Tag Archives: Piping Plovers

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

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Dear Friends,

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

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

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

Warmest wishes,
xxKim

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

Local WOLRD PREMIERE of The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay!

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Hello PiPl Friends!

I have the best news to share with you. Our documentary, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, has been accepted to the world-renowned Boston Film Festival. Even more exciting, we are having the live screening premiere locally at the Shalin Liu! The event is presented by the Boston Film Festival and Rockport Music.

The tickets are free, which is a wonderfully generous gift to our community from the BFF and Rockport Music. Please save the date, Monday, September 23rd, at 5:15pm, and make your reservations today! Here is the link to reserve seats: https://tickets.rockportmusic.org/9769/9770

The Boston Film Festival is celebrating 40 years with a record six premieres, including three feature films and three documentaries. Please find the stellar line-up of films and screening schedule here: https://bostonfilmfestival.org/schedule-and-tickets/

Each and every friend receiving this email note has contributed in some way or another to helping launch our documentary, whether a friend to the Plovers on the beach, a beloved Ambassador, an advocate, a well-wisher, or contributed financially with a generous donation. We are continuing fundraising in our efforts to launch the film on public television, part two of the fundraiser, so to speak however, launching our documentary at film festivals is a huge milestone and we are so appreciative of everyone’s generosity. My most heartfelt thanks and deepest appreciation for your caring kindness for the Plovers.

I hope to see you at the premiere!

Warmest wishes,
xxKim

To become an underwriter on public television for The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, please contact the director at kimsmith.designs1@gmail.com or visit our online fundraiser here.

 

Face Plant!

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We Plover ambassadors see a great many amazing-funny-heartwarming moments. When the hatchlings are first learning to navigate the beach there are innumerable stumbles, face plants at the fore. It’s only funny because the chicks pick themselves right back up and carry on. In this scene, Dad protectively pulled the little one back in and tucked him under his wing.

Our forthcoming documentary, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, features the tender story of a blended family of Plovers. Stay tuned for an exciting upcoming announcement!

Exciting News from Plover Study

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Dear PiPl Friends!

I just had to share this study with all of you as many of us who have been looking after Plovers may relate to the following. This past week I attended the annual Northeast Coastal Waterbird Cooperators meeting, an event that brings together all the different conservation groups and individuals that monitor Piping Plovers, Least Terns, Roseate Terns, and American Oystercatchers from across New England and the mid-Atlantic. This outstanding meeting, with many moving parts, is organized by Carolyn Mostello, the Massachusetts Coastal Waterbird Biologist. I eagerly look forward to the meeting every year and it is so uplifting to be with such an incredible group of caring conservation minded organizations and individuals.

The morning hours may sound a little wonky, where all the different states and regions share data on pairs and fledged chicks for the different species, but I love it and find it very interesting to learn how individual beaches are faring and why and why not numbers are up (or down as is sometimes the case). Next on the agenda is Strange and Unusual, which is always engaging (our Good Harbor Beach Plovers have been featured several times!).The after lunch part of the meeting is especially interesting because people share reports and updates on shorebird studies that they are conducting throughout the regions. I was very happy to learn about several studies being conducted to determine how wind farms will impact migrating shorebirds and hope as much at least is being done for whales, dolphins, and other sea creatures.

Truly fascinating is an ongoing study that is taking place at Fire Island, Long Island. The research is about Piping Plover dispersal, with ten plus years of data collected. 600 individual banded Plovers were monitored. All of us Plover ambassadors know that adult Plovers show tremendous fidelity to nesting sites; for example, at Good Harbor Beach our Super Mom and Dad have nested within several feet of their previous year’s nest for the past nine years. Over the years we had learned that the offspring don’t generally return to the nesting site and it was assumed they traveled far and wide. This movement is referred to as “natal dispersal.” Well, this new study may very well prove otherwise. Roughly 85 percent of offspring at Fire Island return to the same area, the median distance is 5.5 km, and the closest returning offspring was only 5.1 meters. What does this mean? I think Good Harbor Beach has become populated with Super Mom and Super Dad’s offspring! We have all often wondered if the little chicks from one year are returning as adults the following year. For the most part, Plovers are not banded in Massachusetts; we have no way of knowing precisely but it sure is exciting to think that we have this wonderful little population of Super Mom and Super Dad’s extended family returning annually to GHB! Something to think about 🙂

Other wonderful news is that our documentary, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, was awarded Best Family Friendly Film by Cine Paris Film Festival. For local friends, the Newburyport Film Festival is running September 20th through the 22nd and as soon as we have a screening date, I will let you know, and hope you can come!

Happy August,

xxKim

P.S. We have Plover Lover T-shirts at Alexandra’s Bread (all profits go towards the film) and please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to our online fundraiser to bring The PiPls of Moonlight Bay to public television. LINK HERE We are also hoping to connect with possible underwriters – foundations, local businesses, corporations, and individuals. Please let us know of your thoughts and possible leads. Thank you!

Drones and Sensitive Bird Nesting Areas

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The following is a question I have been asked with increasing frequency, “should drone operators fly their drones over heron rookeries and other sensitive bird nesting areas?”

One of several unfortunate situations that I have witnessed while observing herons was watching a Great Blue Heron desperately try to escape a drone operator that was harassing it. As the drone operator tried to get close to the bird, the GBHeron flew from one treetop to the next, back and forth across the parking lot at the Lighthouse. Finally, the Heron left the area entirely. Great Blue Herons love to forage there in the marsh and the drone was clearly preventing it from feeding.

