Red knots are a not something you tie, but a type of shorebird that is causing quite a stir in the birding world. A bit of history: the red knot’s Latin name is Calidris canutus, a moniker which was given this sandpiper by Linnaeus to honor the Danish king, Canute or Knut. King Knut was well-known for trying to hold back the tides. This makes perfect sense; if I were a sandpiper depending on horseshoe crab eggs or clams, I would want the tide to stay low so I could feed.

Edgartown

Edmund Cottle 2nd and Emily E. Cottle purchased 20 Pilgrim Road in Edgartown from Fannie Mae and the Federal National Mortgage Association for $240,437 on August 14.

Theresa A. and Andrew B. Donnellan Jr. purchased 28 Dark Woods Road in Edgartown from Emily Sue Klebanoff for $810,000 on August 17.

Tisbury

What would jazz, a musical art form, look like if it was sculpted into a concrete object? Jack Greene, painter and a sculptor, suggests an answer to that question in the form of JAZZ, a high relief sculpture made up of four pieces: Ear Listening, Seed, Ying and Yang and Wind Blowing Through. Mr. Greene will display this and other reliefs and paintings this weekend at his studio opening.

Just two more Monday Night Specials left for the summer season. These works-in-progress events are hosted by the Vineyard Playhouse and take place at the Hebrew Center in Vineyard Haven. Last week featured plays by Robert Brustein and starred Tony Shalhoub and Brooke Adams in the reading. Earlier in the summer Joyce Carol Oates took the stage for a question and answer session following the reading of her new play Emily & Joyce.

The YMCA is harkening back to some distinct Island musical roots by opening the Wintertide Collective, a black box-styled performance and dance space. The name Wintertide is a name many Islanders remember fondly. The Wintertide Coffeehouse was a mainstray of the Vineyard music scene for many years. The YMCA’s teen program director, Tony Lombardi managed the Wintertide Coffeehouse and now he has resurrected the name for the YMCA as he continues to help teenagers find constructive outlets.

Vineyard Comedy Fest

The stage is set this summer for the second annual Knock-Knock production’s Martha’s Vineyard Comedy Fest, a series of comedy shows performed at the Lampost in Oak Bluffs this week and next. The festival offers a full menu of humor, with comedians Torris Brown, Brian Babylon and Kevin Williams performing tonight at 8 p.m., and B Cole, Frank Collaso, Leon Rogers and Damon Williams performing three nights next week — August 30, 31 and Sept. 1.

All shows begin at 8 p.m., and doors open at 7:30 p.m.

This weekend, the A Gallery in Vineyard Haven introduces a pair of contemporary Island painters, Lily Morris and Billy Hoff, in new show featuring their recent work. Ms. Morris’ partly blurred but vibrant paintings depict dreamlike moments of transformation. Mr. Hoff’s landscapes and figurative paintings are inspired by illustrators like N. C. Wyeth and Howard Pyle, and combine large brushstrokes with intensity of color and emotion.

Pottery, Soup and Music

This weekend Feathersone Center for the Arts in Oak Bluffs is holding its third annual Potters Bowl with guest curator Washington Ledesma.

The idea behind the event is both basic and beautiful. Visitors to the show are asked to buy a ceramic bowl for $25 and then they get a free bowl of soup plus a roll, drink and dessert. Talk about art literally satisyfing an inner hunger.

Friday, August 17: Mostly sunny, a hot summer afternoon. High altitude clouds drift in from the west. A light breeze over the water. Late in the day thousands are seated at Ocean Park and enjoy first the Vineyard Haven Band. At dusk children dance around the bandstand. Spectacularfireworks over the Oak Bluffs outer harbor. Cloudy night.

Nelson C. Smith, 87, has had plenty of water pass under his keel. And observed many sharks off his bow. The retired Edgartown charter fishing captain, who has had many jobs on the waterfront, predicts an increase in shark sightings in Vineyard waters. As long as the seal population continues to rise around the Vineyard, Mr. Smith said he believes the seal’s worse predator, the great white shark, will also increase, as it seems to have done around Nantucket and certain areas of Cape Cod, according to recent reports. “More seals are showing up at Muskeget Channel.