It’s the season for the ospreys to return, which, along with the arrival of red-winged blackbirds and other migrant icterids and an uptick in birdsong volume and variety, signals a kickstart in bird awareness right about this time each year.

A faint comet will appear low in the western sky tonight after sunset but it will be tough to see. Forecasters predict that Comet Pan-STARRS will be harder to find than originally anticipated.

Charlie Brown and his human ilk don’t have a monopoly on grieving. While humans have developed elaborate rituals when a loved one dies, we may just be following our instincts.

Emotions lead the way when dealing with death, and some research and observation has shown that we are not alone in our methods of mourning. Animals, too, show signs of sadness.

Oyster season in Chilmark is set to begin on Monday after the board of selectmen approved the opening of the short season.

At the selectmen’s weekly meeting on Tuesday, the board approved a recommendation from the shellfish committee that permits two heaping bushels a day, Monday through Wednesday. The season ends April 30. Shellfish constable Isaiah Scheffer said half a dozen oystermen had expressed interested in permits — “a controlled amount,” Mr. Scheffer added.

There’s still a week left of winter, but the seasonal harbingers already have signaled spring’s arrival.

Normally, the Coast Guard is on the lookout for mariners in distress. But on Sunday crew members aboard a 270-foot cutter stationed in Portsmouth, Va. spotted a more welcome sight: two right whales swimming northwest of Menemsha in Vineyard Sound.

The sighting was made at 9 a.m. Sunday.