Keep Calm and Bird On: August 24, 2020

Ginger Andrews • August 24, 2020
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.”
-Edith Andrews

But where to go? Birds are everywhere, they don’t stay still. But if you look, you may find a few. We have a few suggestions. So, keep calm and bird on.


Head of the Plains, owned and managed by the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, is a wonderful mosaic landscape, with a changing smorgasbord of birdlife. Reached from either Red Barn Road or Barrett Farm Road, spread out between Long Pond and Hummock Pond, it offers a variety of habitats.

It’s a mix of coastal prairie, with little bluestem and other grasses, forbs such as goldenrod and sweet everlasting, shrubs such as huckleberry and bayberry, and small groves of pitch-pine and chokecherry. In short, there’s lots of food for

birds – and butterflies – here, with great “seasonal menus.”

Eastern Kingbirds (see image below) and Savannah Sparrows breed here in the open areas. In shrubs, Prairie Warblers and Eastern Towhees make their nests. Common Yellowthroats utilize the pond edges. In the small isolated pitch-pine groves, Pine Warblers raise their broods. Several Osprey nests surround the pond. Northern Harriers are common; a Merlin or Kestrel might fly through; shorebirds use the barrier beach at the pond’s south end.

During the long fall migration period, the pine groves are a magnet for numerous species. Warblers, such as the American Redstart, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, and others, are seen here. Summer Tanagers, Eastern Meadowlarks, flocks of Tree Swallows: you never know what you might find.


Another tip for DIY birding is to really take your time to observe well. Watch behavior; see the bird from all angles. Consult a field guide; one of the advantages of Peterson’s field guide is that diagnostic features are pointed out in the illustrations. The Cornell Merlin app is also popular. Another way to learn your birds is to make a rough field sketch. It’s a way of training your eye, and teasing your mind, preconditioned to attempt to ignore the blandishments of advertising, to really pay attention.

Recent Posts

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger August 25, 2025
With Margaret Harwood’s growing collection of glass plates of the night skies needing better storage and Harwood in need of a warm place to work in the fall and spring, the Hinchman family gave $5,000.00 towards the construction of a study and storage area at the MMO. The MMA was able to raise the remaining $1,500.00 needed and the Astronomical Study was built in 1922 between the Observatory and Mitchell House. The Astronomical Study was built as a memorial to Eliza R. Mitchell, the Treasurer of the MMA from 1905 to 1918, and a family member. JNLF
By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger August 18, 2025
August 17{1857} Today we have been to the far-famed British museum. I carried as “open sesame” a paper given to me by Prof. Henry asking for me special attention from all societies with which the Smithsonian {is} connected . . . . The art of printing has brought us incalculable blessings, but as I looked at a neat manuscript book by Queen Elizabeth copied from another, as a present to her Father I could not help thinking that it was better than worsted work! On August 2, 1857, Maria Mitchell and the young woman she was accompanying as a chaperone, Prudence Smith, arrived in Liverpool England for their European tour. Maria Mitchell’s “open sesame” was a letter of introduction – she went with several. She would find that the doors were thrown open for America’s first woman astronomer – she was that well known in America and abroad. She would become quite close to Sir George Airy, the British Astronomer Royal, and his wife Richarda, as well as the astronomical Herschel family. JNLF
By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger August 11, 2025
After many years on the making, we are happy to officially announce the re-opening of the Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory – also fondly referred to as the MMO. As you may have seen on the Maria Mitchell’s Attic bog, this has truly been more than a multi-year labor of love. Way back in 2016, we began the first steps with a structural assessment by structural engineer, John Wathne of Structures-North. That, coupled with an earlier Conservation Assessment Program grant from Heritage Preservation and supported by the Institute for Museum and Library Services that allowed the MMA to hire architectural conservator, Michael Devonshire, began us on our path to conserve the historic MMO. Grants from the Community Preservation Act and the M. S. Worthington Foundation supported the conservation work on the 1908 Observatory and its 1922 Astronomical Study. Masonry and grout were repaired, rusted iron lintels over windows and doors were replaced with steel and work was completed to the “parapets.” This sounds simple – it was not – it was a multi- year project to work with the masonry and to create a matching grout. Wayne Morris, the mason, became a fixture on Vestal Street again – as he did all the masonry conservation and work on the exterior of the Research Center. Once the MMO’s exterior was weather tight and the interior masonry work completed, the rest of the crew moved in to conserve the plaster, re-paint, and conserve the original 1922 bookcases and woodwork in the Study. Paint was removed from the dome bringing it back to its original glory. Cement floors were cleaned and treated and electrical wiring was updated and new lighting put in the Study. A major renovation was also conducted concerning the “Seminar Room” – a 1987 addition to the west of the MMO – which was completed in 2024. This was funded in large part by Mitchell family descendant and former (now honorary) MMA Board Member, Richard Wolfe. New office spaces were created for astronomy staff, updates were made to the astronomy intern workspace and meeting space, and a new accessible bathroom was completed. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to two other board members in this work, particularly with the Seminar Room – Elizabeth Markel and John Wise. We would like to thank everyone for their roles in making this long journey a success and for doing all of this important work. Thank you does not express it well enough – they have truly all been heroes of the MMO. We are beyond grateful. THANK YOU and WOW it all looks incredible! Wayne Morris, Mason John Wathne, Structures-North Consulting Engineers Wise Construction – John Wise, Pat Marks, “Chip” and Crew Elizabeth Markel, Elizabeth Markel Interiors Ellis and Schneider Electrical Benjamin Normand, Normand Residential Design W. B. Marden Plumbing, Robert and henry Butler, Mike Gillies, and Derek Kevin Wiggin and Crew, KW HVAC INC Pen Austin, plasterer Evita Caune, Riptide Finishes Brian Connor and Crew, Brian Connor Electric Inc. Adam Zanelli and Crew, Nantucket Heritage Painting Michael Devonshire James Lydon and Sons and Daughter Michael Stefanski, Seed to Stone Landscaping Matthew Anderson and Maxx Ray Michael Gault Pioneer Cleaning Brook Meerbergen, M.A. Supply / Green Mountain Window Co. Nantucket Networks Polygon Group JNLF
Show More