Keep Calm and Bird On: September 2022

Ginger Andrews • Sep 01, 2022
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.”
-Edith Andrews

In September, fall migration picks up. And there are new tools to enjoy it with, thanks to Cornell’s BirdCast site. Their Migration Dashboard covers every county in the U.S. lower 48 States. Using radar, weather data, and decades of individual reports, their algorithms indicate what’s flying overhead and the most likely species. Like many algorithms, it’s not a perfect map—but definitely adds another dimension for understanding bird migration. And birders’ observations can only help it get better.

 

Just because the dashboard reported, say, that an estimated 3200 birds flew over Nantucket County during the hours of darkness one night doesn’t necessarily mean you will see them. They may be long gone by the time you roll out to the flats or woods to look by daylight. Nor will it make it any easier to identify those “confusing fall warblers” by sight. But it’s a pointer, an enhancement for developing a base of knowledge.


Cornell’s Merlin app helps with sounds, but the recorder has to be close enough to hear the chips, chucks, and chirps that are birds contact calls. That’s tricky if they are travelling at an altitude of 1700 feet, or there are interfering background noises like traffic, loud parties, or surf.


Technology definitely has its place, but to quote a Coast Guard Chief after a Cruise Ship ran aground off Sconset due to a GPS failure, “Modern technology is wonderful, but you have to look out the window once in a while.” So, whether you tote your technology along or leave it home, you still have to go out and look.








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Keep Calm and Bird On: May 2024

08 May, 2024
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.” -Edith Andrews

Shards

By Jascin N. Leonardo FInger • 06 May, 2024
I have written of my love for sea glass and pottery shards in the past and the recent replacement of the sewer and water lines on Vestal Street created a small shard collection over the last month. Since the work required the asphalt to be completely removed (all twelve inches of it!) and the road to be dug up multiple times as they worked to remove pipe, relay new pipe, hook up the water meters, and install drainage and manhole covers, this resulted in the earth in the street being tossed about quite a bit. And, with that, came the shards! Some of these likely came from the sewer line (yes, yuck) but others came from being simply in the dirt of the road – which was not paved until 1946/1948. Pieces were likely tossed out at times, made to act as filler in holes, or simply tossed. So I found all sorts of pieces I will keep here at the Mitchell House. They included: a lovely piece with a red floral, many pieces of plates, glass, the top of a late nineteenth or early twentieth century (medicine) bottle, glass shards, a flattened spoon, a brass knob (found by a neighbor) some nails, a spike, pieces of a larger container or two based on the size and curve and coloring of the shards, and possibly a Wampanoag stone tool. One person’s trash is another one’s treasures! JNLF

Is That A Wrap?

22 Apr, 2024
Yes. Well, almost. After about a month of working – and some living (staff and or neighbors) – on Vestal Street with all the sewer and water replacement work, the paving happened today (April 17, 2024). This is the first “layer” – a three-inch binder coat. In the fall, once time has passed, they will return for the final one inch of the finish layer. Some of the other things along Vestal Street will also be repaired and updated between now and the final coat – and a bit after that. But we are very happy, after all these years to have a modern system of piping – and all new drainage we never had before! While the curator in me loved the old clay pipes, they were riddled with roots from the trees, holes, and in some places, collapsed, and the twelve inches of asphalt had to go. Vestal Street was only paved in about 1946/1948 – and has not been paved in maybe twenty years so that is a lot of asphalt in about fifty years! And with climate change and the increase in how much rain we get in these heavy rain events, all that water rushed down Vestal Street with nowhere to go – except our cellars. I am sure the neighbors are happy too! A thank you to the Town of Nantucket’s Sewer Department, especially David Gray (who may regret giving me his cellphone number forever), N&M Excavating and Utilities (Dean, we appreciate you being so nice when we had too many questions), Victor-Brandon Corp for paving, and numerous others. We are looking forward to great flushing, powerful hose lines, and rainwater being whisked away via the new, never-before-had storm drains! JNLF And to all the N&M workers who wondered why I was constantly looking down as I walked along Vestal Street, you should see the trove of porcelain shards, glass, old nails, a bottle neck, 19 th century spoon, and even possibly a Wampanoag stone tool I found!
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