In the case of nesting shorebirds and herons, hovering drones are even more traumatic because as much as the parent bird would like to escape the drone, protectively, the bird also does not want to leave its eggs and nestlings. One of the most troubling situations we Plover keepers have to contend with is drone operators flying over nesting shorebirds. It is illegal and considered harassment under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to operate a drone over breeding areas. However, people are either unaware, feign ignorance, or even worse, are aware and simply don’t care. Countless times we have come onto our shifts to find all the birds in the area in complete meltdown mode. At first you may not see the drone and wonder what on earth is making the birds respond in such an extraordinary manner. And then there it is; whether flying high over head or close to the ground, the birds are in utter panic. Because they think the drone is a predator that has come to eat their eggs, hatchlings, or chicks. Oftentimes, the heron or shorebird will try to distract the drone, leaving the nest unattended and in even graver danger from predators.

There is accumulating evidence that the mere presence of drones causes direct harm to birds. The unfamiliarity and noise interrupts courtship, mating, and feeding. Entire tern and heron colonies have abandoned their nests  due to drone disturbances.

Least Tern and two chicks

Over millennia, nesting birds evolved with the constant threat of avian predators, including hawks, falcons, crows, gulls, and eagles. They have not adapted to understand that a drone is not a predator, no matter how much the drone operator protests that the birds are unbothered by the drone and have become used to its presence.

It is imperative for the safety of the birds that they have a healthy fear of drones. The last thing we want are nestlings thinking that hovering airborne shapes are nothing to be afraid of.

In our collective experiences monitoring the Plovers, we come across unethical behavior not only on the part of drone operators but also by fellow wildlife enthusiasts. We have seen photographers mashed up against the symbolically roped off areas, despite massively long telephoto lens, parking themselves for hours on end, and also following the birds relentlessly up and down the beach, despite the bird’s clear signals it is trying to get away and/or tend to its chicks. Early on in the pursuit of my dream to document wildlife, I was part of crowds that photographed owls. Observing how sensitive are owls, I no longer film owls in known locations. If I come across an owl or rare bird when out filming, I take a few photos and footage and go on my way. Crowds and hovering persons are also the reason why I no longer post specific locales and keep location information general.

The American Oystercatcher is a relatively new-to-our-region and wonderful species of shorebird that has been trying to nest in the North of Boston area over the past several years. Tragically, word got out this past spring on one of the birding alert websites telling folks exactly where to look for the pair and their nest. The crowds of photographers was untenable for the nesting parents. With all the unwanted attention, the Oystercatchers became very confused and lost their first nest, where one of the chicks had already hatched! The pair re-nested. Again, word got out, the nesting area was again inundated with photographers and the Oystercatchers abandoned their second nest.

American Oystercatchers, New Jersey

To ethically document wildlife requires thought and is also a tremendous responsibility. We can all do our part to protect the beautiful creatures in our midst by being mindful and sensing their boundaries, especially, especially during the time of year when they are breeding.

Thank you for taking the time to read this information. I hope your question is answered, and why.

Just some of the birds negatively impacted by drones during the breeding season –

Great Blue Herons courting 

Juvenile Glossy ibis

Missing Our Little Plover Friends

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One of my favorite scenes from the past summer’s nesting season is this male Plover building a nest scrape.

The male lays on his breast, kicking sand backward to dig out a series of shallow scrapes. He’ll try to impress his mate by decorating their scrapes, tossing in tiny bits of seashells, pebbles, dried seaweed, whatever is readily available. In this case it was sticks, which was a first time for me seeing ‘stick decor.’ This little fellow and his mate valiantly tried numerous times to become established.

Sadly, while the Plover pair were attempting to nest, there were numerous disturbances from excessive drinking and partying on the beach, which leads to urinating in the their roped off areas. Not one, but two pairs, eventually gave up. Plovers giving up doesn’t happen very often. When they abandon their nests it points to one reason and one reason only. Disturbances. Happily though, our Super Mom and Super Dad were able to get an early start and successfully fledged two chicks.

Next year we have to work harder to find alternatives to massive underage drinking parties at Good Harbor Beach. The town of Dennis on Cape Cod has been experiencing similarly increasingly large and chaotic crowds and have taken action to reduce the underage drinking parties. Their solutions may not be our solutions, but I think we can do better to curtail the underage drinking at Good Harbor Beach. Not only will it help keep the teens safer and protect the Plovers, we won’t be stuck cleaning up the massive amounts of trash left behind that pollutes both our beach and dunes.

Good Harbor Beach after an underage drinking party

Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay – the sweetest story around!

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Good Morning PiPl Friends!

We have wonderfully joyful news to share about our forthcoming film, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. I have started submitting to film festivals and we have already been accepted to three, notably for our community, the local upcoming Newburyport Film Festival!

Equally as exciting is that our film is in consideration for public television. Bringing the documentary to public television requires round two of fundraising. We are looking for Piping Plover Angel Sponsors and this is where your help is needed. We are hoping to connect with environmentally and wildlife conscious individuals, organizations, and corporations to sponsor our film. If you have any suggestions of an organization or individual that may be interested in underwriting The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, please contact me at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com. Our non-profit fiscal partner is Filmmakers Collaborative, which is a 501(c)(3). An individual’s or organization’s gift is tax deductible.

Underwriting a program on PBS provides an incredibly unique and trusted opportunity for promoting your organization. We have up to 60 seconds of promotional spots, which means over the three year period that the film airs on PBS, each and every time the film is played, at both the beginning and end of the film, your promotion will air. Based on the national success of Beauty on the Wing, we are confident The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay will also play to millions of households across the country. The carriage results for Beauty on the Wing are well-documented.  I am happy to provide all the information needed, including donor levels, budget, and more details about promoting your organization.

