Indecision around what to post.

Watery Wednesday is upon us again. I’m having a bit of a problem deciding what to post.

Should I post the Snowy Egret that I saw at Smiths Cove this morning?

Yesterday, I went to Eastern Point and took a couple of photos of Mother Ann, a rock formation at Eastern Point.



Can you see Mother Ann in the formation?



Then I took a trip over to Lanes Cove and got this Great Egret.



At Lanes Cove, I found this really cool dory. I could post this.



Perhaps, this water lily would be an appropriate post for the week. I shot it this afternoon.


Ah, forget it, I'll post them all.

On Osprey and Fog

I know we New Englanders have been bitching about the onerous lack of sunshine this spring. On Saturday morning, we were blessed with blue sky from 10:00 until noon. That is when I captured the sea worm. On the way back, as I was walking over the Cut Bridge over the Blynman canal, something caught the corner of my eye.

We have bazillions of seagulls in Gloucester, so soaring birds are nothing to take note of. However sometimes anomalous behavior may warrant inspection. In this case, two osprey were soaring over the Blynman canal.





This is the view over East Gloucester at 1:30 PM showing the fog bank over the shoreline which is behind the peninsula.


Looking over Fort Square, south of Eastern Point was a thunderhead building up. Clouds were coming in from the west and fog was rolling in from the east and a storm building in the south, I couldn’t bear to look north.



Long before the 5:00 Seine boat races, we were once again fogbound. Is it any wonder we are just a tad bit eccentric in Gloucester?



(For those new to SMU, this is the Greasy Pole Competition, part of our Saint Peter's Fiesta).

Visit the MEME, That's My World to see how others are fairing.

Sea Worm

I was through a tide pool at low tide to see what may be around, perhaps a cool crab or something. Then a sea worm came out of a mass of sea weed. This is the first time I've seen one of these.

Viva San Pietro

The end of the Saint Peter's Fiesta is marked with a precession at 11:00 through the historical Fort Square community where the festival began.




Until next year, Viva San Pietro.

Random shots of Saturday's Seine Boat Races

Do bees sneeze?

There is a little garden patch that has gone feral, since the lady that used to live there has moved out. This little bush that has these tiny rose-like flowers was attracting some bugs.

After watching this little bee for a while, the question entered my mind, “Do bees sneeze?”

The Hungry Great Egret.

I caught this one walking on a dock, I knew he was up to something.

Swish! Even at 1/500 second, it still didn't freeze him!


This is what his lunch looked like.

The Greasy Pole

Long time followers have seen some random shots of the greasy pole off Pavilion Beach in Gloucester. Perhaps they may not have grasped the full significance of the edifice. I present to you some random shots of yesterday’s courtesy round of the greasy pole. In this round, grabbing the flag is not permitted. It is unlikely that it would happen because the grease is pretty thick, however, one walker looked like he could have done it.

Submitted for your approval, The Greasy Pole.

If you think in abstract shapes, you will see that in the cover of yesterday’s Women’s Seine Boat Races slide show is a pole walker headed for the drink.

Bona Fiesta!

Women's Seine Boat Races.

Continuing with the Saint Peter’s Fiesta, this afternoon we had the Women’s Seine Boat Races and the start of the Greasy Pole.



I will make these photos available to the rowers, friends, family and to not-for-profits. All others bring cash or bottles of good wine.

Forgotten Photo Friday, White-breasted Nuthatch

I shot this photo on April 5th and totally forgot about it.

The Challenger, Voyager and Endeavour

These are three of the big trawlers in Gloucester. We've had about three blue sky days this month. Blue sky, blue trawlers, blue water. Welcome to Gloucester.

Men's Seine Boat Races

I caught some of the men’s seine boat eliminations this afternoon after work. There is so much to shoot that I have to discipline myself not to fill up the hard drive. This is the start of Fiesta.

Two Spiders

I haven't posted a spider in a long time. The last spider I posted was in October. Here are a couple of recent ones.



The interesting point about this spider is that I shot it on Crane's Beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts on the sand. It blended in very well. It seemed to follow me around, perhaps taking refuge from the plovers.

The Cat Eyes steaming home.

A beautiful late spring morning shot of Gloucester Harbor. The lobstermen are out working their pots and the trawlers are coming in.



This is the trawler Cat Eyes steaming past Tenpound Island after fishing all night. It's 6:00 in the morning.

