Nature & Science
The 64th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby is winding down and it could be practically over with today and tomorrow’s bad weather. Though the weather already has shut down the shore division, there has been a new development every day this week in the boat division.
On Sunday, the derby committee announced that a fish weighed on Oct. 5 was removed from the contest because it had ice in it.
It is the changing of the guard so to speak. The double-crested cormorants are joining up in long skeins and moving south. The greater cormorants are arriving from the north. When the two species of cormorants are sitting on the same rock, it is obvious which is which. The greater is greater — weighing almost twice as much as the double-crested and having a wing span of 11 inches more than its cousin. Standing upright, the greater cormorant is three inches taller than the double-crested and has a heavier bill.
You won’t have this mushroom to kick around anymore.
Earthstars, which are in the puffball family of mushrooms, are nature’s kickballs. Very few of us can resist the urge to take a boot to these and other bulbous puffballs. As fall progresses, the sporous spheres are nearing the end of their reproductive lifecycle, although you can still see their dried, crusty remains through the winter.
By LYNNE IRONS
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
Oct. 2 58 43 Trace
Oct. 3 64 54 .64
Oct. 4 66 57 1.16
Oct. 5 70 56 .01
Oct. 6 67 49 .00
Oct. 7 66 52 .20
Oct. 8 71 53 Trace
Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 63º F.
Sunrise Sunset
Fri., Oct. 9 6:46 6:10
Sat., Oct. 10 6:47 6:09
Sun., Oct. 11 6:48 6:07
Mon., Oct. 12 6:49 6:05
Tues., Oct. 13 6:51 6:04
Wed., Oct. 14 6:52 6:02
Thurs., Oct. 15 6:53 6:01
Fri., Oct. 16 6:54 5:59
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.