Spring has been beautiful so far on Cape Ann, the rocky cape on the North Shore of Massachusetts. Last year’s drought here took a toll, and left many dead shrubs and trees along the shoreline… aside from that, this spring has looked pretty normal compared to other years, with the usual sequence of flowering trees including maples and willows, then oaks, apple and serviceberry, and now cherries, horse chestnut and locusts. It’s already starting to look like summer, with vegetation getting greener and lusher and wild roses blooming.
It still (since last year) seems to me that there are far fewer birds here than usual. I still haven’t seen many warblers, and have seen fewer birds in general (aside from a few which seem as numerous as they usually are this time of year, including Gray Catbirds, Chipping Sparrows and Northern Mockingbirds). Some of the Common Eiders that were here this winter in smaller numbers than usual are still here (most of the adult males will probably be leaving soon for Maine or further north), but other sea ducks have left.
Despite the smaller numbers of birds, the scenery and weather have been lovely (it’s been sunny and mostly in the 60’s the past couple weeks), and I’ve seen some birds I didn’t expect, including four American Kestrels in a Gloucester cemetery, and Common Terns in Gloucester Harbor. These are some pics and videos I’ve taken in Gloucester (one of the four towns of Cape Ann) since late April. My next Bucket will be Part Two, about Rockport.
A week ago I went to Gloucester Harbor to take a walk and get some Common Eider photos. I expected to see Eiders, gulls and Double-crested Cormorants...but something else was there too, making a racket: at least three dozen Common Terns, squawking as they perched on barnacle-and-seaweed covered rocks which were exposed at low tide, and fishing, which involved racing through the air at breathtaking speed and then diving, sometimes coming up with a fish, which it took back to its family waiting—not very quietly---on a rock (or that’s what appeared to be happening). There were some people up on the esplanade, and as one particular tern keep coming back to the same spot to dive, some kids cheered each time it caught something.
The terns’ racing around seemed to be distressing the gulls. I don’t remember ever seeing any kind of terns there before, and my eBird searches haven’t turned up much about Common Terns there (they are apparently seen more often on Plum Island, Crane Beach and some other places on the North Shore), so maybe the gulls weren’t used to their presence. I’ve checked that area of the harbor a few times since then around low tide and have only seen a couple Terns, so maybe they were just passing through.
A three-minute video I took of the Common Terns and the Common Eiders (mostly adult drakes, and at least a few hens), and a very upset Herring Gull (a couple Cormorants also make an appearance). Common Eiders don’t always swim in single file as they did here, and I think it might have been because they stay closer together when stressed, and they weren’t used to the terns’ commotion either. Although they seemed less disturbed by it than the gulls.
A Gray Catbird insisted on doing a photo shoot with me…
18-second video of a Gray Catbird (might be the same one as in the pics above) singing…
It’s 76°F on the North Shore of Massachusetts this morning, with an expected high of 89° (the warmest day we’ve had so far this spring). It’s gotten a little dry here, but it’s supposed to rain this weekend. I checked the Gloucester waterfront again yesterday evening for Common Terns at low tide, but there wasn’t a tern in sight. Some pics from yesterday…
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