Tonight the gibbous moon appears high in the evening sky soon after sunset.

It’s all about Brooklyn at the Polly Hill Arboretum on Wednesday, Sept. 18. Chris Roddick, senior arborist at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden kicks it off with a talk about pruning techniques and tool maintenance from 1 to 3 p.m. There will be a hands-on demonstration and a chance to practice newly learned pruning prowess. Bring hand pruners if you have them. Cost for this event is $20 or $10 if you’re a member of Polly Hill.

On Sept. 7 Tim Spahr, an excellent birder from the mainland, was birding with Allan Keith in the Gay Head Moraine. They were on a small bridge over a trickling stream when Tim heard a chip note that Tim said was a hooded warbler. Allan Keith and I both have difficulty hearing and identifying chip notes so we are always willing to bird with someone with good ears. Allan was stunned that Tim not only heard the note, but identified it. With a little coaxing the bird came closer and Tim was able to photograph an immature female hooded warbler.

E.B. White found appreciation in even the simplest of life’s tasks.

A dead juvenile finback whale was found floating in the ocean between the Vineyard and Noman’s Land last Friday.

David Damroth, a Chilmark resident, said he spotted the whale from a hill above Squibnocket Beach. He later took his boat out on the water and got a closer look at the animal, which was largely intact, he said. The only marks he saw were from scavenging seagulls.

For a shrub that works perfectly as a landscaping plant while also offering benefits for wildlife, consider the blueberry.