Woman's Seine Boat Practice

With Fiesta coming up, the rowers are getting ready for the Seine Boat races. The first shot was taken Friday night. The last shots were taken in the drizzle on Sunday.

Mother Carey's Chicken visits Gloucester Harbor

I have a copy of The Dictionary of American Bird Names edited by Ernest A. Choate that I purchased back in the ‘80s when I was a power birder. In it, there is an entry for Mother Carey’s Chicken. “A sailor’s name for petrel. Yarrell, who wrote A History of British Birds in 1843, stated, “The name was given by Capt. Carteret’s sailors, from some unknown hag of that name.” It has also been suggested that she is a witch of the sea accompanied by imps in the form of little black birds. According to others she is the aunt of Davy Jones.”



I've never seen the Wilson's Storm Petrels inside Gloucester Harbor. On Father's day, there were dozens fluttering around. Alas, with 300 mms and fog, I wasn’t able to get the real cool shot. However, the only times I’ve seen these Leach's and Wilson's Storm Petrels are while steaming out at 16 knots on a whale watching trip to Stellwagon Bank. These are the shots I have, enough to document that they were inside Tenpound Island on Father’s day. Pitching in the waves and trying to get a good shot of these tiny birds is a fool’s errand.

P.S. The were here this morning before I went to work too.

Dragonfly on the Salt Marsh

A good deal of my birding and blogging buddies are keen on dragonflies. I have not taken the plunge just yet. I suppose that I need to find a field guide or two. But until then, here’s a dragonfly for your pleasure.

A peek at the past. The Paint Factory

This is the old paint factory in Gloucester. After closing in 1980, the Paint Factory in Gloucester will be renovated and become an oceanographic research center operated by Ocean Alliance. This building dates back to the Civil War era.

International Dory Races 2009. Row Hard or Row Home

Be sure to check Jay's Cape Ann Images. Jay got some fantastic shots from his boat. Also I talked with Mike who posts on GoodMorningGloucester. He'll have some good stuff too.

If you need copies of these photos, Jimmy T will have a set or drop me an email. I will make them available to the rowers, friends, family and to not-for-profits. All others bring cash or bottles of good wine.

Savanna Sparrow

This little guy was outrageous. On our meet up on Plum Island, this little guy was sitting in the top of a two foot high shrub, just singing his little heart out. We were shooting him from 8 feet away. He just didn’t care. dAwN has a video clip of him as well as the RWB from Wednesday.

Walking around a bit, I was able to get several different shots with different backgrounds. Here are four.

Santa Maria, Fiesta must be coming

This is one of the Seine Boats used for the races during Saint Peter's Fiesta. Viva San Pedro!

SkyWatch Friday, a splash of color on a gray day.

I'm so fed up with the weather. We have rain scheduled for the whole weekend. I saw this snag and couldn't resist. The Baltimore Oriole is the brightest thing in the sky these day.

Forgotten Photo Friday, Chipping Sparrow

I love Chipping Sparrows. It is a true sign of spring when the Chipping Sparrows come back. Here are two that I shot in early may and just never got around to post them. Too bad, they are such nice neighbors.

Redwinged Blackbird Photo Study

Just for the fun of it, let's take one bird, shot on one day, with one lighting condition and play with it a bit. Normally, I wouldn't post this many pictures of a common bird under the same conditions. But like Monday's photo, I feel like playing with the rules, stretching some, keeping one or two and breaking others. You decide what works, after all, nobody died and left me the king.

See the way he’s got his wings pointing down? This is a threat pose. He’s the cock-of-the-rock and doesn’t want to be messed with. He’s got his lady friend near by and doesn’t want any challengers.

DC Cormorant

From the Docks

The Grinder

Yellow Warbler Photo Study

Flag Day, Gloucester Style

It's Flag Day in the United States. Here in Gloucester, the Boulevard is a popular place for people to walk and look over the Gloucester Harbor. You can see Tenpound Island Light, Eastern Point Light and Stage Fort Park as you walk past the Man at the Wheel.

California Quail Hen

This is a California Quail that I shot in Huntington Beach, California along one of the State Beaches. Sometimes Richard accuses me of taking advantage of the birds that follow me around. Well, in this case, they female was sort of coming my way and the male was in hot pursuit. I was caught with my camera in my bag and was only able to shoot the hen.

Take a look at the male’s face and compare the difference to the Gambel’s Quail.

SkyWatch Friday, Our Last Sunny Day...

