Category: Natural History
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Salamander Candy
Spring is here. Maybe not in its totality of warm days and flowering plants, but there are signs – signs of new life. This week I heard the first dawn chorus in my woods – the songs birds sing, especially in spring, at the first light of day. The lilting notes of the Bluebirds are… Read more…
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Northbound
The story of bird migration is the story of promise – a promise to return. ~the movie, Winged Migration A week ago, we had a snow storm that crippled much of the south. Today, the temperatures soared into the 70’s. Less than two weeks ago, I stood in awe as thousands of Snow Geese swirled… Read more…
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Trip Report – Pungo
Last week I had another group going to the Pungo Unit of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. They had been scheduled for the prior week, but the rare coastal snow storm had made it impossible for them to get to Pungo. I headed down the day before to scout the roads that had been so… Read more…
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The Long and Short of It
I admire herons, herons of all sorts. They have a stately posture, epitomize patience, and have bright eyes that can stare down anyone. My recent trip to Florida had lots of heron highlights. Here I report on the long and short of it, Great Blue Herons and Green Herons. Standing four feet tall with a… Read more…
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More than his Belican
A wonderful bird is the pelican, His bill will hold more than his belican, He can take in his beak Enough food for a week But I’m damned if I see how the helican! ~Dixon Lanier Merritt American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) are always a treat to see. When I first moved to North Carolina… Read more…
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Trip Report – a Frozen Mattamuskeet and Pungo
To me, the beautiful and ever-changing patterns formed in lake ice – and in snowflakes, the ice of the sky – are winter’s “bloom,” corresponding to the flowering plants of summer. ~Stephen Hatch I had another trip to North Carolina’s winter wonderland this past weekend. And a wonderland it was…Lake Mattamuskeet was largely frozen, a… Read more…
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One Town’s Waste is Another Species’ Treasure
Without a doubt, the highlight of my trip to Florida to visit cool birding sites and see lots of birds…..was to a wastewater treatment “plant”. It seems as though it is common practice, at least in that part of Florida, to create wetlands as part of wastewater treatment for municipalities. The benefits to humans are… Read more…
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This Refuge “Merritts” a Visit
High on my list of places to visit on my trip to Florida was Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, adjacent to the Kennedy Space Center. The refuge is huge, over 140,000 acres, consisting of a variety of habitats – coastal dunes, saltwater estuaries and marshes, freshwater impoundments, scrub, pine flatwoods, and hardwood hammocks. Winter brings… Read more…
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In the Blink of an Eye
It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds. ~Aesop The eyes of birds are magical, so intense, so bright, so focused. One of the great things about my trip to Florida was being able to be close to a variety of birds, close enough to appreciate and capture their beauty, and close enough… Read more…
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HUNTINGton Lives Up to Its Name
My first stop on my trip south was to one of my favorite photography destinations, Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina. There always seems to be something to photograph there, especially along the causeway that separates the salt marsh from the freshwater pond. Two great habitats adjacent to one another provide plenty of opportunities… Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 