Category: Natural History
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Seeing the Wild in Wild Cherry
The most beautiful gift of Nature is that it gives one pleasure to look around and try to comprehend what we see. ~Albert Einstein There is a wild cherry (Prunus serotina) sapling just outside our screen porch that is a favorite spot for all sorts of natural events. Wild cherry is a great host plant… Read more…
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A Beary Hot Summer Day
The month of August had turned into a griddle where days just lay there and sizzled. ~Sue Monk Kidd Last week, we spent 5 days in the wilds of eastern NC, a combination mini-vacation and working trip to further investigate the area around the Scuppernong River for the project I am working on with NCLOW.… Read more…
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Stormy Night
It was a dark and stormy night, the rain fell in torrents… ~Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1830 And indeed it was…last night. We barely beat a fierce thunderstorm as we drove back from dinner with friends in Chapel Hill. The sky was flashing with rapid-fire lightning when we arrived at our gate. I must have done something… Read more…
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Summer Cats
Nature will not be admired by proxy. ~Winston Churchill Seems as though my schedule (and the heat) have kept me from some of my usual yard patrols, so I finally went out the other day for a walk-about to see what I could see. It started with my eye catching something out of place on… Read more…
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That Time of Year Again – Bees Beware
To every thing there is a season… ~Ecclesiastes On several of my wanderings these past few days, I have heard noticeable buzzing sounds that indicate an acceleration and flyby of a large winged insect. I recognize these sounds to be from a fascinating group, the robber flies, family Asilidae. I remembered posting about them last… Read more…
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Mini-frogs
The frog forgets that he was once a tadpole. ~Anonymous It’s been a busy couple of weeks and I must apologize as I have been a blog-slacker I’m afraid. Lots of chores, plus the hot and humid weather has kept me inside more than usual. It turns out, unlike me, there are some things that… Read more…
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Yellowstone in Feathers
‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers— That perches in the soul— And sings the tune without the words— And never stops—at all— ~Emily Dickinson It has been a busy week, but I finally had a chance to wrap up some images and thoughts about my recent Yellowstone trip. Like every trip out there, this one… Read more…
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Mountain Birding
To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring — these are some of the rewards of the simple… Read more…
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Yellow Fellows
In his plumes dwells the gold of the sun, in his voice its brightness and good cheer. We have not to seek him in the depths of the forest, the haunt of nearly all his congeners, he comes to us and makes his home near ours. ~Frank M. Chapman, 1907 The most common warbler we… Read more…
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Walking with Warblers
From those tall hemlocks proceeds a very fine insect-like warble, and occasionally I see a spray tremble, or catch the flit of a wing. I watch and watch till my head grows dizzy and my neck is in danger of permanent displacement, and still do not get a good view. ~John Burroughs, on trying to… Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 