Roads End Naturalist

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

Author: Mike Dunn

  • Merchants Millpond trip

    Considering offering a canoe camping adventure to Merchants Millpond State Park in the next month or so. Check my trips page for details. More information coming soon. Read more…

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    Mike Dunn

  • Wood Duck nest

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    Wood Ducks begin courtship in the fall and continue throughout the winter and into the spring. A couple of years ago I photographed several ducks on the ice at Pungo Lake where you can see several Wood Ducks that appear to have already paired up. On my recent paddle at Merchants Millpond and surrounding swamps,… Read more…

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    Mike Dunn

  • Merchants Millpond

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    I enter the swamp as a sacred place Henry David Thoreau Merchants Millpond has always been one of my favorite state parks. When I was the East District Naturalist for the State Parks system oh-so-many years ago (1981-1986), I would go up to Merchants and canoe out after dark to the family camping area after… Read more…

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    Mike Dunn

  • Marbled Salamander eggs

    Two friends from the Museum, Megan and Melissa, invited me to tag along with them yesterday, as they did some fieldwork for a future workshop. Megan made a great find as she and Melissa were turning over logs at the edge of a vernal pool, looking for salamanders – some viable Marbled Salamander eggs. It… Read more…

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    Mike Dunn

  • Hollow Log Bluebird House

    This is in response to a friend’s request for information on a natural-looking bluebird house. I have made several of these out of appropriate sized hollow tree trunks (just compare to a commercial bird house for approximate dimensions). After finding and cutting the hollow log into reasonable lengths, I use a large screwdriver to scrape… Read more…

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    Mike Dunn

  • Crawling on your back…doing the Grub

    Found this huge grub in the topsoil pile the other day as I was adding soil to some garden beds. When disturbed, it curls itself into a C-shape as do many grubs. But this one then did something that only a very few grubs do – it started crawling away on its back. I first… Read more…

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    Mike Dunn

  • Shed in the shed

    Found a large spider shed in my shed this week. Believe it to be from a Dolomedes species (probably D. tenebrosus). This one would have been close to 3 inches across in total leg span! Their group is known as the Fishing Spiders, but this species is often found far from water, as in this… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn