Category: Natural History
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Flower Fireworks
Against a dark sky, all flowers look like fireworks. ~Gilbert K. Chesterton It is a strange Fourth of July this year for me. I have mixed emotions about the things I see happening in our country (and our world). And, while I have enjoyed watching the big firework displays offered in many communities, I am… Read more…
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Moving South Along the Parkway
It was as if all the world might be composed of nothing but valley and ridge. ~Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain This is part two of our trip last month down the Blue Ridge Parkway. After the crazy weather at Mount Mitchell, we headed to our next destination, a somewhat out of the way campground, Balsam… Read more…
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Walking on Water
Walking on water is better than drowning. ~ Matshona Dhliwayo A couple of days after we rehabbed our salamander pools, I saw a Water Strider skating across the surface of one. How did it find this new water so quickly? Striders are true bugs (Hemiptera), have wings, and can disperse by flying. Research suggests that… Read more…
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Clean It Out and They Will Come
When your environment is clean you feel happy motivated and healthy. ~Lailah Gifty Akita I mentioned in an earlier post that we finally got around to cleaning out our two water gardens (aka salamander pools) in November. One had sprung a leak mid-way up its height a couple of years ago. It still held enough… Read more…
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Woods Watching
I’m always astonished by a forest. It makes me realise that the fantasy of nature is much larger than my own fantasy. I still have things to learn. ~ Gunter Grass Things have slowed a bit on the trail cameras out back, but we still get some nice surprises from time to time. Here are… Read more…
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Hunting in Huntington
It’s all about whose where on the food chain. ~Len Wein My trip last weekend included some time at both Myrtle Beach State Park and nearby Huntington Beach State Park. While hanging with friends at the former park, I was impressed by the amount of bird activity and marine life (from the ocean pier) we… Read more…
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Flight Path
Birds learn how to fly, never knowing where the flight will take them. ~Mark Nepo This is a brief update on the recent posts where I shared a few sightings of tagged birds – one, a Common Raven in Yellowstone, and three American Oystercatchers on Masonboro Island in southeastern North Carolina. First, the shorebirds at… Read more…
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Still Hanging On
Your growing antlers, Bambi continued, are proof of your intimate place in the forest, For of all the things that live and grow only the trees and the deer shed their foliage each year and replace it more strongly, more magnificently, in the Spring. Each year the trees grow larger and put on more leaves.… Read more…
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Island Solitude
The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place. ~Rachel Carson Last week was another first for me – a canoe camping trip to Masonboro Island. Masonboro Island is one 10 sites that make up the NC Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve. This 8.4 mile long island reserve was protected in… Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 