We are also planning a fundraising screening event! More about that in an upcoming post. And, if so inclined, here is a link to our on-line fundraiser. All fundraising from this point forward goes towards bringing the life story of the Piping Plover to the wide world of public television.

I would like to give a huge thank you to the Cape Ann Garden Club and to Suki Augusti for the recent very generous contributions to our film. Their contributions are going straight away toward our public television fundraiser. We are so appreciative for all the kind contributions from our community.

With gratitude to the following PiPl friends for their kind contributions – Lauren Mercadante (New Hampshire), Sally Jackson (Gloucester), Cape Ann Garden Club, Brace Cove Foundation (Gloucester), JH Foundation/Fifth Third Bank (Ohio), Jane Alexander (New York), 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), and my sweet husband Tom 🙂 

              *    *    *

Although our film has been “locked” for a number of weeks, and will soon be playing at festivals, I have spent the past several months continuing to document Plovers nesting in our region. This summer was exceptionally magnificent at one very special location. Three pairs nested, with the nests situated in a row, across a very short expanse. The dynamics between the three pairs was fascinating and at times I held my breath hoping no one would be severely injured in the Plover rumbles that took place on an almost daily basis. The truly exceptional news is that Pair One laid three eggs and three chicks fledged, Pair Two laid four eggs and four chicks fledged, and Pair Three laid three eggs and three chicks are well on their way to full fledgedom. It has been a remarkable experience documenting these three families.

The pair whose chicks are nearly fully fledged astounded me the most. In nine years of filming and documenting Plovers, I have never seen a nest so completely and utterly exposed, smack dab in the middle of a busy urban beach. Oftentimes, a nest will be tucked behind a clump of beach grass or Sea Rocket, a piece of driftwood, or a seashell; I have even filmed garbage used as camouflage. While incubating the eggs, the parents often toss in dried beach grass, tiny stones, and bits of broken seashells, but this nest contained none of that. Just three little eggs in the bare sand.

Every time I checked on Pair Three’s nest, there was either Mom or Dad flattened in the sand and hardly noticeable. Incredibly, this is a location that has been severely plagued with predation by Crows. Thankfully, the Crows were not onto this little nest, nor the other two nests.

Hours old hatchlings from the most vulnerable of locations-

 

 

SPROUTS!

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I hope you can get a sense of scale and vulnerability of these tiniest of beach babies. They are navigating the beach within hours after hatching and even the most aware may inadvertently collide. Please give them lots of space <3

The chicks in the first batch of photos are all less than a week old. The above chick is about three weeks old. My how they grow so quickly (the Sea Rocket, too)!

Super Mom Taking Care of Business!

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Good Morning PiPl Friends,

I hope you are managing to stay cool wherever you live. Looking at the glass half full, several plusses to this very heated summer are that the butterflies  of summer thrive in the warmth (as long as there are flowers to nectar from), and we are seeing many shorebird chicks have already fledged and departed their ‘home bases.’ The fledglings may either be getting an early start migrating or are staging at locations nearby. The maiden voyage of the fledglings is the most dangerous and we wish them all safe travels.

Earlier in the season, I filmed a fascinating sequence. As I was coming onto the beach, from some distance, I could see Super Mom had something much larger than usual in her beak. I was so far away I couldn’t tell what it was but she was shaking it like mad. I began filming and soon realized it was an eggshell. She was trying with all her mini might to break the shell into smaller bits. She managed to somewhat, then put the eggshell in her mouth and flew off with it, discarding the eggshell some distance away at the flats.

We know shorebirds remove the eggshells from the nest, but I had never seen a Plover try to smash it up. Several weeks later, I knew what to look for and saw a second Plover at another location do the same thing. Eggshells left in the nest signal to crows and gulls a hatchling meal and Plovers are very diligent about removing the shells, often within seconds of a chick hatching.

Our Super Mom is such a great Mom. All Plover families are not equal in parenting skills. Some pairs are just plain new at the job, some never really develop good communication with their chicks, and others appear to let their chicks wander too far away. But not our Super Mom and Super Dad; this is their ninth year nesting at GHB and they are truly exceptional parents.

Happy Summer!

xxKim

 

Plover Lover Cape Ann Tees are IN at Alexandra’s Bread

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Hello PiPl Friends! Our new tees have arrived just in time for the Block Party. And we’ve added Plover Lover and Cape Ann. I had wanted to include text from the beginning but just couldn’t find the right font. This is a relatively new font added to Adobe called “Adventures Unlimited.” I like it so much that I designed our forthcoming film’s title using it. Please tell me what you think.

We also have brand new 3 inch round decals. They are the perfect size for your laptop or water bottle. Many thanks to the designer at Seaside Graphics, Samantha, for thinking of round decals with the top of the heart cut around.

The tees are available at Alexandra’s Bread at 265 Main Street in Gloucester. We have small, medium, large, and Xlarge. If you don’t see your size at Alexandra’s, we have a few more of each size in stock. If you are planning to do one stop shopping and purchasing some of their wonderfully delicious French bread, cookies, olive bread, and cranberry scones, go early as they sell out later in the day. Many, many thanks to Alexandra and Jon for their generosity in distributing our tees and stickers!

