Don’t be shocked if you see an Atlantic torpedo ray.

In 1974 my brother in law, Brian Harrington, while working at the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, developed International Shorebird Surveys to “gather basic migration information on shorebirds and the wetlands they use.” Later the Atlantic Canada Shorebird Survey joined in and the data collected by huge numbers of volunteers from both organizations showed that many species of shorebirds depend on flats and other wetland habitats to fuel up on food as they often move up to 11,000 miles per year.

Here we are . . . the end of another summer. I know the following sentence bespeaks my advancing age . . . where does the time go? Wasn’t Memorial Day just a few weeks ago?

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank reported revenues of $258,078 for the business week ending on Friday, August 30, 2013. The land bank receives its funds from a two per cent fee charged on many Vineyard real estate transactions.

Our evening skies are filled with three celestial objects in the west this coming week: the Moon, Saturn and Venus. Every night is different.

A thin crescent moon will appear right next to the brilliant planet Venus on Sunday night, not long after sunset. It shouldn’t be missed, as the two are quite close. Both are in the zodiacal constellation Libra.

If you miss this opportunity, look again Monday night for the moon to appear higher in the west, and near the bright planet Saturn.

Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank is investigating fraudulent automatic teller machine withdrawals from several customer accounts over Labor Day weekend.

Bank president and chief executive officer Paul Falvey told the Gazette Wednesday that over the long holiday weekend, about 90 of the bank’s customers had fraudulent withdrawals made on their accounts.

Wendy H. Bujak purchased 31 Huseby Mountain Road in West Tisbury for $940,000 on August 26.

Carroll L. Buress and Deborah T. Buress purchased 149 Causeway Road in Vineyard Haven for $490,000 on August 30.

Carleton G. Sprague, also known as Carlton G. Sprague, and Tammis F. Sprague purchased 128 Summer street in Vineyard Haven from Lela Evelyn Brown for $199,000 on August 28.

Acreage:  .40 

Asking Price:  $199,000

Assessed Value:  $204,000

Residential/Land/Commercial:  Residential

Kathleen A. Katterhagen purchased 42 Crocker Avenue in Vineyard Haven for $3,450,000 on August 26.