Nature & Science
Tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 5 is the Vineyard’s Christmas Bird Count. We hope for good weather, although last Saturday, Dec. 29, Nantucket had lousy weather and a good number of birds still were seen on that Island’s count.
By LYNNE IRONS
I seem to have developed a method for column writing. I carry a piece of paper on the truck dashboard during the week and when I see something of interest, I jot down a word or two. Then, on Saturday morning, I somehow throw it together. Finally, I haul out the trusty typewriter and a vat of white correction fluid.
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
Dec. 28 40 34 .04
Dec. 29 48 30 .19
Dec. 30 53 29 .00
Dec. 31 40 30 .40
Jan. 1 43 25 .00
Jan. 2 47 32 .28
Jan. 3 39 11 .00
Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 40º F.
In a clear sign of a cooling real estate market here, revenues at the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank fell in 2007 for the second straight calendar year. The total number of real estate transactions also was down last year, for the third year in a row.
The land bank collected $10.9 million in revenues in 2007, compared with $11.6 million in 2006, a drop of seven per cent.
And the land bank recorded 1,403 real estate transactions in 2007, a drop of five per cent from the previous year, when 1,474 transactions were recorded.
About 130 acres of land on the Vineyard was permanently protected from development under new conservation restrictions in 2007, according to state government figures.
The relatively disappointing result was in spite of generous tax incentives — which expired at year’s end — and in sharp contrast to figures for the state as a whole.
Statewide, 266 new conservation restrictions, covering a total area of 11,200 acres were signed off by the secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Ian Bowles.
A thin crescent moon appears low in the southeastern sky tomorrow morning, just before sunrise. The moon appears underneath the brilliant planet Venus. Both are in the zodiacal constellation Scorpius. Venus and the moon are 10 degrees apart, and are the two brightest celestial objects in the sky, easy to find, and a pleasant and memorable sight.
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.