Roads End Naturalist

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

Author: Mike Dunn

  • What the Cameras See

    Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way. ~John Muir While we were away (more on that in a future post), the trail cameras caught some interesting events in our woods. They also caught several deer inside our deer fence Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Woods Neighbors

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    My favorite thing is just walking in the woods. I can do it for days on end without tiring of it. ~Jim Harrison This may be why I can’t get to all the posts I need to write about prior adventures…interesting things keep happening here in our woods. We were gone for several days and Read more…

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    Mike Dunn

  • South Africa – Days 5-6

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    You cannot leave Africa, Africa said. It is always with you, there inside your head. ~Bridget Dore Well, I’m finally getting back to continue the story of our November trip to South Africa. In the first blog post, I covered our first few days after arriving in Johannesburg and traveling to Kruger National Park. This Read more…

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    Mike Dunn

  • Bucket List

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    Don’t just chase your dreams, catch them. ~Annette White I’ve been so busy that I am still playing catch up with blog about our past trips. This one has been on my bucket list for several years – a March trip to Nebraska to witness the spectacular spring migration of Sandhill Cranes. We occasionally see Read more…

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    Mike Dunn

  • More Than Just Cicadas

    Wherever we go on land, these small creatures are within a few inches of our feet—often disregarded. We would do very well to remember them. ~Sir David Attenborough The sound of periodical cicadas continues to dominate the air here in our woods, but I see more and more of their lifeless bodies scattered about as Read more…

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    Mike Dunn

  • Cicada Post Addendum

    I’m like a fungus; you can’t get rid of me. ~Adam Baldwin Yesterday’s blog on Brood XIX was a brief summary of what I have been doing the past several evenings as I marvel at this occurrence. There are two things I had hoped to find in this year’s emergence after reading more about these Read more…

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    Mike Dunn

  • That Sound

    Nothing in the cry of cicadas suggests that they are about to die. ~Matsuo Basho I imagine you are deluged with social media posts and news reports about the spectacle that those of us in this area are living with right now – the emergence of Brood XIX of periodical cicadas. I hesitated adding one Read more…

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    Mike Dunn

  • Seldom Seen

    Coyotes have the gift of seldom being seen; they keep to the edge of vision and beyond… ~N. Scott Momaday As you may have noticed in recent months, I have not written as many blogs as in the past. I will try to do better since there is a lot to share. I’m going to Read more…

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    Mike Dunn

  • Predator Potpourri

    You can’t imagine anything like nature as we know it without predators. ~Dale Jamieson I’ve been out in the yard a lot these past couple of weeks doing the spring chores of removing the dead stalks from last year’s wildflowers, adding some mulch to walkways, etc. The spring wildflowers are showing themselves as are the Read more…

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    Mike Dunn

  • Egg-citing

    The present was an egg laid by the past that had the future inside is shell. ~Zora Neale Hurston This is a quick follow-up to my last post about the breeding congress of Spotted Salamanders two nights ago. I went out last night around 10 pm and checked both pools. In the murky pool (lots Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn