Name That Bird

Long before there was Twitter, there was Birdathon. On May 13, Mass Audubon kicks off its 24-hour Birdathon in which teams contend to spot the most species in the state. This fun annual event, for people of all abilities and ages, offers birders and nature enthusiasts the opportunity to participate in friendly competition while raising funds for Mass Audubon.

Brad Pitt made fly-fising look so easy in A River Runs Through It. Dappled sunlight on blond hair, the big smile and a slight flick of the wrist to set a fly lure right on the lip of a hungry trout. Oh, if that’s all it took.

Thankfully, for the rest of us mere mortals looking to get out from under a tangled mess, help is on the way. On Saturday, May 14 from 8:30 a.m. to noon John Kollett and Sandra Demel at the Martha’s Vineyard Rod and Gun Club will host a workshop for all levels.

Fresh from their triumphal concert tours of Paris and Prague, you might almost expect the Minnesingers back on Island to be busy calling their agents from moviestudio trailers. But no, they’re still the great, glowing, unprepossessing kids they’ve always been, and they put all their talent, all their joy into this past weekend’s performances on their home stage at the performing arts center at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.

There is so much talk around energy consumption these days. It is hard to know whom to believe. We know we want to cut back our addiction to foreign oil.

Five-year-old Wyatt Nicholson was among the top winners of the 37th annual Martha’s Vineyard Rod and Gun Club trout tournament held Saturday morning at Duarte’s Pond in West Tisbury. The young fisherman caught the biggest trout, an 18 3/4-inch rainbow, which put him into first place. The Oak Bluffs youngster, accompanied by his father, Caleb, fished early in the morning and also caught a 17-inch fish. For his efforts he won a brand-new bicycle, fishing rod and trophy.

Life is full of contradictions. So are plants.

Vinca, that evergreen vining groundcover that is currently blooming with blue-purple flowers, is a case in point.

This plant has been described as “moderately” invasive, is recommended as a sexual stimulant and also is known to be a portent of death; it is offered up as a healer and yet is known to kill. One must weave through the tangle of incongruities to discern the truth of this twining creeper.

One of the best ways to support conservation education on Martha’s Vineyard is about to happen just as you are reading this. The statewide Birdathon begins at 6 p.m. today and runs until the same hour tomorrow. A number of teams will fan out all over the state, but the one that matters to us is the Felix Neck team. Groups will search the Island to find as many species of birds as they can. Anyone can support their efforts by pledging a certain amount per species found. Last year a new record was set of 132 species, but if the weather is favorable we could do even better this year. Pledges can be any amount, from a nickel or dime per species to a dollar or so for those feeling generous. Any amount is welcome. And to make it easy, you can call Felix Neck at 508-627-4850 and leave your pledge, or even easier for many, go online to firstgiving.com/fundraiser/suzan-bellincampi/1/team and make your pledge there. This is a great way to support our own local Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary and its fine programs. Get involved. Give those field observers an incentive to work even harder. Call or go online today.

Beverly Wright ousted two-term selectman Camille Rose 124-95 in the Aquinnah annual town election Wednesday. The election saw a high turnout of 225 voters. Ms. Wright is the former chairman of the Wampanoag tribal council.

Aquinnah voters passed a $3 million budget and nearly all 30 articles at the annual town meeting Tuesday night, moving through a 10-article special town meeting session first.

Voters backed the selectmen’s recommendation to fund just $134,000 of the $160,000 requested by the Tri-Town ambulance service, questioning the number of full-time paramedics needed to staff the service and the purpose of a deputy chief. The reduced dollar amount would not include the deputy chief’s salary.

The state attorney general’s office is investigating the town of Oak Bluffs’s bidding processes in connection with contractors’ work done at the old library, the town harbor, and a wastewater project connecting the high school, YMCA and community services to the town sewer line, Oak Bluffs town counsel Ron Rappaport revealed at Tuesday’s selectmen’s meeting.