A two-year effort by a group of Chilmark landowners to use herbicides to combat phragmites in Squibnocket Pond came to an end this week. The Hon. Gordon H. Piper on Monday vacated his own ruling from last January that had found a Chilmark bylaw banning herbicides on the pond was not valid.

There is a comet in our evening sky you may be able to see this month.

A dead coyote was found washed ashore early this week on Lambert's Cove Beach, the second coyote to wash up in that location this year. An Island naturalist said the coyote likely came from Naushon, which hosts a large population of coyotes, and drowned.

Onshore winds raised havoc with one of my favorite pelagic species, the dovekie. This little squirt, only eight inches long, is cousin to puffins and razorbills.

Walking on water is a feat that only a select few prophets can accomplish. However, there is another of God’s (or nature’s) creations that can achieve the same miracle.

A crescent moon decorates our early evening skies this weekend. The moon is in the zodiacal constellation Pisces.