Roads End Naturalist

Exploring the natural world as we wander at the end of the road

Author: Mike Dunn

  • Woods Wandering

    Forests are places where we can get back in touch with our inner selves, where we can walk on soft ground, breathe in natural cents, taste berries, listen to the leaves crackling – all the senses are awakened in the subdued light… ~Pierre Lieutaghi I decided to wander away from the house one morning and… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Walking Small, Part 2

    Look slowly and hard at something subtle and small. ~Philip Pearlstein Some more finds while wandering in the heat in our yard jungle. The first one was a challenge. I noticed missing leaves at the tip of a Virginia Creeper vine (Parthenocissus quinquefolia). Only the curved stems of the leaves remained. I looked closely, and… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Frog Friday

    You can’t tell by the look of a frog how far they’ll jump. ~Paul Doiron Took a stroll around the property yesterday, camera in hand, looking for the tiny creatures who share these woods. One thing really impressed me – the amazing number of spider webs that seemed to block my way at every turn.… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Baby Saddlebacks

    Relative to other caterpillars, slug caterpillars seem more fantasy than reality. ~David Wagner It is getting to be that time of year – caterpillar time! As summer draws to a creeping close, one of the things that lifts my spirits above the stifling heat waves is the increasing abundance of larval Lepidoptera. And one of… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Itsy Bitsy Spiderlings

    When we’re distracted, we are still paying attention—just not to the task that was the previous still point of our intentional neural processing. ~Dale Keiger I’m afraid I have a long history of being “distracted” by the natural world. I remember a time as a young teenager when I was helping my father nail shingles… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Anybody Home?

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    Every night in the woods, when most humans are safely indoors, strange creatures emerge from their lairs and leap into the air, swooping silently among the trees.~Michael Farquhar I was strolling the yard yesterday, looking for whatever small critters caught my eye, when I walked over to the front of the house where we have… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Rain Man (and Woman)

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    A rainy day is a perfect time for a walk in the woods. ~Rachel Carson I am finally getting around to posting about our trip to one of our favorite backpacking spots, Mount Rogers, VA. My backpacking and camping queen (you know who I am talking about) has been chomping at the bit to get… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • National Moth Week Ends

    I think that engaging with natural history – learning the identity and phenology of your neighbors by reading about their stories, and studying their lives alongside your own can give anyone a sense of rootedness. ~Henry Hershey One reason I like National Moth Week so much is that it reminds me to make the effort… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Baby Bluebirds

    Be like the bluebird who never is blue, for he knows from his upbringing what singing can do. ~Cole Porter I checked on the bluebird box out in the yard yesterday to see if any of the four eggs I saw about a week ago had hatched. As always, I approached noisily, then knocked on… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Museum Moth Night

    The poets say some moths will do anything out of love for a flame… ~Mohsin Hamid Last night we participated in the NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ National Moth Week live event (well, Melissa worked it and I just rambled around taking pictures through my fogged glasses). It was a great start to National Moth… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn