Roads End Naturalist

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

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  • Swarming Season

    The happiness of the bee and the dolphin is to exist. For man it is to know that and to wonder at it. ~Jacques Yves Cousteau Just at closing one day this week, a coworker at the Garden sent an email alerting everyone to a swarm of honeybees just outside the back gate. I was… Read more

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • The Spirit of Spring

    April hath put a spirit of youth in everything. ~William Shakespeare Things have been so busy at work that I have failed miserably at getting outside with camera in hand to document some of the beauty around me. I made amends Saturday afternoon, and spent a few hours just wandering around the yard, observing and… Read more

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Spring Things

    Now is the time of the illuminated woods… when every leaf glows like a tiny lamp. ~John Burroughs Things happen so fast this time of year… it is the time of change. Old things moving on, new things appearing. Many of the birds of winter are heading north and are being replaced by bright and… Read more

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Longleaf Lost

    The power of the ocean in what does it lie? In the endless, timeless roar of the surf? In the immense vistas – the view to the end of the world? In the glowing spray as it diffuses the light of the rising sun? In the power and mystery of its dark depths? No matter—… Read more

    Written by

    Melissa Dowland

  • Grass, Bottlebrush, Candelabra, Pine?

    Here’s to the land of the longleaf pine, The summer land where the sun doth shine, Where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great, Here’s to “Down Home,” the Old North State. ~North Carolina State Toast In my last post, I talked about some of the amazing, small plants that grow beneath the… Read more

    Written by

    Melissa Dowland

  • The Most Wonderful Plant in the World

    “This plant, commonly called Venus’ fly-trap, from the rapidity and force of its movements, is one of the most wonderful in the world” and “is one of the most beautifully adapted plants in the vegetable kingdom.” ~Charles Darwin One of the tree species Mike didn’t include on his recent tree bark quiz, probably because it’s… Read more

    Written by

    Melissa Dowland

  • Changing Weather

    Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. ~John Ruskin We have had a variety of “good weather” lately, including a brief return to winter white yesterday morning. It had been predicted for several days,… Read more

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Party Surprise

    I put 100 hickory nuts on my bureau at dusk one fall evening…by midnight, she had stored them all. At midnight…counted another 100 hickory nuts and spread them. The next morning, every nut was gone. She had picked up and stored 200 in one night. ~John Terres, on how many nuts his captive flying squirrel… Read more

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Barking Up the Right Tree – Part 2

    Here are the answers to yesterday’s tree trunk quiz. How did you do? One of the largest trees in Eastern North America. The white, mottled upper trunks and branches make it one of the most recognizable of our trees, especially in winter. I have always called this distinctive tree, ironwood, due to its dense, hard… Read more

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Barking up the Right Tree

    Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. ~Hal Borland Melissa and I try to test each other as we walk any trail this time of year with a tree trunk quiz – we try to identify trees by just looking at the trunk at eye level…no fair looking up, unless we are stumped.  I… Read more

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

Roads End Naturalist

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

Copyright Mike Dunn and Melissa Dowland