Category: Natural History
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The Black and White of Pungo
To see in color is a delight for the eye but to see in black and white is a delight for the soul. ~Andri Cauldwell Last Wednesday, I headed to the Pungo Unit of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge to scout the area for an outing later that week. I’ll report on the outing in… Read more…
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Light Geese
The Snow Goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself. ~Lao Tzu On one of my first Christmas Bird Counts over 25 years ago, at what was then Pungo National Wildlife Refuge (now the expanded Pocosin Lakes NWR), I ran into a well-known birder who was scoping… Read more…
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Bosque
Wherever there are birds, there is hope. ~Mehmet Murat ildan Bosque – say that to any birder or wildlife photographer, and they immediately know of what you speak. There is only one place that comes to mind – Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. It has been on my bucket list since… Read more…
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No Mere Bird
When we hear his call we hear no mere bird. We hear the trumpet in the orchestra of evolution. He is the symbol of our untamable past, of that incredible sweep of millennia which underlies and conditions the daily affairs of birds and men. Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art,… Read more…
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The First 100
…The “need to hold still” is a skill that both scientists and non-scientists need to cultivate, a vital way to pay attention to the world. Through observation, it is possible to develop a richness of texture and nuance, substance and form, in our understanding of the animate and inanimate residents of this world – and… Read more…
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A Good Way to End a Day
I like to remember that it is wild country that gives rise to wild animals; and that the marvelous specificity of wild animals reminds us to wake up, to let our senses be inflamed by every scent and sound and sight and taste and touch of the world. I like to remember that we are… Read more…
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A Foggy Start
After the incredible experience with the Snowy Owl at Hatteras last week, I waited in line for an hour and a half for the emergency ferry to get off the island. Bright and early the next day, I headed to Lake Mattamuskeet, always an incredible place to experience the first light of a new day.… Read more…
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The Many Faces of Hedwig
The crow wished everything was black, the owl, that everything was white. ~William Blake Those of you that know me probably know I had to look up the name of Harry Potter’s pet Snowy Owl, just to be sure I used it correctly in the title. Oh well, at least I am trying to fit… Read more…
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Snow on the Beach
I have never been one of “those” people…you know who I mean, the bird chasers. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy birds, love to watch them, photograph them, and learn about them. But the idea of dropping everything and heading out to see a rare bird was not in my repertoire…until now. My young birder… Read more…
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Subtle Beauty
It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds. Aesop Cardinal….Redbird…the names refer to one of our most beautiful backyard birds…and they refer to the male of the species, Cardinalis cardinalis. He is among our most strikingly colorful birds with his scarlet red plumage and crest. His mate is also a comely bird but… Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 