Keep Calm and Bird On: April 2023

Ginger Andrews • March 30, 2023
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.”
-Edith Andrews

Perhaps no month on Nantucket better exemplifies the changeable, chaotic nature of spring better than April. Winter one moment, summer the next (but often, not for long). And everyone, including birds, is busy, in a hurry, impatient to get ready for the coming season. It's a restless time; a mix of the delightful and the dreadful.


In the dreadful category, Great Black-backed Gulls have recently been seen acting strangely—shaking their heads, walking backwards, or "acting drunk" falling over, unable to fly—these are neurological symptoms and a possible sign of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). This has been known to affect humans who have had intense exposure, so it is best to avoid dead birds, and keep dogs away. With the exception of Barn Owls, which we will be happy to go out and collect ourselves with accurate directions, the Maria Mitchell Association is not accepting dead bird specimens at this time. Other groups may be taking samples, so please check for further announcements.


That said, there are more benign dramas to watch. A Northern Harrier pair may do a food-pass, with a vole dropped by the male and caught mid-air by the female. This is an acceptance of courtship, and later a stealthy way of hiding the nest location. Watch a Woodpecker drilling a new nest hole, and come back later to see if the cavity is occupied—and by whom. Observe Ospreys rebuilding their nests, defending them, or sometimes picking new mates. 


Don't be afraid to go outside. If you become bored with the usual suspects, take time to watch longer. You may see interesting behavior. And who knows, with persistence you might learn something new to science, too.



Photo of Osprey by Ginger Andrews

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

The Birth of the Maria Mitchell Observatory: Celebrating Over 100 Years of Discovery

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 30, 2025
As we are now complete with the conservation of the historic Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory (MMO), I thought it would be good to post a series of blogs concerning it history and activities, as well as some of the amazing people who have made it what it is over the last 100 plus years. Therefore, over the next few weeks, the focus will be on the MMO. And it is now open for tours – Monday through Saturday 11-1PM. Founded in 1902, the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) had its beginnings in the Mitchell House where Maria Mitchell was born. Over the first few years, the preservation of the Mitchell House, family artifacts, and the collection and display of Nantucket’s native flora and fauna, as well as a small library, were the key components of the MMA. Special “Moon Evenings” were held on the lawn and people observed Nantucket’s night skies using several small telescopes, including William and Maria Mitchell’s two-and-three-quarter-inch Dollond telescope. The popular evenings led to the inevitable – a desire and need to expand based on the demands of the visitors to, and members of, the MMA. In 1906, Lydia Hinchman, a founder of the MMA and a family member, purchased the house and lot adjacent to the Mitchell House. The house – once the home of William Mitchell’s father and mother – was taken down. The MMA began a dialogue with the Harvard College Observatory and its director, Edward Pickering, Ph.D. The connection to Harvard was to become essential to the success of the beginning years of the Maria Mitchell Observatory and continued a legacy of friendship and work – Maria Mitchell and her father worked with the Bonds who once ran the observatory at Harvard and the families were close friends. Besides his assistance, Pickering asked a member of his staff, Annie Jump Cannon, to assist the MMA. This “provided an indispensable collaboration for Nantucket astronomy,” with Cannon spending two weeks on the island in 1906 and 1907 lecturing and teaching. While back at Harvard, she continued to teach the students on Nantucket by mail. Cannon would go on to be recognized as the leading woman astronomer of her generation and as the founder of the MMA’s Astronomy Department. JNLF
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