The Good Harbor Beach Piping Plovers July Update

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Dear Piping Plover Friends,

I hope you had an enjoyable extended Fourth of July weekend! Like many of us, I feel we who live on Cape Ann are so very blessed, not only for our fantastic community sharing in celebrations like St. Peter’s Fiesta and Independence Day, but also for the natural beauty that surrounds us, which in turn attracts a bevy of beautiful wild creatures to our shores and wild spaces.

Super Mom and Dad arrived from their wintering grounds in early spring

Nine years ago a pair of Piping Plovers began calling Good Harbor Beach home. There is so much good that this intrepid little duo has brought to our community. People have come together to help protect the birds and the community has become more educated about nesting shorebirds. Equally as exciting is the growing awareness of the connection between conserving habitats and wildlife. For decades our dunes have been ravished by storms and a lack of basic protections. Because a narrow corridor that runs the length of the beach was roped off for Plovers, it has largely kept people from recreating close to the dune’s edge. Creating this corridor has allowed beach vegetation to take hold. The areas of the beach that have been consistently roped off for the past eight years are clearly the healthiest.

A vital new habitat has developed in the area of the dunes that has been roped off consistently for eight years.The above area has only this year begun to be roped off. Notice how ravaged is the edge of the dune. That is what the edge of the dunes looked like along the length of the entire beach prior to creating protective corridors. You can see that one of the first plants to begin to take hold is Sea Rocket. The same exact sequence of revegetation happened in the area depicted in the first photo – Sea Rocket, followed by beach grass.

It is one of our greatest hopes that the City will continue to leave the roping in place year round. There is a tiny, and fortunately, diminishing, minority of sour anti-Plover/anti-conservation types however, no matter how one feels about making space for Plovers, it is undeniable that by creating protective corridors, the dunes have never looked as lush and as healthy as they do today. I urge you to go and see for yourself!

Additionally, roping off the areas for the Plovers has had zero economic impact on beach attendance. As a matter of fact, since the Blinkay system was implemented, beach revenue has gone up in the past few years.

We have a wonderfully dedicated crew of Ambassadors hourly monitoring the Plovers and educating beachgoers about the presence of Plovers. I’d like to give a heartfelt thanks to Deborah Brown, Jennie Meyer, Jill Ortiz, Paula and Alexa Niziak, Barbara Boudreau, and our newest Ambassadors, Kim Bouris and Sandy Barry. If you see them around town, please thank them for their hours and hours of dedication to our teeniest neighbors.

Last year, the City hired Mass Audubon to oversee Plover monitoring. The Audubon team is phenomenal -so well-educated, enthusiastic, conscientious, and kind. I can’t say enough good things about Lyra Brennan, Malarie Markowitz, and the entire Audubon crew! The Gloucester DPW has been a tremendous partner as well. The DPW did an outstanding job installing the roped off corridor last spring, not once, but twice, as the first installation was destroyed by a late season storm. We are so fortunate to all be working together for Plover protections, from sunup to sunrise!

Chrisotpher Cefalo, retired USMC, Good Harbor Beach

I was remiss when I originally published this post becauseI failed to mention Christopher Cefalo. In every kind of weather, daily he collects trash from the beach; some days there is more than others and I have seen him walk away with several bagfuls. He cleans up everything, large and small however, he specifically focuses on bits of plastics, the tiny pieces that get caught in the wrack that is especially harmful to wildlife. Chris loves Good Harbor Beach and it is largely because of his dedication that the beach looks well cared for when beachgoers begin arriving after 9am. He also keeps an eye out for the Plovers!

Gloucester’s DW Crew Mike Tarantino and Tyler Curtis

Not all monitoring of Plovers is successful (I’ll write more about that in a future post); we did want to share though the joyful news that our Super Mom and Super Dad have fledged two healthy chubby little chicks. We are so proud of Mom and Dad. No matter what curveballs life throws their way, the pair continue to be phenomenal parents!

From a nest of four eggs, one chick did not survive the very first night. A second chick was lost about a week later. The two remaining chicks thrived and grew to fly. We have lots of wonderful stories to share about their adventures 🙂

The maiden voyage of the Plovers is the most dangerous. We wish our tiny tender fledglings safe travels.

I’ll be posting more about Plovers in the coming weeks. Our Plover documentary is progressing beautifully (updates about that soon,) and I am dropping off new Plover tees and stickers this week at Alexandra’s Bread. 

Warmest wishes,

KimOne-day-old Piping Plover Chicks

Mass Audubon Monitoring Plovers at Gloucester Beaches

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Good morning PiPl Friends,

Just a quick note to let you all know that the Mass Audubon team will be on Gloucester beaches monitoring the Plovers. I saw someone there yesterday at GHB from the roadside but Charlotte and I were on our way to an appointment and I couldn’t stop to say hello,. We did confirm though that the contract was signed yesterday. Mass Audubon did a great job last year and the Plover Ambassadors are looking forward to working with the Audubon team again this summer.

I am flat out with film finishing and planning client’s gardens and tried my best to keep the two from happening simultaneously but as the saying goes – the best laid plans… Things should ease up a bit soon and I will hopefully be providing you with more frequent updates about our Good Harbor Beach PiPls <3

Happy May!
Warmest wishes,
xoxoKim

Super Dad floofing after a bath

SUPER MOM AND SUPER DAD RETURN TO GOOD HARBOR BEACH #ploverjoyed

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Good morning PiPl Friends!

