Nature & Science
Wildlife Walk
Older adults are invited to take an easy walk on the trails of Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary on Wednesday, March 10, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Naturalist Susie Bowman leads the walk, exploring the new vistas opened up in the absence of leaves. The walk will be followed by hot beverages in the recently refurbished discovery room. The walk is free for Felix Neck members; $3 for nonmembers. For details, call 508-627-4850.
By LYNNE IRONS
My kitchen sink is clogged! I am using the time while waiting for the plumber to monitor my water usage. I have been hauling the dishpan outside and emptying it on the garden. I use a biodegradeable soap (Shaklee Basic-H) so it is perfectly fine on the still dormant plants. I have, for years, been priding myself on being very thrifty with water. I turn it off while teeth brushing, take ridiculously short showers, never let it run while doing dishes, and have installed a water-saving toilet.
The full moon, the Mud Moon, appears next to the bright planet Saturn on Monday night. The two are in the zodiacal constellation Virgo, and there could not be a better pair to open a new month and herald the approach of spring.
It really does take its sweet time.
There is no rushing maple syrup. Like time and tides, this special nectar waits for no one. Only temperature and trees can decide when it’s time to tap.
And I think that they have decided that the time is right. In late February and early March, an agricultural revival comes to Massachusetts and New England. The maple trees awaken and become ripe and ready to be tapped for sap.
It is that time of year again — a season when I truly become a bird-watcher with disambiguation (split personality). One of my alter egos is excited by the return of red-winged blackbirds, common grackles, and to a considerably lesser degree brown-headed cowbirds, to the Vineyard. The red-winged blackbird males are perched on high grasses in the fields and marshes of the Island singing their hearts out, waiting for the females to return and hopefully choose them as a mate. Waterfowl are beginning to pair off and build nests.
The long journey of a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle named Shellbey came to a sad end early this month, when the turtle was found dead in an isolation tank at its temporary home at the University of New England’s Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center in Biddeford, Me.
Fortunately the family that found the turtle washed up on the Vineyard’s north shore shortly after Thanksgiving last year got one last chance to see Shellbey, when they visited the rehabilitation center in January.
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.