Nature & Science
Today is the first day of spring and it arrived precisely at 7:44 a.m. This is the moment when the noontime sun crosses from the Southern Hemisphere, across the Equator, and into our Northern Hemisphere. From here on our days will get longer than our nights. Day and night are about even, at 12 hours, though the actual moment of sunrise and sunset is not so exact.
The American oystercatchers and piping plovers are back on Island. These shorebirds are of concern wherever they are due to a combination of evils. The local Audubon Society in Martin County, Fla., asked me to help with a survey of piping plovers on a flat just inside the St. Lucie Inlet in Stuart, Fla. Unlike the Vineyard plovers, the Stuart piping plovers are not affected by over sand vehicles, skunks or raccoons. It is impossible for any of the above to ford the St. Lucie River. Instead the plovers are at risk of losing their habitat to winter residents who wish to augment their eroding beaches.
By LYNNE IRONS
The charms of up-Island are numerous, but I had my own reasons to take a Sunday drive up Middle Road last weekend.
Topping my list of favorite up-Island things are Andy and Susie’s honey, fresh milk from Mermaid Farm, and a walk through the woodland wilds of Chilmark.
It is in these woods that one can find a plant not too often seen down-Island.
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
March 6 43 31 Trace
March 7 57 40 .00
March 8 64 41 .00
March 9 61 38 .37
March 10 39 31 .43
March 11 46 37 .03
March 12 47 32 .18
Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 43º F.
Martha’s Vineyard leads the Cape and Islands in bay scallop landings, beating Nantucket. The Vineyard’s commercial and recreational shellfishermen landed over 12,000 bushels this past season, and more are being landed. With three weeks still left in the season, Nantucket shellfishermen have landed 8,000 bushels. This makes the Vineyard the largest producer of wild bay scallops in the world.
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.