Roads End Naturalist

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

Category: Natural History

  • Mothing

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    I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day. ~Vincent Van Gogh This week is National Moth Week, an annual celebration of the incredibly diverse and beautiful world of moths. Wednesday was a busy day out in the yard, testing some different diffusion materials for my twin lites Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Jaws with Wings

    What on earth is this thing? It’s huge! It has gigantic wings! It has massive… ANTLERS coming off its face! Has someone had a nightmare that’s come to life or what? ~Joseph Jameson-Gould on dobsonflies from his blog, Real Monstrosities  On my daily wander in the yard yesterday, I happened to look up at the Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Pollinator Peril

    In summer the empire of insects spreads. ~Adam Zagajewski Last week I noticed a medium-sized robber fly noisily flitting about the garden. It landed on a cedar twig on the garden fence and I leaned in for a closer look. It was distinctive in the bright white patch near the tail tip, something I noticed Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Here’s Looking at You

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    An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language. ~Martin Buber I went out the other day to grab one of the hummingbird feeders for a refill and a slight movement caught my eye. It was a bizarre-looking jumping spider on the metal bracket that held the feeder. What struck me about this Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Blue Grosbeak Nest

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    It is composed of fine dried grasses, which are more carefully arranged towards the interior, and is lined with a few delicate fibrous roots, dried moss, or horse-hair. There are seldom more than four eggs, but two broods are raised in the season. ~John Jame Audubon describing the nest of a Blue Grosbeak, 1844 The Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Predators Lurking Everywhere

    Every kid has a bug period… I never grew out of mine. ~E.O. Wilson After the climbing Copperhead incident over the weekend, I have been looking around more than usual every time I am outside. What I have discovered is that it is a jungle out there! Everywhere I look I see small critters feeding Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Cicada Killer, But Not The Kind You Think

    There is no better high than discovery. ~E.O. Wilson I walked out the front door before heading to bed last night just to see what I might see. The din from form the katydids was almost deafening, punctuated by the loud throaty “gunk” calls of the Green Frogs in the nearby water garden. When I Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Small Wonders

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    Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain. ~Henry David Thoreau The heat this past week has been pretty oppressive. So, I needed to remind myself that, even though there are not groups of Black Bears feeding Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Fourth of July Bearworks

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    May this intelligent animal always have a place. We need to better understand bears. ~Mike McIntosh Hope you had a good holiday weekend. Mine was special in many ways – good food, good friends, and a memorable trip to my favorite place in the East, Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. It was a long day Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • When Predators Become Prey

    If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos. ~ E. O. Wilson Although my woods lack the charismatic fauna found in Yellowstone – wolves, elk, grizzlies – there is Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn