Keep Calm and Bird On: February 2024

Feb 01, 2024
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.”
-Edith Andrews
The fact is, we never know what may show up in the winter. Look closely and you can see the unmistakable head of an-out-of season Whimbrel in the icy marsh. A young bird taking a late jaunt found the UMass Field Station marsh a welcome rest stop for almost a month.

It might seem strange to look for signs of spring when we have barely had a taste of winter. The dull, dim, damp days of February hardly seem conducive to winter sports. Other than cross-country…slogging, why go out at all? With proper clothing, exercise in any weather is invigorating. So, what do we look for? Signs of spring are subtle, but they are there.


We used to think of the return of Red-winged Blackbirds, always expected on February 22, as the first sign of Spring. But now we see them year-round, particularly scarfing up seed at our feeders. Almost all are young males, with just a few adult males scattered among them. But there are other things to watch for: swelling buds of swamp azalea, leaf bracts on blackberry vines, and perhaps most heart-warming of all, Red-tailed Hawks pairing up.


At first you might see one or the other sitting alone on a branch. As in many raptors, the female is the larger of the two. But soon, another may be seen nearby, checking things out. Established pairs usually remain bonded, and often re-use old nests. Both birds will do an aerial display, often circling in updrafts on a fine day. Both collect sticks and twigs and bring them to the chosen nest site, but the female does more shaping of the interior. It may take as few as three to as many as five weeks before the first eggs are laid. They average two to three eggs, sometimes as many as four. Both parents incubate, but as hatching and nestling stages approach, the male does more food collection and the female more brooding of eggs and young.


Monitoring an active nest is a great way to welcome Spring. And by the time the young hatch and start begging, there are even more signs to watch for.


Photo by Tom Griswold

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08 May, 2024
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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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