The housing crisis affects us all.

While the ups and downs of the Island real estate market are not a major concern for these crustaceans, they do have their own domicile dilemma. A version of the Vineyard shuffle is undertaken by hermit crabs year-round.

The Vineyard is a huge maternity ward for birds at this time of year. I have e-mails and phone calls galore about young birds in people’s yards, at their feeders and along the roadside. It is a pleasure to hear the youngsters learning to sing their songs and the adults singing, perhaps with pride, over their brood. The birth of a black skimmer on Norton Point, verified in a photograph by Jeff Bernier, is exciting. This species has an interesting history in Massachusetts. Jeff’s photo was taken on July 3.

Everyone in the gardening and landscaping business has been commenting on how weird the season has been. We’ve been talking about the mild winter and super-warm spring. Both seem to be factors in how quickly the summer plants have moved along. I saw some New England fall asters blooming at the entry to the YMCA, for heaven’s sake.

Realtor Appointment

Peter Fyler, an exclusive buyer’s agent and broker/owner of SplitRock Real Estate, LLC, has been elected to the Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors board of directors.

Edgartown

Richard A. Manley Jr and Deborah J. Fanton purchased 8 Garrett Way in Edgartown from Douglas L. and Karen V. Williams for $1,450,000 on June 29.

Harald B. Findlay purchased 4 Beach Plum Meadows in Edgartown from Robert S. and Anne C. Amato for $2,460,000 on June 29.

Lourie J. and Tighe J. Mathieu purchased 65 Herring Creek Road in Edgartown from John A. Kheary, trustee of the Shirley K. Kheary Qualified Personal Residence Trust, for $350,000 on June 29.

Visiting Reverend

The Rev. Christina Rathbone, Cathedral Missioner at the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul in Boston, will be priest in residence at Trinity Episcopal Church in Oak Bluffs from July 8 through the July 15.

Reverend Rathbone attended New York University and received her divinity degree from Boston University in 2008.

Come May for the past two years, a pair of ducks have come to nest on Rose Styron’s lush lawn overlooking the outer Vineyard Haven harbor. “They eat a lot, at least the mother eats a lot, and the father, a gorgeous green-necked mallard, guards her. And when she’s fat enough, she goes to make a nest under the dock,” Mrs. Styron said, looking out at the water from her porch.

The local seafood economy is about to get a big boost: The commercial striped bass season opens on Thursday, July 12.

While the recreational angler has been out enjoying the benefits of catching striped bass since before spring, restaurant-goers get their chance next week.

Commercial fishermen are permitted to land and sell their striped bass on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Except for Sunday, when the bag limit is five fish, the daily landing limit is 30 fish. The minimum size is 34 inches.

The thousands of baby flounder being raised at the Wampanoag Tribe’s Aquinnah hatchery will be released late this summer at Clam Point in Nashaquitsa Pond, part of the Menemsha Pond system, according to the lead scientist of the two-year project to raise winter flounder in captivity and release them into safe waters.

Elizabeth A. Fairchild, of the University of New Hampshire, told a gathering last week at Chilmark Public Library that the Aquinnah project, overlooking Menemsha Pond, has been a great success thusfar in raising the tiny fish.

Friday, June 29: Hot and sunny. Dog days of July arrive in June. Oppressively hot at the Triangle in Edgartown. A gentle breeze in Edgartown harbor.