by don | Dec 14, 2010
A spin around Lake Junaluska the other day (12/2) turned up another unusual winter visitor plus highlighted the foibles and frustrations sometimes associated with birding. I had finished a quick check of the new wetlands and was headed back to my truck when I noticed...
by don | Dec 4, 2010
A goose I first thought to be a Ross’s goose because of its small stature seems to fit better (because of head and bill pattern) as a lesser snow goose. This bird is hanging with a bunch of domestic greylags – behemoths, which made it look so diminutive...
by don | Dec 2, 2010
I mean, where would you hang a tire swing if there were no trees? How could you lay back and watch the sky rock back and forth filling the jigsaw spaces between the leaves with ever-changing bits of sky and cloud? Or, how could you reach that cool deep hole in the...
by don | Nov 27, 2010
The answer is, in the case of the federally endangered Carolina northern flying squirrel, a resounding yes. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission with the aid of North Carolina Department of Transportation, Duke Energy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and...
by don | Nov 23, 2010
Face it – we’re all getting a little soft. I mean, how are your survival skills? There may be a few of us in this society that could still live off the land if the need arose. But for most of us, take away the grocery store and we would starve. Look at our...
by don | Nov 20, 2010
A beautiful morning and Lake Junaluska was calling again. I approached the lake along Golf Course Road on the side that borders U.S. Hwy 19. A thick white mist was rising from the warm water into the crisp morning air and the coots were disappearing from the surface...
by don | Nov 12, 2010
Waterfalls abound on the Headwaters tract Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy is still hoping for a Christmas present from North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Most folk who follow conservation issues across the region are probably aware that CMLC and their...
by don | Nov 4, 2010
Last year around this time we talked about York University professor Bridget Stutchbury’s groundbreaking research with migrating purple martins and wood thrushes – see http://www.smokymountainnews.com/index.php/news/item/1383-the-naturalists-corner. Stutchbury, her...
by don | Oct 28, 2010
Autumn and /or spring in the Appalachians can turn your senses upside down. As the seasons change from warm to cool (autumn) or from cool to warm (spring) – before the atmosphere gets thoroughly mixed we often experience temperature inversion, where the cool, heavier...
by don | Oct 28, 2010
The clear night skies last week provided the perfect backdrop for this year’s Hunter’s Moon. The Hunter’s Moon is the first full moon after the Harvest Moon, which is the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox. This year’s harvest moon fell in September just six hours...
