My Little RBG

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • May 17, 2021

Yeah, no, not Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Sorry.


This is actually one of my favorite birds – a Rose Breasted Grosbeak (which basically means “big nose”). Cardinals – my favorite – are grosbeaks as well.


But in any case, I have not seen a RBG yet this spring. For quite a few years, I believe the same one showed up at my feeder at home like clockwork every May 7th or 8th until he didn’t anymore. That was really sad as I figured he was likely gone. But on May 10th, I was walking into the backyard of the Mitchell House. The sun was finally out after being cold and rainy and I saw something flutter from the ground and grab the side of the Solomon’s Seal where it paused. I figured that it was a robin – they are building nests back here – but realized it was smaller. I looked more closely and there was the RBG in all his scarlet/pink glory.   


If you have not seen one before, they are stunners. He looks like someone shot him in the neck – it’s a large splotch of color with a line (like a drip) running down his breast. I have never seen one on Vestal Street so I am still rather excited. I took a photograph – it’s pretty far as I didn’t want to scare him. He seemed to be eating bugs or taking water off the Money Plant (the purple flowers) and then doing the same to the Lily of the Valley. Initially he flew off over the fence into the neighbors but after a few minutes he came back and continued to peck and hunt about on the ground for quite a while. I am hoping this was not just a weigh station and that perhaps he and the Missus have a nest. I’d love to be an auntie. Each spring we have multiple nests and babies in the Mitchell House backyard. It’s fun to watch them albeit at times a bit stressful!


It was a banner bird day for me that day. When I got home later that evening, I was happy to see a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at my hummingbird feeder and then, the next morning, a Baltimore Oriole on my oriole feeder!


Spring IS here!


P.S. About May 12th, baby Robins fledged from the nest in the Mitchell House yard so I am an auntie, I guess.


JNLF

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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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