Many, many, thanks to Gail McCarthy and Editor Andrea Holbrook for the very much appreciated write-up about the Boston Film Festival in today’s Gloucester Daily Times. Extra special shout out and thanks for featuring The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay!
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!
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. Tickets are free, 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 yearswith 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 978-290-3804 or visit our online fundraiser here.
Adorably long-legged Killdeer Plover fledgling, one of four Killdeer chicks that hatched at a Cape Ann beach this summer
One of the shorebirds often confused with Piping Plovers are Killdeers, which are another type of Plover that nests on beaches. Killdeers not only nest on beaches, they breed at a wide variety of habitats including grasslands and dunes. They have even been known to nest on rooftops, golf courses, and parking lots! If you see a Piping Plover and Killdeer near to each other, it’s easy to see the difference. Killdeers are noticeably larger and their mantle (upper back) feathers are chocolatey shades of brown, not the soft tan of the Piping Plovers.
One way to tell whether Killdeer or Piping Plover when they are not side-by-side is to look at the collar bands. Piping Plovers have one; Killdeers have two– a wide band that encircles the neck and a shorter band across the upper front part of its chest. If you are close enough to see the eyes, the Killdeer’s pupil is black surrounded by a red iris , while both the iris and pupil of the PiPl is black. The Killdeers legs are pinkish gray, the Piping Plovers legs are orange. There are many other differences but this will get you started when comparing the two.
Killdeer adult and three chicks – note the double black bands, pinkish legs, red iris, and solid black bill.
Piping Plover adult (Super Mom) with singe collar band, light gray-tan mantle, black-tipped orange beak, and jet black eyesKilldeer chickPiping Plover chick
Listen to the Killdeer parents calling to the fledglings. Killdeers are thought to be named for their distinctive vocalizations. Kill-dee, kill-dee eventually became Killdeer. I think I prefer Killdee 🙂
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 ❤
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)!
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!
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.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. In its first 50 years, the ESA has been credited with saving fully 99% of listed species from extinction, thanks to the collaborative actions of federal, state, and local agencies, Tribal governments, conservation organizations, and private citizens. Read here for some very notable successes.
Bald Eagle Soars Over Gloucester
From the US Department of Interior, “The Act has saved hundreds of species from extinction and continues to protect and preserve some of our most beloved animals and plants. It has also helped to create a better understanding of how human activities can impact the environment and how we can work together to protect it. Perhaps most importantly, this anniversary is a reminder that conservation efforts are essential for stemming the worsening impacts of climate change, protecting biodiversity and preserving our planet for ourselves and future generations.”
Did you know that when the ESA first listed the Piping Plover, in 1985, there were fewer than 4,000 breeding pairs nationwide? Today, in Massachusetts alone, we are currently hosting over 1100 nesting pairs. Our PiPl Friends at the New York City Plover Project were recently featured in “Ten Stories of Hope: The Endangered Species Act at 50” a new report by the Endangered Species Coalition. To read more about Plovers and all of the stories of hope, you can download a pdf of the article here.
Building on the success of Piping Plovers in recovery, please consider making an end of the year tax deductible donation to our ongoing documentary funding efforts for The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. Your contribution goes directly to the cost of finishing the film and is absolutely invaluable!
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 – Lauren Mercadante (New Hampshire), 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), and my sweet husband Tom 🙂
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!
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.
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.
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.
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), 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
The Piping Plover Project 