Resident winter birds are plentiful in February during the stretch between winter and spring, and northbound migrants begin to arrive.

Early voting begins today on Martha’s Vineyard in the run-up to the much-watched Super Tuesday presidential primary day next week.

Since the darkest days of the winter solstice, more than half an hour of light has already been added to each Island day. Almost two months, already, have been subtracted from the term of this winter.

The Ritz serves as the center of it all — making live music one of the few Vineyard activities that are truly year-round and accessible. And Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish are regulars at the Circuit ave club.

Streets, beaches, trails, dockside — they all take on a different character when not populated with the human character.

Only five days left in January and the Island now enters a final run through the back side of winter. The weather of our wintry season has been anything but predictable to this point. All the patterns seem confused and perhaps it will remain so until the gathering of another Vineyard spring.

Winter birds are settled in on the Vineyard, and feeders are busier in January as birds look for reliable sources of food in snow and cold temperatures.

This week, winter has shown us the most amiable of smiles. There's no holding a New England winter to any constancy; its whims are enshrined in folklore and all our memories.