We are overjoyed to share that handicapped Mom and Super Dad have returned for their ninth year nesting at Good Harbor Beach!!! The pair were spotted by Tom on Sunday, the 24th. I raced over to meet him and we watched with delight as they foraged hungrily at the Creek shoreline. This is a record for Mom and Dad, by one day. We have been checking daily and know for certain that they flew in sometime the night before. At first I thought it was not handicapped Mom because the two were running so vigorously along the water’s edge but I was mistaken and it is our Mom!  Plover pairs don’t always arrive on the exact same day, together. We know from banding programs that pairs don’t necessarily share the same wintering grounds; it’s wonderfully mystifying when they do share the same arrival date.

Second bit of good news is that the DPW crew is at the beach now as I write this, installing the roping. Unfortunately, we do not yet know if Audubon is going to be working at GHB this summer. Trying to obtain a clear answer has been challenging.

I apologize for the delay in letting you all know and thought it best to wait until the symbolic fencing went up and they had a safe zone.

If you would like to join us this summer volunteering as a Piping Plover Ambassador, please leave a comment in the comment section or email at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com.

I am working non stop on the PiPl documentary through Friday, when it goes back to the film finishing editors in Boston. I won’t be able to respond to emails until Saturday, unless it’s a PiPl emergency 🙂

Happiest of Springs <3

xoKim

P.S. I just dropped off a batch of cheery Plover Peep yellow tees and onesies at Alexandra’s if you are in need of an Easter gift 🙂

Good Morning Sweet Chick!

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Dear Piping Plover Friends,

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

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

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

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

Donate here to our Network for Good online fundraiser .

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

With gratitude to the following PiPl friends for their kind contributions – Alice and David Gardner (Beverly), JoeAnn Hart (Gloucester), Kim Tieger (Manchester), Joanne Hurd (Gloucester), Holly Niperus (Phoenix), Bill Girolamo (Melrose), Claudia Bermudez (Gloucester), Paula and Alexa Niziak (Rockport), Todd Pover (Springfield), Cynthia Dunn (Gloucester), Nancy Mattern (Albuquerque), Marion Frost (Ipswich), Cecile Christianson (Peabody), Sally Jackson (Gloucester), Donna Poirier Connerty (Gloucester), Mary Rhinelander (Gloucester), Jane Hazzard (Georgetown), Duncan Holloman (Gloucester), Karen Blandino (Rockport), Duncan Todd (Lexington), Sue Winslow (Gloucester), Amy Hauck-Kalti (Ohio), JoAnn Souza (Newburyport), Karen Thompson (San Francisco), and my sweet husband Tom 🙂

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

Very best wishes,

xxKim

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

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

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Dear PiPl Friends,

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

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

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

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

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

Please donate here to our Network for Good online fundraiser .

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

With gratitude to the following PiPl friends for their kind contributions – Alice and David Gardner (Beverly), JoeAnn Hart (Gloucester), Kim Tieger (Manchester), Joanne Hurd (Gloucester), Holly Niperus (Phoenix), Bill Girolamo (Melrose), Claudia Bermudez (Gloucester), Paula and Alexa Niziak (Rockport), Todd Pover (Springfield), Cynthia Dunn (Gloucester), Nancy Mattern (Albuquerque), Sally Jackson (Gloucester), Marion Frost (Ipswich), Cecile Christianson (Peabody), Donna Poirier Connerty (Gloucester), Mary Rhinelander (Gloucester), Jane Hazzard (Georgetown), and my sweet husband Tom 🙂 Thank you so very much for your support and for seeing the tender beauty in the life story of the Piping Plover.

Very best wishes,

xxKim

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ARE DONATING TO OUR PIPING PLOVER FILM PROJECT!

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Dear PiPl Friends,

A huge shout out to our newest contributors to our Piping Plover film project fundraiser. My deepest thanks and appreciation to Alice and David Gardner (Beverly), JoeAnn Hart (Gloucester), Kim Tieger (Manchester), Joanne Hurd (Gloucester), Holly Niperus (Phoenix), Bill Girolamo (Melrose), Claudia Bermudez (Gloucester), Paula and Alexa Niziak (Rockport), Todd Pover (Springfield), Cynthia Dunn (Gloucester), Nancy Mattern (Albuquerque), Sally Jackson (Gloucester), and my sweet husband Tom 🙂 Thank you so very much for your support and for seeing the tender beauty in the life story of the Piping Plover.

Progress update – We are currently working with the stellar editing staff at Modulus Studios in Boston. Eric Masunaga and his assistant Shannon also worked on our sister film project, Beauty on the Wing. Keeping my fingers crossed and not wanting to jinx our progress, but the hope/goal is to have a cut ready to begin submitting to film festivals by the end of 2023. We have also received exceptionally helpful content advice from both Carolyn Mostello, the Massachusetts Coastal Waterbird Biologist and Todd Pover, Senior Wildlife Biologist for Conserve Wildlife New Jersey.

Thank you so very much again for your kind help.

Warmest wishes,

Kim

To contribute to The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to our online Network for Good fundraiser DONATE HERE

 

To learn more about The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay documentary please go here.

HipHop

FUNNY PIPING PLOVER CHICKS NEW SHORT FILM

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Tiny Piping Plover chicks weigh about as much as a nickel at the time of hatching. Although capable of running about within a few hours after pushing out of their eggshells, one-day-old chicks are extraordinarily vulnerable. They are also adorably funny as they learn how to navigate the varied beach terrain and to forage for food. The hatchlings study their out-sized feet, stretch tiny wing buds, fall into mini fox holes, and tumble over even while only trying to scratch themselves. It’s not easy being one-day-old!

Mom and Dad spend a great deal of time helping the chicks to regulate their body temperature, especially in the earliest days of the chick’s life. In the last clips, Dad calls to the four siblings to warm up under his downy soft underwing feathers.  And by the way, Plover Dads are truly super heroes in the life story of the Piping Plover, co-parenting equally, and even then some.

