Nature & Science
With Cape Wind hoping to break ground in the coming years and a huge new swath of ocean opened for wind farm development south of the Vineyard, the impact of turbine noise on fisheries is still poorly understood.
“The long-term impacts of these wind farms are just totally unknown,” said Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution biologist Scott Gallagher this week.
With growing evidence the Norton Point breach is appearing to close — lessening the current running through the harbor—there is buzz on the waterfront that the summer ahead will be easier for a lot of visiting boaters, particularly the local fleet of day sailboats.
A gibbous moon appears near the bright planet Saturn on Saturday night. The two rise in the eastern sky after 9 p.m. The bright star Spica, in the zodiacal constellation Virgo, is nearby. The three celestial objects form a triangle. The moon is roughly 225,000 miles away, Saturn is 837 million miles away and Spica is over 250 light years away.
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
March 2 43 33 .19
March 3 46 33 .16
March 4 51 38 Trace
March 5 42 30 Trace
March 6 43 22 .00
March 7 48 26 .00
March 8 54 44 .00
Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 47º F.
Crow blackbirds have arrived on Island. They run and hop around the yard and fields holding their head and keel-shaped tails high. In the right light the feathers on their heads and necks are an iridescent purple-blue and their backs bronzy. I am used to these common grackles arriving around St. Patrick’s Day or the Ides of March. The grackles have a different idea.
Rick Bausman, the well-known Island musician, will not be the only one diligently drumming this spring. His penchant for percussion is shared by other creatures that have their own rhyme and reasons for rhythm.
While Rick drums for fun, wildlife drums for food. Woodpeckers may be the first bird to spring to mind as tapping tricksters, yet there are other animals that drum the dirt rather than the trees for their treat. Pounding the ground causes vibrations that bring earthworms to the surface.
Almanac
A comprehensive guide to weather and tides on the Island.
Vineyard Gardener
I guess this past week weather-wise is called a January thaw. We did not really experience it the last several years as December was unseasonably warm.
Farm & Field
Beige and brown and tan and black, with horns spiraled or semicircular or in undulating waves, a legion of goats marched up the hill toward us, bleating in anticipation of fresh grass and leaves.