There are some things that I would expect a youngster to bring home from preschool. Among these would be drawings to hang up on the fridge, simple arts and crafts projects, and even perhaps a cold caught from another child.

What I wouldn’t expect is what Hunter Meader brought home to his family — a colorful, voluptuous spider. Hunter did not find the spider himself; but since no one in his class could identify this arachnid, this budding naturalist took on the identification task himself.

Gay Head or Aquinnah has the Vineyard birders enraptured watching the movement of large numbers of raptors in the last two weeks. To steal the words of Pete Dunne, David Sibley and Clay Sutton from their book Hawks in Flight, bird watchers in Gay Head observed a collection of wind masters (buteos), artful dodgers (accipters), fish hawks (osprey), great foolers (northern harriers), falcons, and big black birds (eagles and vultures) passing over the Vineyard on their way to points south.

The Menemsha harborfront, long defined by a history of providing open dock space for working draggers and lobstermen, must be protected, a vocal gathering of Chilmark fishermen told their selectmen early this week. The fishing industry is ailing and the harborfront endangered, they said.

“In a few years, there will be no fishermen,” warned Louis S. Larsen Sr.