The footage in this short is from the forthcoming film, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to our online fundraiser to help complete our documentary. Filming is finished however, post-production and festival costs have sky-rocketed; they are much greater than when we released our sister film project about species at risk, Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly. Without our community’s help, we could not have launched Beauty on the Wing. Working with the community to produce Beauty on the Wing made it far more meaningful.

We are deeply appreciative of any gifts given. Thank you.

Please donate here to our Network for Good online fundraiser https://filmmakerscollab.networkforgood.com/projects/55077-filmmakers-collaborative-the-piping-plovers-of-moonlight-bay

 

 

WORLD SHOREBIRDS DAY – A CELEBRATION OF SHOREBIRDS!

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HAPPY WORLD SHOREBIRDS DAY! Today, September 6th, marks the 10th anniversary of Worlds Shorebird Day. Worlds Shorebird Day was founded to help bring awareness to the plight of  shorebirds. More than 50 percent of shorebird species around the globe are in decline. 

Our documentary, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, shines a light on the Plovers and how these remarkably valiant little birds are surviving the pressures of habitat loss, human disturbance, and a warming climate. Massachusetts is at the fore of Piping Plover recovery and we are doing much that is right however, the recovery is not going as well in other regions.

Please think about donating to our film. I think of Plovers as a gateway species, similar to Monarch butterflies. Through developing a deeper understanding of the birds, people will be inspired to do all they can to join citizens around the world in providing safe habitat for nesting and migrating shorebirds.  Our sister film, Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly is currently airing on PBS and has reached markets in 87 percent of US households, in all major cities. Wouldn’t it be wonderfully meaningful to have that kind of outreach for Plovers!

DONATE HERE https://filmmakerscollab.org/films/piping-plovers-of-moonlight-bay/

 

LAUNCHING OUR PIPING PLOVER FILM FUNDRAISING EVENT TODAY!

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Dear Friends,

As many of you know that while we Piping Plover Ambassadors have been looking out over Cape Ann’s PiPls, I have also been working on a documentary film about Plovers nesting in Gloucester, along with filming Plover populations found at communities all around the north of Boston coastal region. Our GHB Plovers first arrived in Gloucester in 2016 and it was evident from the very first days that they were struggling to survive under the pressures of human and pet disturbances. As we were learning how to best help the Plovers nest undisturbed, I began to document Plovers at many other beaches to learn how other communities managed their Plover populations. I focused mostly on urban beaches as they are most similar to Good Harbor Beach.

Over the course of filming, I have spent several years documenting nesting Piping Plovers pairs that are extraordinary in their parenting skills, similar to our original pair of GHB Plovers, Super Dad and Super Mom. The documentary, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, is based on true life stories and is set in a fictional Massachusetts coastal town to protect the location of the Plovers.

Today we are launching our fundraising campaign. I am very proud to share that we have received our very first grant, from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. Here is a link to our online fundraiser:

Link to our 501c fiscal sponsor Filmmakers Collaborative: https://filmmakerscollab.org/films/piping-plovers-of-moonlight-bay/
Link to the trailer: https://vimeo.com/818861213
Link to the Piping Plover Project website: https://wordpress.com/view/pipingploverproject.org

Gifts for The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay will support post production and distribution costs, including re-recording voiceover narration, 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 $80,500.00 for post production with a total of $115,000.00 if the film is accepted to air on public television.

The names of underwriters contributing $10,000.00 and above will be proudly listed in the film’s special underwriting credit pod. What does it mean to be an underwriter? When you watch a film on public television and the announcer says (for example), “This program was made possible by gifts from Katherine and Charles Cassidy, by The Fairweather Foundation, by Lillian B. Anderson, and by The Arnhold Family, in Memory of Clarisse Arnhold,” that’s where your name, or the name of your foundation, will appear, at both the beginning and at the end of the film.

If you are interested in becoming an underwriter, please feel free to phone (978-290-3804) or email and I will be happy to send the formal proposal and budget.

All supporters, no matter how large or small the donation, will be listed on the film’s website. Any amount contributed is tremendously appreciated.

Thank you for being part of launching The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay!

Very best wishes,

Kim

AUGUST PIPING PLOVER UPDATE AND HOW A CHANGING CLIMATE MAY HAVE IMPACTED CAPE ANN’S PIPLS

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Dear PiPl Friends,

A brief note about film progress – Several friends have written to ask why I have not been posting as frequently as usual. For many months I have been working like crazy to get my forthcoming documentary, “The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay,” ready to bring to my film finishing editor, Eric. The schedule is tight, exacerbated by a complicated computer crash. We also have a houseful of family and guests, as I am sure is not atypical for the month of August  for all of us who live on beautiful Cape Ann. The great news is I have made my deadline! Eric and and I will be working on finishing the documentary in September, along with raising the funds needed to finish and to submit to film festivals.

After weeks of unseasonably cooler temps, followed by a brief heat wave, the last few weeks here on Cape Ann have been mild and wonderfully enjoyable. We who live here are so very blessed to have escaped the baking temperatures experienced worldwide.

In some ways, our Cape Ann Piping Plovers benefitted from the off-weather but several extreme storms proved lethal. Super Mom and Super Dad laid a clutch of four eggs during the cool spring. Only three eggs hatched, which is unusual for our Super pair. A brief reminder-  Super Mom and Super Dad are called as such as they are the breeding pair that first began nesting at Good Harbor Beach in 2016. Through pet disturbances, parking lot nests, bonfires, fireworks, 200 plus underage drinking parties, and physical disability, along with crows and gulls hungrily drawn to the garbage strewn beach, despite all that, they have managed to successfully breed at Good Harbor Beach for the past eight years. Super Mom and Dad are also the parents of HipHop, our handicapped fledgling from last summer.

