Roads End Naturalist

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

Category: Trip report

  • Bay Watch

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    Find one, and you’ll find yourself closer to the heart of what a Carolina Bay can be: an island of wildness in a world largely tamed, a few acres of the primeval past passed over by progress. ~T. Edward Nickens The North Carolina Botanical Garden has an exquisite collection of carnivorous plants, and they are… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Being in the Moment

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    Our public lands – whether a national park or monument, wildlife refuge, forest or prairie – make each one of us land-rich. It is our inheritance as citizens of a country called America. ~Terry Tempest Williams Sometimes you just need to spend time in a wild place, in your special place. This weekend was such… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Christmas Bird Count

    It’s never been easier to be a citizen scientist and it’s never been more important to be one. ~David Yarnold, President and CEO, National Audubon Society Earlier this week, we participated in one of my favorite holiday traditions, the annual Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count at Pettigrew State Park. I helped start this particular count… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Swamp Sounds

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    Natural, ambient sounds give us a picture over time and define place…every landscape has a rhythm to it. ~Dr. Bryan C. Pijanowski There is, indeed, a rhythm to paddling in a swamp, and the sounds help define it. Putting our canoes in at Gardner Creek a couple of weeks ago, we could hear the sounds… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Ground Squirrels in Trees

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    There was no variation in his manner of proceeding all the time I observed him. He was alert, cautious, and exceedingly methodical. ~John Burroughs, on observing a chipmunk, 1894 On our recent mountain trip, we camped at Hickory Ridge Campground at Grayson Highlands State Park.  In addition to several maple, birch and (appropriately) hickory trees,… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • The Highlands of Virginia

    Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity. ~John Muir I think thousands of people must have read this quote last Sunday and headed to my favorite Virginia state park, Grayson Highlands. The parking lots were all packed on… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Tree Climbing

    To climb a tree is for a child to discover a new world. ~Friedrich Frobel, 1826 It has been a very busy couple of weeks so you may have noticed my posts have been a bit slow in coming. Last weekend we finished celebrating our birthdays with a different sort of birthday surprise…a  private tree… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Northwoods

    There is magic in the feel of a paddle and the movement of a canoe, a magic compounded of distance, adventure, solitude, and peace. The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness and of a freedom almost forgotten. It is an antidote to insecurity, the open door to waterways of ages past… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Kayaking in Columbia

    I seemed to have reached a new world, so wild a place…far away from human society. ~Henry David Thoreau, on swamps Columbia, North Carolina, that is. We spent several days in this beautiful little town last week, part vacation, part getting out to see some of the region for the trails project I am working… Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • A Beary Hot Summer Day

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    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…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn