Fifty years ago, Anne Hale helped found the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary on the shores of Sengekontacket Pond in Edgartown. Twenty-six years ago she published Moraine to Marsh, a slender, spiral-bound volume that became a treasured go-to guide to the flora and fauna of the Vineyard. Hale died in 1992, and with the book out of print and the well-thumbed copies that remain in circulation showing their wear, Felix Neck undertook a major update.
Last summer, signs on Vineyard beaches warned swimmers about Portuguese man-of-wars, the brightly colored siphonophores that deliver a painful sting. And anyone who has spent much time in the water in the summer is probably familiar with the big, pink jellyfish and the small harmless moon jellies of August. But there is a new gelatinous menace lurking in Vineyard ponds, largely unknown and barely visible.
Sara Brown
These tiny, ancient organisms are vital cogs in the Island’s ecosystem.
Matt Pelikan
The vibrant green of the vernal season – including new sassafras leaves and unfurling fiddlehead ferns – is a welcome sign of renewed activity in the natural world.
Matt Pelikan
If you are not loyal to your locale, perhaps your vocation or hobby brings you together with like-minded folks.
Suzan Bellincampi
They nourish the land as well as our lives.
One afternoon I walked into my house and there was a chicken in the kitchen. The side door had blown open, and Dark Beak had come inside, presumably to check on the spider population. She has a passion for spiders, and she knows what kind of housecleaners we are – it wasn’t the first time she’d been inside.
Margaret Knight
It is a little disconcerting how much sex ospreys have.
Suzan Bellincampi