Although the rain and colder than normal temperatures delayed nesting, when the weather is rotten, the beach is empty, which leaves nesting birds largely undisturbed. Shorebird monitors everywhere love to see foggy, rainy days as the birds get a break from the crowds. Paula, one of our stellar Ambassadors reminds us “rainy weather if for the birds,” and that is literally true, in a positive way 🙂

We inexplicably lost one of Super Mom and Dad’s chicks when it was about ten days old. The two remaining chicks, who soon gained the nicknames the Chubettes, grew fat and strong on a diet rich in sea life protein found in the tidal flats at GHB. We said farewell to the pair when they were approximately seven weeks old and had become ace flyers, zooming high and all around the beach.

Our second pair of Plovers did not fare as well. Two of the chicks hatched during a violent storm and the family did not survive.

Our third nesting pair, Mini Mom and Scruffy Dad, are a first time breeding pair at Good Harbor Beach.  Mini Mom has very distinct feather patterning and I believe this was her third year attempting to nest at GHB.   Late in the season, they laid a clutch of four eggs and all four hatched and were thriving. That terrible storm of several weeks ago, the one that raged all night and where lightening struck GHB several times, was devastating for the little family. It’s not unusual to lose one chick in a violent storm but to lose two chicks overnight was tough for us all. The good news though is that the remaining two offspring of Mini Mom and Scruffy Dad are the fattest little things you have ever seen and, at the time when this is published, may already have departed Good Harbor Beach for their wintering grounds.

This was the first year we Cape Ann PiPl Ambassadors have worked with Mass Audubon and Devon Harrington, the City’s assistant conservation agent. I simply cannot say enough good things about Devon and the fabulous Mass Audubon team. Headed by Lyra Brennan, Director of Mass Audubon’s Coastal Waterbird Program, and Malarie (a Gloucester native), along with her fellow field agents Sydney (also from Gloucester), Kirsten, and Beth; the GHB Plovers had the best coverage ever! It was fantastic to have so many eyes on the PiPls throughout the day and communication between Mass Audubon and the Ambassadors was superb. Lyra and Devon had given an outstanding presentation on Mass Audubon protocols early in the spring and it set the tone for the summer. We are looking forward to working with Devon, Lyra, Malarie, Sydney, Kirsten, and the entire Mass Audubon team again next year!

Tiny PiPL chick learning to forage

Our dunes have not looked this healthy in many decades, due to an added benefit from roping off the low lying areas at the base of the dunes for Piping Plovers. Because the base of the dunes are being protected from foot traffic, for the most part, we no longer have receding bluffs with a sharply exposed face. The dunes are becoming gently sloped and covered with beach grass, Sea Rocket, Seaside Goldenrod, and Common Milkweed, all filling in and holding the sand in place.

Dave Rimmer, Essex County Greenbelt’s Director of Land Stewardship, shares that over at Coffins Beach in West Gloucester, he and his team have been managing a wonderfully active summer.The final count is not yet in, but it appears as though eight chicks will have fledged from Coffins. This may well bring the total of chicks from Gloucester beaches to a whopping one dozen!!

New face on the block – a migrating  young Plover stopping at Good Harbor Beach for fortification.

A huge shout out to Gloucester’s DPW. The GHB parking lot has been maintained beautifully this summer. The DPW is super on top of removing the giant mound of trash that is found at the footbridge nearly every morning and also emptying the barrels that are often overflowing after a busy beach day.

Gloucester’s DPW crew also installed the handicapped ramp at Boardwalk #2, making it much easier for wheelchairs and wagons to access the beach. Within hours of installing, the blue ramp was in much use!

An hour after install

Wing stretches

 

GOOD HARBOR BEACH PIPING PLOVERS FEATURED IN TODAY’S GLOUCESTER TIMES!!

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Many, many thanks to Gloucester Daily Times’s writer Ethan Forman and Editor-in-Chief Andrea Holbrook for today’s story about out GHB Plovers.  Ethan always takes the time to get it right. Thank you!!!

By Ethan F orman Staff Writer

Despite the loss of some tiny chicks to storms this summer, efforts to protect the threatened piping plover shorebirds at Gloucester’s Good Harbor Beach by the Piping Plover Ambassadors and Mass Audubon were deemed a success this summer.

Three pairs of piping plovers nested at Good Harbor Beach, one more than usual.

Those watching over the piping plovers said they again spotted Super Mom, the onelegged piping plover who has been coming to the beach since 2016.

“It was fantastic in many ways,” said Gloucester resident Kim Smith, who heads up the efforts of about 20 Piping Plover Ambassadors. She believes climate change affected the piping plovers “in a funny way this year.”

“I think because of the extreme storms that we had,” she said. “We lost basically six chicks during extreme weather. That’s a lot.”

Despite the loss of those chicks, efforts to protect them and the survivors were successful, Smith said.

“We worked with Mass Audubon this year, we had many more eyes on the chicks, and if we hadn’t had those storms, we would’ve fledged

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

CONGRATULATIONS TO MASSACHUSETTS WITH 1,100 PAIRS OF PIPING PLOVERS – OUTSTANDING COASTAL WATERBIRD COOPERATORS MEETING!

