Author: Mike Dunn
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Stormy Night
It was a dark and stormy night, the rain fell in torrents… ~Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1830 And indeed it was…last night. We barely beat a fierce thunderstorm as we drove back from dinner with friends in Chapel Hill. The sky was flashing with rapid-fire lightning when we arrived at our gate. I must have done something Read more…
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Summer Cats
Nature will not be admired by proxy. ~Winston Churchill Seems as though my schedule (and the heat) have kept me from some of my usual yard patrols, so I finally went out the other day for a walk-about to see what I could see. It started with my eye catching something out of place on Read more…
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That Time of Year Again – Bees Beware
To every thing there is a season… ~Ecclesiastes On several of my wanderings these past few days, I have heard noticeable buzzing sounds that indicate an acceleration and flyby of a large winged insect. I recognize these sounds to be from a fascinating group, the robber flies, family Asilidae. I remembered posting about them last Read more…
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Mini-frogs
The frog forgets that he was once a tadpole. ~Anonymous It’s been a busy couple of weeks and I must apologize as I have been a blog-slacker I’m afraid. Lots of chores, plus the hot and humid weather has kept me inside more than usual. It turns out, unlike me, there are some things that Read more…
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Creating a Sense of Wonder at Pocosin Arts
If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantment of later Read more…
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Yellowstone in Feathers
‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers— That perches in the soul— And sings the tune without the words— And never stops—at all— ~Emily Dickinson It has been a busy week, but I finally had a chance to wrap up some images and thoughts about my recent Yellowstone trip. Like every trip out there, this one Read more…
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We Need Places Like Yellowstone
Contemplating the flow of life and change through living things, we make new discoveries about ourselves. ~Ansel Adams I just returned from another wonderful trip to Yellowstone National Park. It is still beautiful, still magical, still a place you must reckon with and not take lightly. It is as it should be, wild. At times, Read more…
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Mountain Birding
To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring — these are some of the rewards of the simple Read more…
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Yellow Fellows
In his plumes dwells the gold of the sun, in his voice its brightness and good cheer. We have not to seek him in the depths of the forest, the haunt of nearly all his congeners, he comes to us and makes his home near ours. ~Frank M. Chapman, 1907 The most common warbler we Read more…
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Walking with Warblers
From those tall hemlocks proceeds a very fine insect-like warble, and occasionally I see a spray tremble, or catch the flit of a wing. I watch and watch till my head grows dizzy and my neck is in danger of permanent displacement, and still do not get a good view. ~John Burroughs, on trying to Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 