Our last sunny day was on Sunday. I took these snapshots and put them on the back burner. Good thing that I did. We've had thin fog (makes the shots washed out and uninteresting, I like thick fog) and rain since. So these are the last sky photos that I took.

The top is a shot of the stern of The Ellinor and the bottom is a second year Great Black-backed Gull.

Forgotten Photo Friday, Gambel's Quail

Can you believe that we spent a week in Palm Springs, CA and I'm still posting photos from that trip to the desert? Sure enough, this is the Gambel's quail. You can hear him call, ru-ear, ru-ear, in the background of my blue sky tutorial.

Pulling oars

White-Rumped Sandpiper

This is a life bird for me. Shot on May 31st in Ipswich, Ma. Here it is in a mixed flock with Sanderling and Semi-palmated Sandpipers.

Bank Swallows

Bank Swallows
I’ve never had good luck photographing swallows. I look upon it as a fool’s errand. However I know of a spot where I’ve seen them nesting and for the last three breading seasons and in spite of many vain attempts, I’ve had no joy…until last Sunday.







What do I attribute this success to? A few weeks ago, along the Ipswich River, I saw a Bank Swallow hanging out by a concrete wall that has a three inch drain hole. He was clinging on the side of the wall much like you see in the photo above. It made for a crappy picture, but it was enough to break the ice. Two weeks later, I got these.

Front Range Light, Newburyport, MA

This is the Front Range Lighthouse which was moved to the USCG Station in Newburyport, MA.

Great Egret, Breeding Plumage

I’ve seen this Great Egret fly around the harbor the last few weeks. I finally caught up with him.

Row Hard or Row Home, Dory Elimination Race

Senator Bruce Tarr paid a visit to Niles Beach to watch the International Dory Race Eliminations this morning. Check out GoodMorningGloucester for the race results.

I have a few other random shots of the event also.





If you need copies of these photos, Jimmy T will have a set or drop me an email. I will make them available to the racers, friends, family and to not-for-profits. All others bring cash or bottles of good wine.

Least Tern Photo Study

B wanted to go to the beach last Sunday. I wasn’t too excited because I didn’t think I would be able to get anything better than what I shot on my last trip and therefore the day would be better spent looking for something else. Boy, was I wrong. I shot 300 frames of Least Terns, Peeps, Bank Swallows and Plovers.

Forgotten Photo Friday, I've been holding out on you.

Speaking of Forgotten Photo, guess what I forgot last Friday? I forgot Forgotten Photo Friday last week. In order to make up for this, I’m pulling up one of the bird species that I took in the Big Morongo Canyon Reserve in Morongo, California last March.

I give to you the Vermilion Flycatcher.

SkyWatch Friday, Red-winged Blackbird

This Red-winged Blackbird came in on me when I was shooting terns. He's got his red on. A real cock-of-the-rock.

Thinking Green Thursday, Fuzzy Pictures

Last April 29, I created a post about Piping Plovers. I’m happy to say that Sunday was the first sighting of Piping Plover chicks.

On Sunday, I got a few shots off of a couple of the adults. The chicks appeared as I was photographing some Least Turns. The second parent here was foraging with three chicks.





It’s best to leave the chick alone, so my shots are from a distance. But I like these shots. They really show that we have a tiny creature in a big world.

But even blown up, the shots are still a little fuzzy.

Be sure to visit Thinking Green Thursday!

Gloucester Harbor, Spring Colors

Be sure to check out my interview with Joey of GoodMorningGloucester! I will take you to the lobster pound and you'll learn about picking lobsters.

Watery Wednesday, Visiting a Lobster Pound and the World's Best Lobster Roll.

I hope you have 10 minutes to spend watching this video. Joey Ciaramitaro is a hard working family man that just loves to show people what it is like on the Gloucester waterfront and through his blog, GoodMorningGloucester, introduces us to a lot of the small businesses on Cape Ann. I love his blog and visit daily. He won't own up to it, but he has some creative photography.

I shot this photo of the waterfront of Captain Joe and Sons after I did the interview. I’d like to introduce you to the man in the blue shirt.

The view from Captain Joe and Sons.


Be sure to check out the spotted lobster on GMG.

To see more work by Mark Teiwes who photographed the Gloucester's Working Waterfront, visit MarkTeiwes.com.

Bush Tit

I shot this little Bush Tit in Huntington Beach, CA last March.

Song Sparrows

The Song Sparrows must have hatched. These shots are from Gloucester and Essex, MA taken last week within days of each other.