A pair of quahauggers stood waist-deep in Sengekontacket Pond early Thursday morning, the late August sun glinting off the calm water as they raked hardshell clams, perhaps a basketful for their dinner. The pond has been open to summer shellfishing this year for the first time since 2007.

State Beach, 7 a.m. on a Friday morning. The beach is empty and calm as the tide laps the shoreline, slowly waking up before summer beachgoers arrive. The sun shines brightly on white sand, silhouetting the few early risers.

Red knots are a not something you tie, but a type of shorebird that is causing quite a stir in the birding world. A bit of history: the red knot’s Latin name is Calidris canutus, a moniker which was given this sandpiper by Linnaeus to honor the Danish king, Canute or Knut. King Knut was well-known for trying to hold back the tides. This makes perfect sense; if I were a sandpiper depending on horseshoe crab eggs or clams, I would want the tide to stay low so I could feed.

It's late summer and I am finally getting into the spirit. My inspiration is a bumper crop of wild cherries.

A large dead leatherback turtle that was more than five and a half feet long washed up at Great Rock Bight beach on the north shore last Tuesday afternoon. The beach is owned by the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank. Land bank property foreman Matthew N. Dix said the New England Aquarium was contacted, but then the turtle washed back out into the Sound.

Mr. Dix speculated that the turtle may have been killed by a boat, as it had large gashes on it that could have come from a propeller.