Managing our expectations has a lot to do with birding. For birders at the bottom of the expertise hierarchy to those at the top, our expectations can help us see a greater variety of birds, or they can hobble our judgment with misleading information. Finding the right border between caution and optimism is one of the intriguing balancing acts of birding, especially when there is some competition in the air, which, let’s face it, can be part of the fun.

On Sunday Featherstone Center for the Arts celebrated Lucy Vincent Beach with its own art reception. The party marked the opening of an exhibit that runs through May 8.

The show came into being after artist Linda Ziegler surveyed the damage done to the beach by Hurricane Sandy and wanted to find a way to honor what has long been a favorite Vineyard destination.

April 22, 1970, the very first Earth Day, dawned pure and clear on the Vineyard. “One might almost have thought all the brouhaha about Earth Day was nonsense, and unnecessary . . . but by 5:30 p.m . . . it was evident that the Vineyard was far from unlittered,” a Gazette story said at the time.

Bob Woodruff and a group of about 60 others, including many high school students, collected more than 3,000 pounds of litter that day, hauling Mr. Woodruff’s oxcart along the roads of the Island and picking up all debris and trash in its path.

It’s Sheepapalooza time again. On Saturday, April 20, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. the Farm Institute is reveling in all things sheepie.

Morning chores begin at 9 a.m., followed by sheep shearing with Andy Rice, fiber arts, lunch (play with sheep, eat sheep), farm tours and sheep herding demonstrations.

The event takes place rain or shine. Cost is $10 per family, or $5 per individual.

For more details, visit farminstitute.org or call 508-627-7007.

The Lyrid Meteor Shower will reach its peak in the early hours of Monday morning.

It is that time of the year again! Any visitor to a wide variety of beaches can find roping that marks off the places where piping plovers, American oystercatchers and least terns nest. The first two species are back and the first oystercatcher nests are now present — the first one was reported on April 13. Plover nests will not be far behind. And the least terns will return to their nesting colonies in early May.