Good morning Bucketeers. The following are some pics and videos I’ve taken the past month in the four towns of Cape Ann, Massachusetts: Essex, Gloucester, Manchester-by-the-Sea and Rockport. Overall, it has been a lovely, snow-less, overly dry (the drought continues) November, strangely lacking in birds (especially little birds that are usually common here, it has seemed to me) but with some nice surprises, such as a Merlin landing 20 feet away from me on a fishing pier. Buffleheads and Harlequins have arrived on Cape Ann, and there are more Common Eiders and Surf Scoters now. We got our first freeze here in northeastern MA so late that many cultivated and also wild flowers (roses, yellow mustard...) kept blooming around Cape Ann into mid-November.
~ Rockport, Massachusetts...Halibut Point State Park ~
A 1 ½ minute video I took at Halibut Point just before sunset in mid-November…I didn’t see many birds there that day, so this is mostly just a video of waves...
~ Rockport, Massachusetts...Old Granite Pier ~
A 31-second video of that Harlequin (with apologies to those of you who prefer original wave and wind sounds...I don’t remember why I removed the sound in this one, probably the camera focusing was too loud)...
~ Gloucester, Massachusetts...Stage Fort Park ~
~ Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts...Singing Beach ~
Two-minute video (again mostly just waves...there were a couple of Common Loons just off-shore, which I didn’t get good pictures of)...
~ Manchester-by-the-Sea...Manchester-Essex Wilderness Conservation Area ~
52-second video of gulls mysteriously circling in the sky above the cedar swamp (or maybe above the nearby ocean)...I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many gulls doing this, before…
~ Essex, Massachusetts...Conomo Point ~
~ Essex, Massachusetts...Allyn Cox Reservation ~
It’s 49° F and cloudy here on the North Shore of Massachusetts this morning, with 100% chance of rain later. Some of my favorite sights the past few days: a handful of Golden-crowned Kinglets in a pine tree by the ocean in Rye New Hampshire, six Hooded Mergansers on the pond in my backyard, a small flock of Buffleheads (first of the season) on Plum Island, and more Common Eiders, Red-breasted Mergansers and Harlequins on Cape Ann.
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