Author: Mike Dunn
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Savanna Sights
To think that plants ate insects would go against the order of nature… ~Carl Linnaeus After a crazy busy spring field trip season at work, I am finally getting around to catching up on a couple of posts. Like last year, toward the end of April I collaborated with Melissa and the NC Museum of Read more…
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Getting Back To It
It’s always good to get back to the places you love… Life has been way too busy these past many weeks and my blog entries have suffered, but I finally have a break this morning while I wait on some overdue car maintenance. With the busyness has been less time exploring outside, but this weekend Read more…
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Swamp Break
Each mile on a river will take you further from home than a hundred miles on a road. ~Bob Marshall It has been a hectic spring at work so we decided to take a break last week and do something we both love to do – paddle in a swamp. We both blocked off 3 Read more…
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Grubosaurus
The Eastern Hercules has a wing span up to half a foot, the armor of a knight, and the spots of a leopard. ~Orin McMonigle I guess I should be honored that the front desk volunteer thought of me first. One day a little over a week ago, I got a call saying a woman Read more…
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Tribute
Wow, what a planet! ~Mary Ann Brittain, May 20, 1942 – March 17, 2019 I’m going to post something a little different this morning. A brief tribute to my dear friend and mentor, Mary Ann Brittain. We attended her memorial yesterday at her beloved Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh. It was a beautiful, hopeful, Read more…
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This Bud’s For You
There is April, in the swelling bud. There is Spring. There are the deep wonders of this season, not in the flower, but in the flower’s beginnings….the bud itself is the major miracle. ~Hal Borland, Sundial of the Seasons One of my favorite plants to watch this time of year is the Painted Buckeye, Aesculus Read more…
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Anticipation
The sun’s summons will not be answered overnight, but the answer is inevitable. The first hungry bee at the first crocus hums of June, and the first green leaf forecast cool summer shade. All is in order. Spring is the earth’s commitment to the year. ~Hal Borland I have been extra busy this year at Read more…
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Wild Places
The world and the universe is an extremely beautiful place, and the more we understand about it, the more beautiful does it appear. ~Richard Dawkins Memories of Yellowstone are still lingering in my head…the scenery, the snow, the quiet, and the incredible wildlife. So, I did what I needed to do for my spirit last Read more…
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Endings
For this final post on our recent winter trip to Yellowstone, I share a poem that Melissa wrote on a previous trip and read to our group while snowshoeing one day. It seems like an appropriate ending for this incredible journey. Yellowstone (a poem by Melissa Dowland) I want so much To connect ever Read more…
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Hayden Valley Highlight
At this season Nature makes the most of every throb of life that can withstand her severity. How heartily she endorses this fox! ~John Burroughs, “The Snow-Walkers”, 1866 Hayden Valley is one of my favorite spots in winter, with its gently rolling hills covered in deep, smooth snow, interrupted only by an isolated tree here Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 