Rimmer and Essex County Greenbelt were working with us last summer and their ongoing support was one of the key reasons why we were able to successfully fledge three chicks.
Piping Plover nest scrape, March 2020
The little Dad is building tiny nest scrapes in the sand in nearly the exact same area they were nesting at last year. Please be on the look out and please give them some space until the proper roping and signs are installed. Thank you so much!!!
In case you don’t recall where they were last year (and the three years prior to that), they have made an area between Boardwalk No.3 and the corner of Saratoga Creek their home.
About a week ago, a very narrow corridor of symbolic roping was installed along the entire length of the beach; we presume for dune conservation, because it is far too narrow for the PiPls.
Also, no signs are there to indicate the purpose of the symbolic rope fence, so many folks are walking through and within the roped off area. Last year’s installation, March 27, 2019
Currently, the PiPls are hanging out and nest scraping about ten to twelve feet outside the area where the symbolic fencing ends. We need to widen the area to create a similar footprint to last year’s to make a safe zone for the PiPls.
In the above photo taken a few days ago, you can see where the PiPls are trying to nest, outside the roped off area (Papa Plover is in the lower left quadrant, almost to the midline of the photo). The bird’s efforts are constantly thwarted by people and dogs, no fault of the peoples, because no one knows the PiPls are here without proper signage.
People are sitting in the area where the PiPls are repeatedly trying to nest. This nice group of young folks was not aware that the PiPls are here, because there are no signs posted.
The most important thing for everyone to remember is that the earlier the Piping Plovers are allowed to nest, the earlier they are off the beach. Allowing them to nest early is doubly important this year because as the pandemic breaks, our beaches are going to be flooded with people. It’s no use to say well they should just find another beach, because these lack of habitat issues are taking place at beaches on both coasts. Wildlife doesn’t stop being threatened or endangered because there is a pandemic, nor does our responsibility to help the birds survive.
If the city has the manpower to place fencing along the entire length of the beach, then we have the manpower to set aside one small area for the PiPls, and to install the endangered/threatened species signs.
If the City does not have the manpower or the funds for signage, then it is not too late to contact Essex Greenbelt for assistance.
The Gloucester citywide election is just around the corner. I want to take this opportunity to give a shout out to the candidates who I believe, based on their actions and words, are in favor of helping and protecting the threatened and endangered wildlife species that make their home on Gloucester’s shore.
As many are aware, the ordinance to disallow dogs at Good Harbor Beach was changed this past spring. Rather than May 1st, which was the previous time frame for several years, dogs are no longer permitted after March 31st. Without a doubt, the change in date allowed the Piping Plovers to successfully fledge three chicks at Good Harbor Beach, and not in the parking lot. The recommendation to change the ordinance was put forth by Gloucester’s Animal Advisory Committee and helped through the City’s government process by several key members of the City Council including Councilors Melissa Cox, Scott Memhard, Steven Le Blanc, Jamie O’Hara, Paul Lundberg, and Sean Nolan.
My recommendation for candidates does not address the individual ward councilors, only the councilors running for at-large positions.
With threatened and endangered species in mind I hope you will consider voting for incumbent councilors Melissa Cox and Jamie O’Hara. In the case of Melissa Cox, she was on board to help the Plovers immediately, from day one. Initially, Councilor Jamie O’Hara had many questions and suggestions. He was courteous and respectful at all times, a great listener, and came to be in favor of helping the PiPls and changing the ordinance.
Candidate John McCarthy, who was the acting Chief of Police during the summer of 2018 (when the Plovers had resorted to nesting in the parking lot), went to great lengths to help the PiPls. Daily he walked Good Harbor Beach at daybreak, before his workday began, to help monitor the PiPls during the early morning shift.
From speaking with Chris Sicuranza when he was an administrator in Mayor Sefatia’s office, I know that he is entirely in favor of the Piping Plovers and will work to keep in place the current protections.
I recently spoke with Peter Cannavo. Prior to running for elected office, he had in the past expressed interest in the PiPls. He assured me that he is in favor of continuing the Piping Plover protections and I know him to be a man of his word.
There you have it, five recommendations for the four at-large positions. With each of these five candidates we can be confident that they will work to continue to protect threatened and endangered Cape Ann wildlife.
Thank you for taking the time to read these recommendations.
As I was filming a Great Blue Heron, and standing as still as a tree, the beautiful Rusty Blackbird flew on the scene, not four feet away! My heart skipped a beat and I quickly turned my camera on the little blackbird. It’s foraging habit of flipping leaves to uncover insects and plant matter was fascinating and my only wish was that he stayed longer than a brief minute.
Scientists only relatively recently became aware of the dramatic decline of the Rusty Blackbird. Reports show that the population of the RB has plummeted between 80 and 99 percent.
As is the case with so many creatures the whole earth wide, two of the greatest threats facing the Rusty Blackbird are loss of habitat and climate change. The birds are elusive, nesting in remote areas of the great northern boreal forest and wintering over in the wet woodlands of the southeastern United States. Over 80 percent of their winter habitat in the southeast has been lost to development. Changes in the ecosystem of the boreal forests has affected nesting and foraging.
Without doubt, global climate change is the greatest challenge of our day. All living life as we know it is at risk. Millions of human lives have been directly impacted by the Earth’s warming temperature. We are at risk of losing thousands of species of flora and wild creatures.
In the current political climate, restrictions on drilling and mining are being dramatically loosened in ecologically sensitive areas, not only creating a greater carbon footprint, but irreparably harming wildlife.
Politicians are gutting the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Is your candidate, in more than only words, willing to take a strong stand to address the environmental crisis and wildlife conservation issues? Does your political party fully support renewable energy initiatives such as wind and solar? Or are they ramping up coal, gas, and oil production.
The Monarch Butterfly, Piping Plover, and the Rusty Blackbird are bellwether species that we can see in our own “backyards,” and they are sounding the clarion call loud and clear.Can you imagine Planet Earth without extraordinary and fascinating creatures such as this–and the world of beauty they provide?
Vote with your mind and your heart.Non-breeding Male Rusty Blackbird
Three days after hatching the Rosetti’s Least Tern parents moved the chicks further down the beach and deep into the roped off sanctuary. Tiny gray and white speckled fluff balls well-hidden amongst the rocky shoreline became increasingly difficult to see.
Well-camouflaged and nearly impossible to see one-week-old Least Tern chicks.
Every now and then though I would catch a glimpse and one of the best moments was watching both chicks test their wings in short little take offs. Stretching wide their wings and in little fits and bursts, the flights lasted about two- to three-feet in length, and equally as high. After witnessing the tremendous hardships the Least Tern colony at Winthrop had undergone this nesting season, I was over joyed to see at least one family hit this milestone.
One-week-old Least Tern chick feeding.
Two-week-old Least Tern chick.
Eighteen-day-old Least Tern chick taking shelter under beach vegetation on a scorchingly hot day in July.
