A major project to dredge Menemsha Channel is underway, with a barge stationed on Menemsha Pond and more than a mile of piping laid along the shore between the pond and Lobsterville Beach.

It was cold and blustery on Jan. 2, but that didn’t stop a large number of Island birders from heading out into nature for the 56th annual Christmas Bird Count on the Vineyard.

Up at first light, three Vineyard birders met at Martha’s Vineyard Airport. Flip Harrington, Lanny McDowell and I were bound for Nantucket.

The crescent moon will appear close to the red planet Mars in the wee hours of Monday morning.

Last year there were sightings of more than 28,000 birds. Who knows what's in store for Jan. 2 when the official count takes place on the Island.

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission voted to ban drones from its nearly 3,100 acres of conservation property on the Island.