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...
Keep your eye on the birdie

Keep your eye on the birdie

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...

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October nights

October nights

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...

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Aster-risk *

Aster-risk *

Blue, white, lavender and purple corymbs, racemes and panicles will glow from shadowy woods and blaze from sunny meadows from now till the first hard, killing frost. Asters comprise a large beautiful complex and challenging group of wildflowers to pin down. More than...

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Peregrines have much better year in 2010

Peregrines have much better year in 2010

According to a recent report from North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Mountain Wildlife Diversity Biologist, Chris Kelly, seven of 12 nesting pairs of peregrine falcons across the mountains of North Carolina successfully fledged chicks. Last year only three...

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Foggy fall morning at Lake J

Foggy fall morning at Lake J

I decided to get out and get a breath of autumn air this morning (Sat. Oct. 2) by taking a quick tour around Lake Junaluska. It was pretty fresh and there was a little white sheen to some of the rooftops along U.S. 23/74. By the time I reached the Junaluska golf...

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North Carolina’s loss – Louisiana’s gain

North Carolina’s loss – Louisiana’s gain

Chris Canfield has stepped down as Executive Director of Audubon North Carolina to assume the position of Vice President, Gulf of Mexico Conservation and Restoration. Canfield took the helm at Audubon North Carolina in 2000 and during his 10-year tenure the...

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