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Catching Gnats and Plucking Lichens
More than with most species of small birds, the attention and interest of the observer center about the nesting habits of the blue-gray gnatcatcher because of the great beauty of its nest. ~Francis Marion Weston, 1949 One of my favorite spring arrivals is the plucky little blue-gray gnatcatcher. It is tiny, but bold. It looks… Read more
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Unfurling
Only spread a fern frond over a man’s head and worldly cares are cast out, and freedom and beauty and peace come in. ~John Muir Before there is a fern frond, there is a fiddlehead. The curled tip of an unfurling fern frond resembles the curled ornamentation (called a scroll) on the end of a… Read more
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Roads End Naturalist 