The agenda for the Conservation Commission meeting tonight, Wednesday April 20th, has been updated and the proponents of RDA-1703 Salt Island have requested a continuance to May 4, 2022. The administrative record for this application has also been moved from April 20, 2022 to May 4, 2022.
Andy and I are still planning to attend to observe the vote of the request for continuation, but based on all of the past meetings, it will likely pass. We are letting you know since your time is valuable and it would be unfortunate to have you attend unnecessarily. Of course, if you still want to attend… GREAT! We will continue to watch for any changes to the application between now and May 5th.
Thank you again for your patience and perseverance.
Warm regards,
Jayne and Andy
Martignetti’s plan drawing for Salt Island McMansion (Martignetti Family now called Salt Island LLC)
The entire community’s help is needed. Salt Island is one of Gloucester’s most beautiful natural treasures and a vibrant part of our coastal ecosystem. Martignetti’s proposed future dream house for Salt Island
Why goats are a terrible idea for a coastal ecosystem
Goats used to control vegetation in places like Central Park and cemeteries have had some success however, these locations are not fragile coastal ecosystems. Goats are not discriminating and will eat everything in their path. To eradicate PI, you must dig it up by the roots.
Salt Island is an oasis of native plants and shrubs. Natural, largely undisturbed habitats, like Salt Island, provide refuge and food for resident and migrating birds alike. Note in the photo below, which was taken at the time of installing the fence posts, the beautiful native vegetation growing at the Island.
We need to point out that the fallacy stated by Mr. Matignetti at the Conservation Committee meeting,”Poison Ivy is an invasive species,” is incorrect. Poison Ivy is a native North America plant and is known for its value to wildlife. Poison Ivy flowers bloom early in the spring, providing nectar to myraid species of bees and other pollinators. The fruit of Poison Ivy is consumed by dozens and dozens of songbird species. The berries provide much needed sustenance in the late summer, fall, and winter. These are just some of the birds that eat PI fruits: Northern Flicker, Bobwhite. Quail, Eastern Phoebe, Cedar Waxwing, woodpeckers, Tufted Titmouse, and American Robin.
Granted, Poison Ivy is not a plant you want to become entangled with but the entire Island does not need the vegetation eradicated under the guise of removing PI.
There are shorebirds, ducks, and gulls nesting at Salt Island, along with a highly productive shellfish bed. Lobsters are caught off the shores of Salt Island and baby lobsters need fresh, uncontaminated water. We do not want goat feces and goat worms contaminating this vibrant coastal ecosystem!
Typical fencing used for goat vegetation control is three feet tall livestock fencing-
unlike the fence posts that have been installed at Salt Island, which are permanently bolted into the granite rocks.Fence posts permanently bolted to the granite at Salt Island
Notice how far the fence posts go down on the left. This is not a “keep in the goats” fence line, but a “keep out the people fence line.”
ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE:
Please email our City Councilors. We learned that when trying to change the dog ordinance to protect Piping Plovers that the more people that write to the Councilors, the better chance our voices will be heard. There is power in numbers. Please write in your own words, or copy paste the following –
Dear Councilor,
Please help us save Salt Island from future development, goats, and all destructive and detrimental activities to this vibrant coastal ecosystem. Thank you.
Attend the virtual Conservation Committee meeting on Wednesday evening at 6pm.
#3 Dad in the morning blue hour, finding lots of mini mollusks
The morning after the thunderstorm found both Piping Plover pairs doing remarkably well. I was super concerned about the full moon/storm combo tide because the beach is much narrower at the Salt Island end. Although the tide did rise to nearly the edge of the exclosed nest, nothing was damaged and the PiPl parents are seemingly unfazed.
Gloucester DPW’s Steve and Pat Marshall from Marshall’s Landscape Supplies were there bright and early. Pat is using the Bobcat to smooth the pathways through the dunes. FYI, I was talking to Pat about his landscaping and composting business. Did you know you can bring your large brown bags of leaves and yard waste (absolutely NO PLASTIC flower pots, nothing plastic!). It’s only two dollars per bag, and you aren’t restricted to certain days. Marshall’s Landscaping Supplies is located at 144 Concord Street in West Gloucester, phone number 978-281-9400, and you can visit their website here: Marshall’sSteve and Pat Marshall
This is the fourth time in the past two week that I have seen Glossy Ibis foraging in the tidal marsh at Good Harbor Beach. They are stunning, with plumage ranging in shades of rich chestnut to iridescent emerald green.
Cape Ann is located in the northern range of the Glossy Ibis breeding grounds and each year I feel we see more and more.
Such great news to share – the young family at the Salt Island end, the area we call #1, has a nest with (currently) three eggs!! We’re keeping our hopes up for a fourth egg. We now have two pairs of Plovers nesting at Good Harbor.