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The annual Northeast Coastal Waterbird Cooperators meeting was held live last week in Barnstable at Cape Cod Community College’s new science and engineering center. After several years of attending virtually, it was a joy to meet in person.

Conservation organization’s representatives from all eight Massachusetts coastal regions, along with representatives from New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine share numbers and anecdotes about breeding pairs of endangered and threatened shorebirds including Piping Plovers, Least Terns, American Oyster Catchers, Roseate Terns, and Black Skimmers.  It’s fascinating to learn how we are largely all sharing similar experiences with predators and disturbances of all shapes and kinds. Carolyn Mostello, the Massachusetts Coastal Waterbird Biologist, directs the event and she does an extraordinary job of weaving all the information together.

Sharing numbers is followed by “Strange and Unusual,” a super fun section where field agents share funny/odd occurrences, photos, and videos for example, PiPl nests with five eggs, strangely colored and oddly shaped eggs, parking lot nesters, and more. Carolyn shared the trailer for my forthcoming film, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, and I am happy to share that it was very much enjoyed by the attendees!

The afternoon programs are especially fascinating with presenters sharing experiments and projects including two of special interest; one on using odors to deter mammalian predators and another with music and different sounds to deter Black-crowned Night Herons from eating shorebird eggs. All the programs are wonderfully educational.

Perhaps the most outstanding piece of information is that this year, Massachusetts was home to 1100 breeding pairs of Plovers. That may not sound like a whole heck of a lot considering our hundreds of miles of coastline, but 1,000 pairs has been a long held goal of shorebird recovery programs in Massachusetts. We should be super proud of our state. While many regions are seeing very little, none, or even worse, declining numbers, Massachusetts is leading the way in Piping Plover recovery!

Smooshed!

 

WHERE DO PIPING PLOVERS GO AFTER DEPARTING MASSACHUSETTS AND NEW ENGLAND BEACHES?

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Dear PiPl Friends,

As our Cape Ann Piping Plovers will be departing soon, our thoughts turn to where will the adults and newly minted ace flyers will spend the winter months?Practicing lift-off – snapshot of one of the chicks that fledged Good Harbor in July

 

Where do Piping Plovers migrate to when they leave their northern breeding grounds?

Like all migratory species of birds (and butterflies), the chicks must first build their lipid, or fat, reserves before undertaking the journey. We know from Plover banding programs conducted at the University of Rhode Island that the majority of Massachusetts Piping Plovers fly  non-stop to the outer banks of North Carolina. Here they will stage for about a month, undergoing a semi-molt, where they lose their old worn out feather and grow fresh new feathers. After fattening up for the next leg of their journey, many Plovers from the north Atlantic region migrate to the Bahamas, Cuba, and the Turks and Caicos.

Just as Piping Plovers are site faithful to their breeding grounds, so too are they are site faithful to their winter homes.

LINK TO WCVB CHRONICLE PIPING PLOVER AND MONARCH EPISODE! #ploverjoyed #sharetheshore #plantandtheywillcome

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New England residents and nonprofits work to save threatened species

https://www.wcvb.com/article/new-england-residents-and-nonprofits-work-to-save-threatened-species/41915984

Climate concerns growing for the future of many migratory species.

We travel all over coastal Massachusetts to learn about a few local “indicator species,” which can help explain the impact of climate change. Award-winning documentarian Kim Smith tells us the story of piping plovers breeding in Massachusetts.

The City of Cambridge raises monarch butterflies for release.

Every year, hundreds of sea turtles are stranded on the Cape. The New England Aquarium’s sea turtle hospital comes to the rescue.

Meanwhile, terrapin turtles on the Cape are struggling to survive.

In Plymouth at Manomet, researchers monitor coastal health, tag songbirds, and study the presence of a mighty migratory shorebird – the whimbrel.

And scientists at Nature and students at Bristol Aggie examine the health of river herring in the Taunton River watershed.

KIM SMITH FILMS ON CHRONICLE, WCVB CHANNEL 5, “WILDLIFE WORRIES” NOVEMBER 9TH, TONIGHT!

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Hello Friends,

Our beloved Piping Plovers and Monarchs are going to be featured on an episode of Chronicle this evening. “Wildlife Worries” is devoted entirely to indicator species including not only Monarchs and PiPls, but also Whimbrels, tiny terrapins, and more. The show airs tonight at 7:30pm on Chronicle, WCVB, channel 5.

Several months ago, I met with the outstanding Chronicle producer, Sangita Chandra, and the show’s stellar videographer, Jennifer Platt-Ure. Originally Sangita was looking for footage of Monarchs and PiPls, but then decided to include an interview from a filmmaker’s perspective. The interview was filmed at Winthrop Shores Reservation as it was a convenient location, and also the charming cafe, Piccolo Piatti. It was a joy working with Sangita as she has a keen interest in wildlife conservation. The show promises to be wonderfully educational. I can’t wait to watch the part about the whimsical Whimbrels and turtles, in addition to the PiPls and butterflies!

Chronicle writes, “New England wouldn’t be New England without the shore birds, butterflies, and turtles that spend part of the year here. These and other local creatures are considered ‘indicator species’ that also help us understand the impact of habitat loss and climate change. Tonight we get up close to giant sea turtles and tiny terrapins, whimbrels and piping plovers, and meet the people committed to protecting them.” 
.
Included in that group – a park ranger who raises butterflies, a documentary filmmaker, and high schoolers studying river herring. Many thanks to our videography team – Bob Oliver, Jennifer Platt-Ure, and Rich Ward and to editor Ellen Boyce. Hope you enjoy the program! 

Thank you so much for watching!

Warmest wishes, xxKim