Roads End Naturalist

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


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  • Persistent Pileated

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    He seldom gave more than three or four pecks at a time, and would then swing his head round to one side or the other, sometimes raising his scarlet crest. ~O. M. Bryens, on watching a pileated woodpecker feeding Spent a few days at my folk’s place in Damascus this week, enjoying the beautiful mountain… Read more

  • Suet Sightings

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    I think the most important quality in a birdwatcher is a willingness to stand quietly and see what comes. ~Lynn Thomson This past week must have been the peak of spring migration in our woods. Every time I looked out, I saw something of interest, either just passing through among the branches, or stopping by… Read more

  • Observing and Journaling in the Wilds of Eastern NC

    One who reviews pleasant experiences and puts them on record increases the value of them to himself; he gathers up his own feelings and reflections, and is thereby better able to understand and to measure the fullness of what he has enjoyed. ~Sir Edward Grey I often get comments like this when I post a… Read more

  • Pungo Spring

    That is one good thing about this world…there are always sure to be more springs. ― L.M. Montgomery As luck would have it, I spent a few afternoons at the Pungo Unit of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge the last week or so of April. I wish I lived closer, so I could make more… Read more

  • A Month for Songs

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    The air is like a butterfly With frail blue wings. The happy earth looks at the sky And sings. ~Joyce Kilmer, Spring Sipping my coffee with the cool air coming in the window before sunrise this morning, I can hear the first songs of the new day – a northern cardinal, a late spring peeper,… Read more

  • Eggs in the Yard

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    Notice the small things. The rewards are inversely proportional. ~Liz Vassey While sitting out in the yard last week, we noticed a butterfly flitting around a few plants at the edge of the woods, a flight pattern that usually indicates it is a female looking for a place to lay an egg. The butterfly was… Read more

  • Roses in the Yard

    Seen upon the ground, the dark bird is scarcely attractive with his clumsy beak overbalancing a head that protrudes with stupid-looking awkwardness; but as he rises into the trees his lovely rose-colored breast and under-wing feathers are seen, and before he has had time to repeat his delicious, rich-voiced warble you are already in love… Read more

  • Sunrise to Sunset Owls

    I too felt a slumberous influence after watching him half an hour, as he sat thus with his eyes half open, like a cat, winged brother of the cat. ~Henry David Thoreau, on watching an owl I got a surprise email this week from a friend that had been one of my Yellowstone participants last… Read more

  • Patterns of Spring

    We find the works of nature still more pleasant, the more they resemble those of art. ~ Joseph Addison This Spring has been incredibly beautiful here in the woods. Always a favorite time of year for me, it has been heightened by the almost perfect weather in recent weeks. The fresh green color of the… Read more

  • Into the Haw

    The rivers flow not past but through us. ~John Muir The Haw River flows along the boundary of the community where we live. It is a beautiful, rocky, river that flows 110 miles from its headwaters in Forsyth County, through Jordan Lake, to its confluence with the Deep River, where they combine to form the… Read more

Roads End Naturalist

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

Copyright Mike Dunn and Melissa Dowland