by don | Aug 15, 2010
Sometimes I wonder what I’m a gonna do cause there ain’t enough time for all the summertime blues. And by blues I mean all those wonderful summer wildflowers that run the gamut from lavender to blue to violet and purple. Joe-pye, Eupatorium maculatum is raising his...
by don | Aug 15, 2010
Toni Mullany of Waynesville sent me an email the other day noting a guest scoping out her phlox. She described the critter thusly, “It is about the size of a large bumblebee. It is all black. It has furry head and a large proboscis. Its movements are rather slow. ...
by don | Aug 15, 2010
They not only stare at them, they eat them. Well, maybe not all trees, but woody browse in general. Hopefully, this penchant for woody invasives like Canada blackberry will make goats the perfect organic weed-whacker for protecting the grassy balds of the Roan...
by don | Aug 15, 2010
The girls love to surprise Mom with bouquets of wildflowers. The other day they came in with a handful of one of my favorites, bee balm. Monarda didyma, bee balm or Oswego tea, is a striking perennial wildflower common across much of the eastern U.S. It is in the mint...
by don | Aug 15, 2010
I’m sure that if you belong to any environmental/conservation organization or if you have donated to causes in the past or perhaps simply visited a Website recently – you have received pleas for donations and/or instructions detailing ways you can assist the Gulf...
by don | Aug 15, 2010
Eagle Lady Doris Mager enjoyed a “rock star” reception last Friday (6/18) at the Waynesville public library. But instead of overage adolescents flicking bics and shouting “Freebird,” Mager and her friend E.T. (Extra Terrific), a 27-year-old great-horned owl were...
by don | Aug 15, 2010
The other morning at 6:00 o’clock, at Hickey Fork in the Pisgah National Forest’s Shelton Laurel Backcountry Area in Madison County, the loud ringing song of a Swainson’s warbler shattered the early morning stillness. The mnemonic for the Swainson’s song is “whee,...
by don | Aug 15, 2010
Maddy (my four-year-old) and I had been in the woods at Harmons Den checking on some bird points. We came out of the woods at the Harmons Den Horse Camp. At the intersection of Cold Springs Road (FS Rd. 148) and the entrance to the horse camp (FS Rd. 3526) there is an...
by don | Aug 15, 2010
I was heartened recently my two op-eds I read in area newspapers regarding industrial-sized wind turbines in the mountains of Western North Carolina. The reasoned commentaries were written by individuals with firsthand knowledge of science, the scientific method,...
by don | Aug 15, 2010
Last weekend (5/21-5/23) was a blur of birds, bears and blooms – a combination of work, friends, fellowship and family that left me beat and begging for more. I started out in the thick damp predawn hours Friday morning. I headed to Harmons Den where I have bird...
