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...
Goose dilemma

Goose dilemma

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...

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Lesser snow goose Lake J

Lesser snow goose Lake J

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 - around the...

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There’s jus sumthin bout a tree

There’s jus sumthin bout a tree

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...

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Hey, can a squirrel get a lift around here?

Hey, can a squirrel get a lift around here?

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...

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Redheads, rustys and hairys – oh dear

Redheads, rustys and hairys – oh dear

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...

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East Fork Headwaters

East Fork Headwaters

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...

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