Spring, April and the Ospreys are just around the corner – and we’re ready for them. Every year at this time, Felix Neck Sanctuary holds the Osprey Festival. Besides a craft tent, guided walks, live raptor demonstrations and live music, the main stage is really held by the Osprey. Everything at the festival is pointed towards learning about this incredible bird.

The Osprey, also known as the sea hawk, is a bird of prey or raptor. It’s quite large reaching 24 inches in length with a 6 foot wingspan! It’s also quite recognizable with a brown and white feathers patterned on its body and yellow eyes; most distinctive are its black eye patch and wings.

The Osprey loves the Vineyard because its diet consists of fish, fish and more fish. They are expert hunters and have the beaks and talons to prove it – they’re sharp, dangerous and adept at capturing, killing and eating their prey.

The Festival will be on April 4th, Saturday and starts at 11 am at Felix Neck.

These incredible photos came to me courtesy of Vineyard Photographer and Avian Artist, Lanny McDowell.

One of the surprising things about social media and social networking is that while they’ve broadened my reach to a global audience and helped me connect with all kinds of people – they’ve also strengthened some of my bonds right here on Martha’s Vineyard.

Case in point, I’ve recently hooked up with Carol McManus, the owner of the Edgartown cafe, Espresso Love, and the author of the inspired Table Talk Cookbook: Food, Family, Love.

We both love the island so much, so we decided to figure out a way to share it with others together. So, if you book your vacation rental with me via this blog, you’ll receive an Espresso Love gift certificate. I’ll help you find the best vacation home, and Carol will keep you happy with muffins and coffee – and don’t be surprised if you spot someone famous while you’re sitting in her outdoor garden cafe…Espresso Love is a Clinton, De Niro, Huffington (and more) favorite!!!

Just mention this post when you call to book your Martha’s Vineyard trip, and I’ll make sure your gift certificate is waiting for you when you get here!

So, to recap, last week, when I was looking for a rental property off-island for myself, I couldn’t find one. I could only find a site that listed millions of properties – but didn’t offer an actual person up for customer service, for an inside look.

That just doesn’t work for me. It’s so important to be able to rent from a 3rd party, and I’ll tell you why. An agent:

• …will have seen, personally, all of the houses that they list. They’ll be able to give you real details about size, feel, look, etc.
• …has the ability to get a group of houses in the same area, say if you only want Lambert’s Cove – they can gather them all up.
• …can be objective as a 3rd party and not the owner.
• …customizes your search for you. Will know all of the houses that meet your exact needs.
• …shares with you the benefits of geography of each of your rental choices (for example: This house has the perfect backyard, but it’s close to a main road).
• …realistically tells you if some of your needs just aren’t possible and then can help you come up with a real solution.
• …offers more choices.
• …mediates if there is a disagreement or issue between the renter and the owner of the property in terms of security deposit, cleanliness, damage, etc…

I love the internet…but my process of trying to find a vacation rental, from the renters side, left me craving a real person that could really help me! Off to search some more…

Image by sgibbons

While the economic forecast for 2009, has many people tightening their belts, movie ticket sales are still going strong – and so are our vacation rental bookings. What we’re seeing is that people are re-prioritizing, and for many, a summer without the Vineyard, just isn’t the summer.

One of the best features of going the route of a renting a vacation home on the island is that it supports a low-key vacation expense-wise:

• You can save money by cooking at home in your vacation rental kitchen. You can even bring bulk food from off-island, though we’d love for you to support local business and you’ll definitely want to get your produce from our farmer’s markets.
• The average rental costs $4,500/week (that’s $571/night) which is the equivalent of two hotel rooms on the island. So the rental saves money for big families – plus, the hotel room won’t have a kitchen – so you’ll be going out for every meal. (Note: There are less expensive rentals if you don’t need a waterview, for instance, that run from $1800-2500.
• You can bring bikes and equipment from home and your rental house will have plenty of room to store it all so you won’t have to rent.
• You don’t even need a car! Depending on where your rental is on the island, you can ride your bikes everywhere. One family even rode their bikes onto the ferry and then straight to their vacation rental carrying their packs on their backs!
• With miles of beach, bike trails, ponds, hikes, nature reserves and the arboretum, you can spend your days fully entertained by the natural habitat of Martha’s Vineyard for free!