Keep Calm and Bird On: June 2023

Ginger Andrews • May 31, 2023
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.”
-Edith Andrews

As bird life changes, observations change too. The big activity of early summer is nesting and raising young. In June the earliest migrants already have young. Later ones are incubating eggs. Last arrivals will still be finding mates and building nests. So instead of chasing birds, it is a good time to slow down, stop, listen, and watch quietly.


Cygnets, ducklings, and goslings are already showing their personalities, learning what to eat and how to feed themselves. Their curiosity is entertaining.


There is a lot of drama in defense of the nest or the young. Male Eastern Towhees battle for the best spots. The famously aggressive Eastern Kingbird can ride a full-grown Red-tailed Hawk out of the territory.


Shorebirds such as American Oystercatchers and Piping Plover fledge early. This is not only to gain time for young birds to learn how to find their own food. They also need to be able to get out of the way of suddenly intense beach-use by humans.


Using the popular “Merlin” ap from Cornell is a good way to find and identify the smaller, shyer birds on land. A bird singing on territory indicates a place to start observing. If you watch carefully, you might see one carrying sticks or grass for nest building. In time you may be able to hone in on the nest itself.

After incubation you can see and hear more about birds’ home life. Many, if not most, land-based passerines depend on insects to raise a brood, even if they subsist on seeds in the winter. So watching their comings and goings is a time to answer questions like “Carrying what?” and “How often?” And at the end of the day keeping a record or journal adds useful data.


Photo by Janette Vohs

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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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