Roads End Naturalist

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


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  • Nice Eyes

    The eye is the jewel of the body. ~Henry David Thoreau I hope you are enjoying Melissa’s wildflower observations. She will have more in coming days. But this morning I wanted to share something I found a few days ago and finally took the time to go photograph yesterday afternoon. We have a nest box… Read more

  • Flower Parts Part 2: Our State Flower

    Whereas, the Dogwood is a radiantly beautiful flower which grows abundantly in all parts of the State; and Whereas, there is a great demand from all parts of the State that this Legislature adopt an official flower; Now, therefore, The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact: That the Dogwood be, and it is hereby,… Read more

  • Whether you want to or not… Parts of a Flower

    When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. I want them to see it whether they want to or not. ~Georgia O’Keeffe So far this spring, I’ve had to cancel workshops that I was planning… Read more

    backlit close up of wood poppy ovary showing ovules
  • Pale Green

    Pay attention to what gets your attention. ~Gina Mollicone-Long First, the answers to yesterdays Attention to Detail post… I’m sure many of you already knew the answers, but, just in case, here is what each of the images in yesterday’s post depicted: Sensitive Fern – the spore-containing capsules are round in this species. Foamflower –… Read more

  • Attention to Detail

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    Details create the big picture. ~Sanford I. Weill Back in the day, I worked for a truly remarkable visionary, Mary Ann Brittain. I learned a lot from her and (I think) we made a good team for the museum as educator/naturalists. I remember when I first started going on the road with her to do… Read more

  • The End Result of Butterfly Courtship

    Paying attention to the world around you will help you develop the extraordinary capacity to look at mundane things and see the miraculous. ~Michael Mikalko Last week I did a post on the courtship behavior and egg-laying by Falcate Orangetip butterflies in our yard. I watched a female lay two eggs on two different plants… Read more

  • Haw River Saunter

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    …whenever I felt emotionally overwhelmed, I would take a walk in the woods. Being in the stillness and grandeur of trees had always calmed me. ~Brenda Strong We hiked (I suppose sauntered is a better word, really) along a short section of the Haw River with some good friends on Saturday (practicing social distancing, of… Read more

  • Outside Our Door

    …it places its nest at a great height, sometimes fifty feet, attaching it to the twigs of a forked branch. Here the nest is small, thin but compact, composed of the slender stems of dried grasses mixed with coarse fibrous roots and the exuviae of caterpillars or other insects, and lined with the hair of… Read more

  • Alien Life Form Answer

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    There were a lot of interesting guesses and a couple of what I believe to be correct answers. I will preface this post with the disclaimer that I am certainly no expert on fungi (or anything else, for that matter) , but here is what I think our mystery photo is… I thought it was… Read more

  • Alien Life Form?

    I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us. ~Bill Watterson Today’s mystery comes to us courtesy of Beth Howard, a friend and teacher extraordinaire in the Wilmington area. She found this in her yard and sent me a… Read more

Roads End Naturalist

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

Copyright Mike Dunn and Melissa Dowland