Nature & Science
For those who love to eat fresh bay scallops harvested from Island ponds, they won’t be available in fish markets for long. The fishery closed yesterday.
Shellfish constables report it was a fair season, with Edgartown doing the best. More than 100 commercial bay scallopers across the Island were able to make a decent day’s pay since the season began back in the fall. Only one or two fishermen were out working the ponds in each of the towns by the season’s end, though.
This is the month for looking at Saturn. In the coming week the ringed planet is closer to the earth than at any other time in the year. Saturn rises in the east at sunset and sets in the west at sunrise.
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Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
March 25 39 27 .01
March 26 44 26 .00
March 27 41 27 .00
March 28 45 28 .00
March 29 46 31 .00
March 30 48 30 .00
March 31 52 31 .00
Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 44º F.
Why is it when an accidental (rare, unusual or vagrant) bird arrives on Martha’s Vineyard there is always a scenario where there is a good cop/bad cop gig? In this case Allan Keith is the good cop. On March 24 and then again on March 25 he spotted and spread the word that a male common teal arrived in the pond at Turtle Brook Farm, Chilmark. Lanny McDowell took great photos of this bird and a male green-winged teal that was in the same pond.
What is so romantic about rodents?
In the case of muskrats, there is clearly something that inspired songsters Captain and Tennille in the mid-1970s: who doesn’t remember the refrain?
“And they whirled and they twirled and they tangoed
Singin’ and jingin’ a jango
Floatin’ like the heavens above
It looks like muskrat love.”
It was definitely a favorite for this muskrat (and Captain and Tennille) fan.
Friday Night Fever
For many, the poses detailed in the Kama Sutra push the edges of mating rituals. The woodcock, on the other hand, looks at the 64 poses, all of them so mundane in their groundedness, and squawks. This bird gets busy in the air. The woodcock is not shy, either.
Almanac
A comprehensive guide to weather and tides on the Island.
Vineyard Gardener
I guess this past week weather-wise is called a January thaw. We did not really experience it the last several years as December was unseasonably warm.
Farm & Field
Beige and brown and tan and black, with horns spiraled or semicircular or in undulating waves, a legion of goats marched up the hill toward us, bleating in anticipation of fresh grass and leaves.