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Friday, March 12, 2010

On the beach last weekend, it wasn’t a purse snatcher that had me worried. It was a robber of another sort, a beach bandit that makes off with more than just money and jewels. It steals habitat, health and shellfish wealth.
» Full Story

Regardless of the season, the Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury always offers something of interest to visitors. The arboretum’s free winter walk series continues tomorrow, March 13, with a guided tour of the grounds as the signs of spring begin to creep into view: buds are swelling, early bulbs are blooming, and birds are returning.
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On Sunday, March 14, hikers are invited to join the Vineyard Conservation Society (VCS) on a walk to the Christiantown Fire Tower in West Tisbury. Manuel F. Correllus State Forest superintendent John Varkonda will lead the walk to the 68-foot tall steel structure, in continuous operation since 1950.
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Nature & Conservation from the Vineyard Gazette Archives

Friday, March 5, 2010

While it is arguably always happy hour somewhere, these buds won’t quench your thirst, bring forth the Clydesdales, or provoke the “taste great, less filling” argument.
» Full Story By Suzan Bellincampi

This Sunday, March 7, join the land bank staff on a guided walk of North Neck Highlands Preserve on Chappaquiddick.
» Full Story

Friday, February 26, 2010

It really does take its sweet time. There is no rushing maple syrup. Like time and tides, this special nectar waits for no one. Only temperature and trees can decide when it’s time to tap.
» Full Story By Suzan Bellincampi

Older adults are invited to take an easy walk on the trails of Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary on Wednesday, March 10, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
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Friday, February 19, 2010

This time of year, the obvious is the squirrel. It is the one type of wildlife that we can see every day.
» Full Story By Suzan Bellincampi

The local chapter of Ducks Unlimited, a conservation nonprofit dedicated to preserving habitat, hosted its 34th annual dinner last Saturday at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown. And though turnout may have been the smallest in the organization’s long Island history, the group felt good about the evening, according to chairman Cliff Meehan.
» Full Story By Mark Alan Lovewell

Friday, February 12, 2010

“Forget love . . . I’d rather fall in chocolate.
» Full Story By Suzan Bellincampi

On Sunday, Feb. 14 at 1 p.m., Islanders of all ages are invited join the Vineyard Conservation Society for a walk on a private north shore property led by Brendan O’Neill, executive director.
» Full Story

Registration for Felix Neck’s Fern and Feather Summer Camp is now open. For more than 40 years, the camp has provided opportunities for children ages four to 13 to explore the wildlife sanctuary’s 350 acres through outdoor games, activities, hikes, stories and crafts.
» Full Story

Friday, February 5, 2010

Oh Ryan, tall, dark and handsome, you are truly heavenly. I have a crush on Orion. He is the big guy in the winter night sky. Easily identifiable, he lights up my nights.
» Full Story By Suzan Bellincampi

The Trustees of Reservations will take Islanders to some of the most exquisite habitats on the Vineyard on Sunday, Feb. 21, in a guided walk on the privately-owned conservation parcel adjacent to Squibnocket Beach in Chilmark.
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Polly Hill Arboretum’s free guided winter walks series continues on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 10 a.m.
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The Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club meets on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 1 p.m. at the Wakeman Center, where Mike Huben will speak on The Magic of Hybridizing Daylilies.
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Friday, January 29, 2010

The tooth fairy is really in for a surprise. I hope that she knows what she is getting into. It might be more than she bargained for.
» Full Story By Suzan Bellincampi

A wayward juvenile gray seal made its way into Edgartown last Friday, spotted in a number of places on or near Fuller street. At one point the seal was in front of the Edgartown Yacht Club tennis courts off Pease’s Point Way. Traffic was diverted by volunteers. With assistance, the seal made its way back to the sea.
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Friday, January 22, 2010

Wilfred J. Caron was a quizzical man. He owned a Christmas tree farm in Old Mystic, Conn., right on U.S. Route 1. His ramshackle house was painted pink, with green signs out front, an old cemetery nearby, and new housing development crowding the land on all sides. When I met Mr. Caron, his Christmas trees had grown beyond the reach of his shear and were fast becoming a forest.
» Full Story By Adam Moore

Friday, January 15, 2010

Curious, it is, that while some trees evoke only a shrug, others inspire speculation, and exploration, and great trans-Atlantic expeditions, and stir the very highest of hopes. Consider the sassafras.
» Full Story By Adam Moore

Friday, January 8, 2010

This could be the ultimate home away from home.
» Full Story By Suzan Bellincampi

The Vineyard Conservation Society (VCS) will hold a guided winter walk this Sunday, Jan. 10, at 1 p.m., with a tour of the 5,200-acre Manuel Correllus State Forest.
» Full Story

Among the uninitiated, birding is often perceived as a passive, voyeuristic non-sport for dullards, the elderly and the obsessive. You may be surprised to know that, if you accept bird watching as a legitimate sport (riflery, an Olympic event, requires less from the participant than serious outdoor birding), according to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service there are currently 51.3 million birders in the U.S. alone, making it easily the most popular sport in America. But what does it really mean to be a birder? It’s simple: you look at birds. But within that basic framework, there is a complex and insular world of variations, terminology and techniques.
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Friday, January 1, 2010

The ice man cometh (cameth) and his name was Frederic Tudor.
» Full Story By Suzan Bellincampi

Sometime in the early 1950s, Chilmark resident Allan Keith remembers spotting a funny looking bird while out for a walk. Intrigued, he looked the bird up in a book as soon as he got home. A short time later, he spotted a different bird and again pulled out a book to try to identify it. Six decades later, Mr. Keith is recognized as one of the leading birders and naturalists on the Vineyard.
» Full Story By Megan Dooley