Keep Calm and Bird On: June 2021

Ginger Andrews • Jun 01, 2021
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.”
-Edith Andrews

June is baby bird month, and in some ways the hardest. Some adult birds stop singing. Birds on the nest are more secretive, unless a cat, dog, hawk or human blunders in. Many adults, usually the female, give award-wining performances of “Look at me, I’m injured, chase me,” to draw predators away from the nest—before taking off at top speed. This is what’s called a distraction display.


June is when the most patience is required, but also rewarded. If you find a nest, take time to watch avian parents at work. Watch young birds grow from naked, peeping, blind mouths to downy fuzzballs (see the Barn Owl below!), to pinfeathers, to flight feathers, graduating to awkward flight, growing agility, and dawning awareness.

If a corner with a nice messy tangle is allowed to exist in your backyard, it’s a sight you might be able to enjoy right at home. Birds need food, usually insects, so a no-spray, poison-free yard is a must. It should be a cat, dog, and deer-free area. Surprisingly, Bambi is not a vegetarian. To guard against hawks, some really dense shrub cover is also a must.


Then there is always the question, what do I do if I find a baby bird out of the nest? Usually, the answer is to leave it alone. Unless there’s an obvious injury, such as being caught by a cat, it’s likely that the parents are nearby, waiting for you to leave before returning to parental care. Mass Audubon has a good flow-chart for decision-making about intervention.


Barn Owl boxes were checked the last week in May; results were mixed. In a couple of boxes, dead adult owls were found. This is very unusual. Something is going on with Nantucket’s Barn Owls. We don’t yet know what, but we are currently looking over the survey data. More information to come. 

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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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