Category: Natural History
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Day-tripping
I just take it one day at a time, and it always leads you to the right place. ~ Kyle Massey My two recent trips to Pungo were two day trips, leaving home before dawn and leaving the refuge after sunset. While not the ideal way to do this, even a day trip can yield… Read more…
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Those White Winter Birds
Twenty thousand birds moved away from me as one, like a ground-hugging white cloud… ~Michael Pollan I managed a couple of trips to my favorite NC winter place recently and was rewarded with some wonderful scenes of wide colorful skies, masses of birds, quiet moments of watching wildlife, and some surprises. I’ll cover much of… Read more…
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Frosted Feathers
It’s not that I like ice Or freezin’ winds and snowy ground. It’s just sometimes it’s kind of nice To be the only bird in town. ~Shel Silverstein This final post on our January Yellowstone trip shares a few highlights of the birds we encountered. There are certainly way fewer birds in this frozen land… Read more…
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Moose Magic
Hunters will tell you that a moose is a wily and ferocious forest creature. Nonsense. A moose is a cow drawn by a three-year-old. ~Bill Bryson For many years, Moose have been one of the more difficult of Yellowstone’s large mammals to find. The best place was usually at the Northeast entrance or in the… Read more…
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How Old is Your Ram?
The wild ram embodies the mystery and magic of the mountains… ~Jack O’Connor In honor of today’s contest between formidable members of the animal kingdom, I offer this short meander into the world of rams. Methinks the choice of a ram as a team mascot is a wise one – they are sure-footed, brawny, and… Read more…
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Octo-Ungulates
Ungulates. The most boring animals on earth. All they do is stand around and chew their cud. ~Hal Brindley It seems there are not a lot of quotes out there about ungulates (hoofed mammals) but I found this one in a clever blog post by someone that I know through social media. I agree with… Read more…
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Canid Capers
Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths. ~George R. R. Martin One of the best things about Yellowstone in winter is the enhanced… Read more…
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It Really Snowed (and we missed it)!
While I relish our warm months, winter forms our character and brings out our best. ~Thomas H. Allen While we were away in mid-late January we got our biggest snow of the past couple of years (a whopping 3+ inches I believe). We were bummed to miss it (even though we were off on an… Read more…
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Oh Deer
Everything pales in comparison to deer. ~Bill Vaughan After the ubiquitous squirrels, deer have been the mainstay of the triggers on our three trail cameras. It was a busy fall with deer frequently visiting the vicinity of some oak trees as they searched for scarce acorns. Here are a few other clips showing some behaviors… Read more…
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Refuge Ramble, Part 2 – Pea Island and Alligator River
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 This is the last in a series on my wanderings last week in eastern North Carolina and is about the middle of my trip when I visited the coast. After… Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 