Roads End Naturalist

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

Author: Mike Dunn

  • Macro Mysteries

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    I care to live only to entice people to look at nature. ~ John Muir Walking around with a macro lens helps me look at nature in a different way. Since even the smallest thing can have wonderful detail if only we stop to look at it, I have decided to share some of these Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Hauntingly Beautiful

    Tuesday afternoon I was joined by my good friend and mentor, Mary Ann, for a walk at Umstead State Park. It was a great chance to catch up and spend some time doing what we both love to do, woods watching. It was a walk back in time for me in a couple of ways – Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Nice Doo

    I usually think of the end of “caterpillar season” as being a week or two after the Museum’s annual BugFest event in September. This year (and maybe its just because I am retired and out and about more) I have been seeing the larvae of quite a few species in my travels well into October Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • First Frost

    I looked out the window this morning and saw that the dawn had left its mark on the meadow – faint traces of ice coated the grasses and other low-lying vegetation under the power line – the season’s first frost. Frost is deposition of water vapor directly into ice crystals on a cold surface. Frost Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Elk and Islands in the Sky

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    I had an outing this weekend with a great group of folks in Cataloochee Valley and up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Our goals were to observe the elk during the mating season ritual called the rut and experience the beauty of the mountains during the fall leaf season. I’d say mission accomplished on both. Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • A CROWDers Pleaser

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    The past several days II have been on the road in the mountains of North Carolina. I had a program on Saturday at Stone Mountain State Park and had a great hike across the large granite dome for which the park is named. The park was packed with campers and hikers taking advantage of the Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Dolly Sods

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    The mountains are calling and I must go. John Muir For my birthday a couple of weeks ago, I decided to revisit one of the most beautiful places I have been in the East, Dolly Sods Wilderness in West Virginia. Many years ago I had read about this unique highlands area and had wanted to Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Extreme Dining

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    The abundance of insects feeding on pollen and nectar in the goldenrod patch out on the power line has naturally attracted an array of predators. One of the more formidable-looking of these is the Wheel Bug, Arilus cristatus, our largest member of the so-called Assassin Bug group. Wheel Bugs are named for the unusual gear-like Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • There is a Fungus Among Us (or at least among them)

    I love nature, I just don’t want to get any of it on me. Woody Allen I gave a talk the other night to the Raleigh Chapter of the Carolina’s Nature Photographers Association. They were a great group and seemed to enjoy my topic about macro photography. One story, in particular, raised a few eyebrows. Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Caterpillar Conundrum

    I have been away a few days celebrating a major birthday (hard to believe it is that number) and returned to find a few caterpillars from BugFest still active (most were released the day after the event). I was particularly pleased to see the snappily-attired Turbulent Phosphila munching away on its host plant, Greenbrier (Smilax Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn