Keep Calm and Bird On: January 2025

January 1, 2025
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.”
-Edith Andrews

What will the new year bring? With the December appearance of a Northern Lapwing, the second county record for this rare European visitor, all we can say is, “expect the unexpected.” Is it gone? Will it stay? As of this writing in mid-December, we do not know yet.

 

The last three years have been exceptionally mild, with last winter marking the first time at least one Belted Kingfisher remained through the winter. It seems as if we have not really had “winter” as a season, for about ten years. But there were a couple of notable blizzards punctuating those not-very-frozen years, and thus far ice has formed overnight a couple of times. So, could we be overdue?

 

Meanwhile we look for the usual winter treats: Bonaparte’s, Iceland, and Glaucous Gulls; Long-tailed and Harlequin Ducks; all three Scoters; Razorbills, Red-necked and Pied-billed Grebes. On the ponds some are already here: Scaup and a Tufted Duck; Northern Shovelers, Canvasbacks and Redheads. Snow Geese and Tundra Swans are here too.

 

And there is no telling what summer fare may linger on, even if a brief cold snap poses a sharp challenge: Great Egrets — two wintered over, last year — are still, as of mid-December, being seen in Polpis Harbor and at the UMass Field Station. An immature Scarlet Tanager, one of a handful of December records for New England, plopped down in Wauwinet on December 6.

 

Lingering among the Yellow-rumps, late Palm Warblers are also likely, as long as the bayberries hold out; the Bird Club enjoyed six, strung out in a bush like a line of Christmas ornaments, at Barlett’s Farm compost field on December 15.

 

So whatever we get, for weather or birds, it is bound to be interesting. Always remember to dress for the weather, which means: over-dress for when the wind picks up; you can always take off a layer. No matter what, it is still a great time to get outside and look for birds.


Image of a Northern Lapwing by Yvonne Vallancort.

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Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

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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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