This morning Essex Greenbelt’s Dave Rimmer and his assistant Adam Phippen installed the wire exclosure around the nest. Exclosures protect shorebird eggs from 95 percent of avian and terrestrial predators, as well as from stray balls, pets, and people walking through the symbolically roped off areas. We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief once the exclosures are installed. We’re so fortunate that Dave and his Greenbelt crew make themselves available to help protect the Piping Plover nests. Thanks, too, to Gloucester’s DPW crew who are always looking our for the PiPls.
Dave and Adam installing the exclosure at Salt Island
Would you like to be a Piping Plover ambassador? You’ll join a great group of wildlife enthusiasts and kind citizens. We are having an informational meeting on Sunday, June 6th, at 5pm at Good Harbor Beach, near the nest next to the #3 boardwalk. If you would like to help keep an eye on adorable Plover chicks at Gloucester’s most popular beach, please contact me by leaving a comment or at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com. We would love to have you!
The beautiful pale Mom PiPl and her first egg
Dad fearlessly brandishing his wings at Dave and Adam during the installation
Dad back on the nest within two minutes after the exclosure was installed
A beautiful mysterious Snowy Owl has spent the winter here on Cape Ann. She is very elusive, never dallying too long in one location. She has been spotted in the Good Harbor Beach dunes, Long Beach, Salt Island, Middle Street rooftops, woods, Back Shore, Bass Rocks, Rocky Neck, Smith’s Cove, and even at the bottom of our hill on Pirate’s Lane.
Thank youto many friends who have alerted me to her presence – Hilary, Catherine, Grace, Nicole, Gordon, Arley, Frankie, Susan, Roger – if I forgot to include you, I mean to thank you, too!
If you spotted a Snowy on Cape this winter, please write. I do not believe Cape Ann’s Snowy is still about however, if you do see a Snowy, please leave a comment or feel free to email at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com. Thank you!
I am almost certain she is not the same Snowy that stayed with us several winter’s ago. Unlike Piping Plovers, from tracking data, we know that Snowies don’t generally return to the same location every winter, and many only migrate during their youth. In case you missed it, here is a link to a series of fun educational short films that I made about Cape Ann’s 2018 resident Snowy Owl, including bathing, capturing a seabird, and passing a pellet. Snowy Owl Film Project
It’s been a banner year for Snowy Owls at Salisbury Beach, Sandy Point, and Parker River, so much so I have gone out of my way to avoid stopping to photograph owls at these locations for fear of disturbing the Snowies. There are a great deal more people out and about photographing than in previous years, due largely to the pandemic, and the owl disturbances are many.
Spectacular wildy waves after the March 6th storm. And stunning sunrise this am. Photos from around the back shore of Cape Ann, from Gloucester to Rockport, taken Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.
Beautiful, beautiful Cape Ann spring awakening. Photos from Monday’s fine April morning.
Sing, sing sing Red-winged Blackbird!
Almost daybreak at Good Harbor Beach
Backshore Sunrise. The sun was rising on the way to Brace Cove
Niles Pond
Painted Turtles and a female Red-breasted Merganser were basking on the warm rocks while a flock of Quarky Pants were roosting in the trees. Happy Spring!
I’ve never seen so many Black-crowned Night Herons–TEN all together in the trees and at the water’s edge.
My grandmother was fond of saying “the early bird catches the worm.” I assumed she said that because I adored getting up early to eat breakfast with my grandfather before he left for work. In a large family with siblings and cousins, I had him all to myself in those day break hours. Having developed a passion and love for wild creatures and wild places, I understand better what she meant. She and my grandfather built a summer home for their family in a beautiful, natural seashore setting and both she and my parents packed our home with books and magazines about nature. Now I see her design…
Day break, beautiful scene, beautiful creatures by the sea’s edge
Song Sparrow breakfast
American Robin fledgling, note its speckled breast feathers
Mockingbird feeding its fledgling
Song Sparrow and Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) flowers and fruit
Stills from my B-roll. Click images to view larger.
Niles Pond October Sunrise
One of the most gorgeous, interesting, and enjoyable aspects of filmmaking I find is shooting B-roll. I am swamped with design work, organizing lecture programs, and hoping to finish the edits on my Black Swallowtail film very soon, but there is no better time of year to shoot B-roll for my Monarch film than autumn in Gloucester; the light is simply stunning, and what I like to refer to as “atmospheric.”
Niles Pond September Sunrise
B-roll further tells the story in a beautifully subtle, and alternatively not so subtle, manner and gives the project a sense of place. While filming and waiting, for example, for birds to take flight (whether swans or homies) I have my still camera readily available.
Salt Island Sunrise
The most extraordinarily beautiful things occur spontaneously. I feel so very fortunate to see, and in turn share, the natural world through the camera lens. Only several weeks ago while filming a spider’s web in a tree, capturing the filaments of silky webbing dancing in the light of the setting sun (with the pinky schooner Ardelle and the Dog Bar Breakwater in the background!), the web’s maker came cavorting through the scene, with a capture of her own!
