Could it be a harbinger of spring? Tom Hodgson of Tiasquam Road in West Tisbury once again reports the year’s first snowdrops, nestled under the shelter of a bush on Music street. The place where these clumps of galanthus thrive is a perfect microclimate for early bloom, sheltered from the north, and well-exposed to our low winter sun, he says.

A thin crescent moon hugs close to the western sky beginning in the new week. Today the moon is in the New Moon phase, and out of sight tonight.

How, when and where to move the Gay Head Light, along with the money to pay for it: these are all active topics for discussion by a newly-formed committee charged with developing a plan to relocate the historic brick tower.

The lighthouse now stands 50 feet from an eroding cliff at the westernmost edge of the Vineyard.

A 12-member committee appointed by the town selectmen last month held its first meeting Wednesday, which was mostly organizational.

It could not have been a more perfect morning. There wasn’t a breath of wind and the temperature was well above freezing. A perfect scenario for very early morning owling! The dedicated few, Tim and Whit, were up well before O’dark-hundred. At two a.m. alarm clocks went off and, with Ipods and Iphones in hand, complete with small speakers, the owlers were off to the State Forest, Squibnocket and Aquinnah to listen for owl calls.

For those outdoors early Sunday morning, the crescent moon appears close to the ringed-planet Saturn.

American entomologist William Harris Ashmead had an eye for detail and an infatuation with insects. He must have liked fruit, too.

Living in Florida, he founded a publishing house to print agricultural tomes with a focus on bugs. His passion for pests was palpable, and in 1880 he penned a book called Orange Insects: A Treatise on the Injurious and Beneficial Insects Found on Orange Trees in Florida. This was just the beginning of his love affair with insects.