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INDEPENDENT WINS 10 AWARDS FROM NEW ENGLAND PRESS ASSOCIATION

The Nantucket Independent has received 10 awards from the New England Press Association in its 2007 Annual Better Newspaper Contest. The Independent placed first, second or third in each of the following:
• Advertising General Excellence
• Arts & Entertainment Section
• Best Idea for Generating Ad Sales
• Photo Illustration (Rob Benchley)
• Real Estate Ad (2)
• Self/Circulation Promotion
• Sponsorship Page
• Sports Column (Peter B. Brace)
• Sports Story (Steve Sheppard)

The staff of The Independent will travel to Boston the weekend of February 9 to receive their awards at NEPA's annual convention at Boston Marriott Copley Place.

"I am grateful that the the community, as well as our industry peers, continue to recognize and support the work of The Independent," said Don Costanzo, Independent editor & publisher.

The Nantucket Independent, the island's only locally owned weekly newspaper, began publication in July 2003. It has earned over 40 state and regional awards since its inception.

CANDIDATE PAPERS AVAILABLE AS OF MONDAY

Candidates for open seats on town boards were able to take out nomination papers at the Town Clerk's office as of Monday. They must be returned to the Town Clerk by 5 p.m. on Feb. 19.

Open seats for the town elections on April 15 include two seats on the Board of Selectmen. To date, both incumbents Whitey Willauer and Brian Chadwick said they intend to run for office again.

Other available seats are two on the Shellfish and Harbor Advisory Board; one on the Planning Board; three on the Historic District Commission (one as associate member); one on the Land Bank Commission; one on the Nantucket Water Commission; one on the Siasconset Water Commission; and three on the Zoning Board of Appeals.

2007 CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

Some of the 56 birders counting birds on the 108th annual Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 29 logged a total of 23,693 long-tailed ducks (formerly called oldsquaw) during their daylong count.

That sounds like a lot of these amazing birds that commute daily out to open ocean southeast of Nantucket from massive nighttime flotillas on Nantucket Sound, but it pales in comparison to last year's count of 385,894. The reason so few were spotted is not some catastrophic decrease in their numbers this year - tens of thousands of these ducks are regularly seen flying in over Madaket late each afternoon - is the same reason the 2007 count proved to be a challenge for the island's birds: the weather.

According to Nantucket bird expert Ken Blackshaw, rotten weather prevailed the day of the count, including strong southwest winds and driving rain in the morning followed by fog in the afternoon, making it nearly impossible to count long-tailed ducks flying in from fishing all day. The warm, rainy weather also made it tough for bird watchers to count ducks on island ponds, as all the ponds were open with no ice. Typically, with the ponds frozen, there are one or more holes in the ice where all the ducks congregate, making it easier for birders to spot these water birds.

What birders did experience was an explosion of red-breasted nuthatches, 222 counted this year and just 18 in 2006, believed to be an irruptive species, more of which than usual came to the island this winter in search of seeds and berries not present in sufficient quantities up in Canada. Blackshaw also added the Western kingbird to Nantucket's count list, a first for the Nantucket count that was actually spotted on Dec. 28. Western kingbirds are seen on Nantucket during the warmer months of the year, but in not usually in winter because they survive mostly on insects, said Blackshaw.

Altogether, 143 species were counted, and that includes count week, Dec. 22-29, and a total of 94,766 birds compared with last year's 133 species and 564,680 total.

RE-GIFTING OF CHRISTMAS TREES ALLOWED

The next hazardous waste collection day is March 15 at 188 Madaket Road from 8 a.m. to 12 noon. To get there, take the third entrance to the landfill property coming from the town and the first right coming from Madaket. For a complete listing of what you can and can't unload, call 228-7244.

As an aside, the Nantucket Landfill does not charge residential users to discard their holiday trees and other live greenery. These may be disposed of during regular landfill hours. I