A tick-borne disease so new it only has a scientific name has been identified in United States patients for the first time, including at least one person from Nantucket. Borrelia miyamotoi is a relative of Lyme disease with similar symptoms including fever, headache, muscle ache, and fatigue.

Unlike Lyme disease, B. miyamotoi presents recurring fevers in patients and does not trigger a bulls-eye rash. Nor does it cause a positive test with traditional Lyme disease testing, said Dr. Sam R. Telford 3rd, a professor of infectious diseases at Tufts University.

The Polly Hill Arboretum is offering two pruning workshops this winter. The first one will be held on Saturday, Feb. 2, from 10 a.m. to noon and focuses on blueberries. On Saturday, March 9, apples take center stage.

The cost for the first workshop is $25 or $20 for members. The apple workshop, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., is $55 or $45 for members. Each workshop begins with a talk on fruit tree pruning then moves outside to a near-by orchard for hands-on pruning.

I am seeing red. And shades of hot pink along the shoreline and in shallow pockets along the marsh that edges Felix Neck. Sound the alarm, because this sighting is a true red scare for those in the know.

This year 121 individual species were spotted by the 14 feeder-watchers and 60 official birdwatchers, up from 119 last year.

Here is the complete list of species observed on the Dec. 29, 2012 Martha’s Vineyard Christmas Bird Count.

The inevitable finally happened. Dr. James Riley’s ruby-throated hummingbird in Edgartown was last seen on Jan. 3, after about 48 hours of below freezing temperatures. The other two hummingbirds survived that cold snap but did not survive when winter came on with a vengeance last week, and we had several days where the temperatures stayed below 20 degrees. Joannie Ames’ West Tisbury ruby-throated hummingbird was last seen on Jan. 23, while the Allen’s hummingbird at Penny Uhlendorf’s and Scott Stephens’ in Vineyard Haven was last observed on Jan. 24.

Late tonight, before midnight, the gibbous moon rises in the east.