You would have to be an ass to refuse a taste of donkey rhubarb.

Donkey rhubarb is delicious, though not a relative of the garden variety many of us know better. More commonly called Japanese knotweed, this wild plant rivals regular rhubarb for the perfect pie and, best of all, it is a truly free food, found all over the Island. It is just now ready for harvesting, but will not last long in its tender, edible stage.

The Vineyard experienced a mini fallout last week. We are not talking nuclear, but bird! If there is a strong wind that comes from the southwest in the spring, birds coming up from the southern U.S. and Central and South America are carried on their way north at a good clip. Then if the wind comes around from the north, the birds basically hit a wall and stop. If the migrating birds are over the Island at that time they fall out onto same. The indigo bunting is the bird species that fell out in the largest number on the Island, scattering patches of electric blue from Chappaquiddick to Aquinnah!

Barking up the Right Tree

In case you weren’t aware, May 5 is the day you learn about bark.

Author and naturalist Michael Wojtech visits Polly Hill Arboretum to talk about bark basics and how to identify different kinds of trees by their bark. Let’s face it, come winter you can’t depend on leaves to know the difference between a maple and sycamore.

It’s a big week at the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary.

Today, April 27, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., they are throwing a Pinkletink Pizza Party. After pizza everyone heads outdoors to listen to the frogs send forth their mating calls. The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children; nonmembers pay $7 for adults and $5 for children.

Chilmark

Claude K. Amadeo, and Jennifer E. Amadeo purchased Quansoo Beach Lot 7 in Chilmark from Janice MacDougall for $300,000 on April 20.

Edgartown

Rebecca A. Norris, trustee of the Sparrow Real Estate Trust, purchased 25 Sparrow Lane in Edgartown from Patricia A. Litchfield for $700,000 on April 13.

Richard Detucci and Doreen Detucci purchased 87 18th Street in Edgartown from Sherry L. Willoughby for $493,000 on April 19.

The Martha’s Vineyard Family Center is presenting an ongoing educational series designed to support the myriad roles in raising children. Call it a parenting potpourri.

The series begins on Tuesday, May 1 with Beyond Finger Painting and Play Dough led by Robin Allee. This talk is from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Subsequent talks are as follows.

May 8 - Self-Care for the Busy Mom with Sherry Sidoti (10 to 11:30 a.m.).

Last Saturday night at the Chilmark Tavern, Dee Stevens, artistic director of the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society, and David Stanwood, pianist and inventor of a new system of piano tuning, performed for the Imagine Arts Festival put on by Marianne Goldberg and the Pathways Projects Institute.

The Martha’s Vineyard Film Society is collaborating with the Vineyard Conservation Society on a new series of films on the environment called Green on Screen. On April 28 at 7:30 p.m. they will present the film One Day on Earth at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven.

YMCA Healthy Kids Day

There will be Zumba. There will be yoga. There will be a petting zoo, face painting, swim assessments and healthy food.

The event is the YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day and it takes place tomorrow, April 28, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is dedicated to teaching kids the value and fun in physical activity.

It’s all free all day long.

Last year over 400 kids of all ages attended the event. There is even a “wee ones” play course, to get those toddlers toddling.

A few months ago the Martha’s Vineyard Museum in collaboration with Featherstone Center for the Arts urged everyone to paint a portrait as part of the Island Faces Portrait Contest. Approximately 60 brave souls took up the charge and submitted paintings, drawings, and photographs. Now comes the hard part — judging the winners.