Roads End Naturalist

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


Tag: chatham county

  • Celebration of Life

    The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain. ~Dolly Parton Melissa and I traveled to Damascus, VA, yesterday for a funeral service for one of my aunts. It was a lovely tribute to a wonderful woman. Even though it is about a 4-hour drive, we decided… Read more…

  • Trying to Understand Our Wild Neighbors

    We do not see nature with our eyes, but with our understandings and our hearts. ~William Hazlitt And in some cases, we see nature with our trail cameras… This season seems to have fewer large buck deer than I have seen the past few years, but recently, a beautiful 8-pointer kindly walked in front of… Read more…

  • Gold in the Yard

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    The responsibilities of life seem to rest lightly on the Goldfinch’s sunny shoulders. ~Roger Tory Peterson It’s been a very good year for the American Goldfinches in our yard. I haven’t put out thistle seeds this year but the goldfinches seem quite content with the sunflower seeds in the other feeders and, more recently, with… Read more…

  • Perfectly Paired

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    I have learned from nature that all is equal… all is equal and in balance. I see everything as fitting together. ~Joseph Raffael Here in our home in the woods, I can look out our windows and see all sorts of interconnections – butterflies on Ironweed and Joe-Pye-Weed, American Goldfinches eating coneflower seeds, and birds… Read more…

  • Opossum “Tales”

    Making your bed is a simple way to start your day off on the right foot. ~Martha Stewart Ever since my friend Jerry posted some videos about the ‘possums in his back woods, I have been fascinated by the goings-on of our local marsupials. Because of Jerry’s fascinating footage of his critters, I bought a… Read more…

  • The Youth of Summer

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    And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer. ~F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby Things have been relatively quiet on the trail cameras the past month. No… Read more…

  • Springtime in the Woods

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    The world’s favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May. ~Edwin Way Teale The trail cameras have been sort of slow lately, mainly capturing the usual suspects of deer, squirrels, and raccoons. They have also seen a few birds including an Ovenbird and a Wood Thrush gathering nesting material. There have been two… Read more…

  • May Days

    I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day. When it’s cold outside, I’ve got the month of May. ~Smokey Robinson May is chasing April as my favorite month of the year…and it’s a close race. Though we have been really busy here, things are happening that keep bringing my attention back to the marvels of the… Read more…

  • Flashes of Red

    I want to create red in a world that often appears black and white. ~Terry Tempest Williams Another gray day here in the woods, but the plants I put in the ground yesterday are appreciating it. Looking out the window, I can see spots of color in the yard – the blooms of Coreopsis, some… Read more…

  • Yard Distraction

    You can always find a distraction if you are looking for one. ~Tom Kite The beautiful weather this week finds me outside starting some yard work – weed pulling, mulching, contemplating building some benches for the fire circle, etc. As is often the case, yesterday something caught my eye and pulled me away from my… Read more…