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Daily Bucket: Cape Ann, Massachusetts in springtime, part two - Rockport [1]

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Date: 2023-06-06

There are few places in the world that I find more beautiful in May and early June than Rockport, Massachusetts. Rockport is one of the four towns of Cape Ann, the rocky cape on Massachusetts’ North Shore. Overall (to recap what I said in Part One) there have seemed to me to be far fewer birds here than there should be at this time of year, and last year’s drought which lasted through summer and fall left quite a few dead trees and shrubs, especially along the shoreline. Aside from those troubling anomalies, this spring has seemed like a pretty normal one on Cape Ann. These are some of the photos I’ve taken in Rockport since late April.

sign at the entrance of Halibut Point State Park, Rockport MA, May 2023

yellow Trout Lilies bloom very briefly along Bayview Trail by the sea at Halibut Point...late April 2023

female Ruby-crowned Kinglet at Halibut Point State Park, late April 2023 (zoom)

another female Ruby-crowned Kinglet, seen a little way down the path from the first one, on the same day...this one and the male below were zooming through the bushes and flying around each other in little circles (zoom...a little blurry but in my defense, they’re Kinglets)

female Ruby-crowned Kinglet

male Ruby-crowned Kinglet (zoom)

Prairie Warbler (the first one I had ever seen), late April 2023

apple blossoms by Old Granite Pier, early May 2023

looking north from Old Granite Pier, early May 2023

Herring Gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls, and Double-crested Cormorants on the ocean, May 2023 (zoom)

looking north from Old Granite Pier, May 2023

Common Eider drake seen from Old Granite Pier, May 2023. All the sea ducks have left now except for Common Eiders (the largest sea ducks in the northern hemisphere...more info about them in my August 2022 Dawn Chorus here). Most of the adult males will probably be heading north soon. Some of the female and immature Common Eiders will stay.

view from the road down to Old Granite Pier and Gull Cove, May 2023

looking north from Old Granite Pier, May 2023

Common Eider drake pausing in the middle of grooming, Gull Cove, spring 2023

Common Eider hen, Gull Cove, spring 2023

The next thirteen pics are of a hidden-treasure spot I found only recently because of some paths I had never taken before because they are sometimes so overgrown...a part of the rocky coast which has been heavenly this spring, with large patches of Bluets, weather-beaten apple trees in bloom, and lots of small butterflies (orange ones which I couldn’t identify, and Spring Azures), as well as a lot of poison ivy (it gets dangerous to chase butterflies there). There are slabs of multi-colored exposed granite, an example of the rock which was quarried on Cape Ann for more than a century. I’ve seen just a handful of birds here so far, including three Common Loons (one of which was calling—I didn’t know they ever do that here), a pair of Common Eiders, and a particularly cute Herring Gull who seems to own this place.

bluets and bushes including beach plum (and bayberry?) by the sea, May 2023

May 2023

May 2023

May 2023

May 2023

oak (Black oak?) sapling on a path near the sea, May 2023

apple blossoms on the shore, May 2023

Bluets, May 2023

grasses near the ocean in the wind, May 2023

Herring Gull, May 2023

Greenbrier by a path, May 2023

sandy path to the ocean, May 2023

forest by the path, May 2023

Back to Halibut Point State Park, in May and June 2023…

view of the Babson Quarry lake at Halibut Point State Park, Rockport MA

tiny path along another wider path along the quarry lake

looking towards the quarry lake

some of the Oak trees that we were afraid had been killed by the drought last year are putting out at least a few new leaves

sign at Halibut Point State Park (this path leads down to the ocean, the unseen path on the left leads to Ocean Overlook #7)

down at the ocean rocks

down at the ocean rocks, looking east

Wild geraniums along a path to the ocean

Honeysuckle blossoms along a path

view from the path around the quarry lake

Brown Thrasher in a Juniper tree near the ocean

Blue Jay in a tree beside the quarry lake

Greenbrier blossoms along a path near the ocean (zoom)

one of the paths by the ocean towards another protected area adjacent to the park called Halibut Point Reservation, known as a good place for tide pooling

windblown trees by the ocean (the ones here looked like this even before last year’s drought)

30-second video I took of a Gray Catbird singing at Halibut Point State Park a few days ago...just its song, I didn’t see this one although they will often sit out and sing right in front of you (the cover pic I took last week on Plum Island MA, where there also lots of Catbirds right now)...

x YouTube Video

path to the ocean at Halibut Point State Park, Rockport MA, late May 2023

Just for those interested (it’s long so I’m not expecting people to watch it), this 20-minute video (not mine) of Halibut Point State Park was posted on YouTube a couple weeks ago, but I’m guessing was taken in mid-April, before much was in bloom...”Walk in the Woods — Halibut Point State Park in Rockport, MA” by 1623 Studios:

x YouTube Video

Requisite photo of Motif Number One, the little fishing shack on Bearskin Neck in Rockport which is one of the most often-painted buildings in the world...

Motif No. 1, Rockport Harbor, Massachusetts June 2023 (zoom)

It’s 63°F here and partly cloudy on the North Shore of Massachusetts this morning. We’ve had some much-needed rain here the past week, along with unseasonably chilly temperatures (several days in the 40s and 50s).

OspreyCam update from Gloucester MA, June 5th, 2023: Two of Annie and Squam’s three eggs have hatched! The third will likely hatch very soon. We got some sunshine (after rain) yesterday, so the solar-powered camera is working again…you can watch the Ospreys and read the Osprey Program Director’s updates here. This nest is one of 77+ known currently active Osprey nests in Essex County, MA.

Rust Island, Gloucester, Cape Ann MA, June 5th 2023…the salt marsh where Annie and Squam’s nest is located. You can watch it here.

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