Warming the cockles

No one knows what Western North Carolina will look like post COVID-19, but these mountains have seen much over their millions of years – ice ages, civil war, pandemics, etc. and they are still here. Spring will come with its ephemerals and migrants; summer will flush...

Remember when hope was the thing with feathers?

Bobolinks are regular migrants through Western NC and their numbers have declined by more than 60 percent since 1966 - Don Hendershot photo Emily Dickinson wrote of that feathered hope in 1861: “Hope is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings...

Buteo jamaicensis

Soaring adult red-tail Don Hendershot photo A red-tail by any other name and there are several “named” red-tails. But I dare say for we sons and daughters of the South, simply the word hawk conjures up mental images of Buteo jamaicensis either scanning its...

Windy City peregrines

My bride and I spent a few days in Chicago last week. She was there for a business seminar and I was there for moral support. But, alas, I also had work to do so after walking with her to the 737 Building on N. Michigan Ave. I returned to our room and began recording...

And then there were none

“As I traveled on, the air was literally filled with pigeons. The light of noon-day was obscured as by an eclipse, and the continued buzz of wings had a tendency to lull my senses. Before sunset I reached Louisville, Kentucky. The pigeons passed in undiminished...

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Girls got game

The Lake Junaluska Girls Junior Golf Association enjoyed a special play day and celebration Saturday, Aug. 9. LJGJGA members and their parents enjoyed a fun family nine-hole play day followed by a cookout at the Lake Junaluska Pro Shop/Clubhouse to honor recipients of...

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What is an Appalachian forest?

As the USDA Forest Service’s revision plan for the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests continues to be discussed (The new plan will guide the management of the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests for the next 15 years.) I wonder how many people give thought to...

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On the Isle again

Thanks to the generosity of dear friends, my family gets to vacation on Isle of Palms every summer. If you follow the "Naturalist's Corner" regularly you've seen accounts of these expeditions - maybe about "pluff mud," "gourd heads," "sister island," etc. Every year...

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A wet and wonderful weekend

Thanks to the generosity of a friend, my family and I spent a long weekend on Fontana Lake. The small “fishing” cabin near Prince’s Boat Dock is not the Ritz but it has all the comforts of home and a lot more character than the Ritz. Many of you who follow the...

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An unapologetic scientist

The cosmos looms large and wondrous again and much of the credit goes to one charming affable, but steadfastly rigorous, when it comes to scientific principles, host – Neil deGrasse Tyson. Tyson, an astrophysicist is the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden...

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