Keep Calm and Bird On: May 2021

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

May is the month when, in theory, spring is busting out all over. Yet Nantucket doesn’t get reliable waves of migrating warblers as does the faster-warming mainland. Water takes longer to warm up. Cooling sea breezes slow development of plant and insect life, aka bird food: juicy caterpillars, hidden pupae, worms, or flowers and buds. For this reason, many birds prefer the Mississippi or Appalachian flyways in spring.


But Nantucket is also the rest stop of last resort for migrants caught in fog or bad weather. So, expect the unexpected: exhausted land birds may plop down on a beach where they aren’t usually found, glad to escape a watery grave. Keep an eye out for un-sprayed flowering trees. Pesticides close the bird restaurant. If a tree blooms, or has a sudden “hatch”, of insects, it may be full of warblers chowing down after the arduous trip. It may last only a few minutes or a couple of hours, but with lucky timing, it’s a great show.

But there is plenty to watch with local breeding birds too. The drama of courtship, nest-building, and defense spans forest, field, pond, marsh, and beach. Listen to noisy Willets (see above!), or relentless Towhees calling. Watch Ospreys hover and dive. You might see a fierce Kingbird ride a Red-tailed Hawk out of its territory, pecking the back of its head while out of reach of those sharp talons. Or you might catch a dramatic display of distraction like the Killdeer’s academy-award-winning performance of, “No, chase me, I have a broken wing” as it flutters away from its nest. This is a great time to start “patch” birding on your regular walks, and track the daily changes.

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“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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