Statuesque and graceful in movement, the great blue heron is one of North America’s most familiar and adaptable wading birds.
Wildlife & Nature
A Spring for the Birds
Ungainly brown pelicans, stately blue herons and boldly patterned oystercatchers are just some of the birds you can see on cruises sponsored by the N.C. Coastal Federation this spring.
The Coming of Spring
Baby goslins, snapping turtles looking for nests, green anoles hunting mates. All are signs that spring is coming to the freshwater marshes of the coast.
A White Christmas at Hatteras
The unusual appearance of a snowy owl has excited birders flocking to Cape Hatteras. Our naturalist, Sam Bland, joined them.
The Resiliency of Jellies
Moon jelly fish stranded on an autumn beach seemed like a sad story of dislocation and abandonment, but they were also testaments to the resiliency of nature.
B95 the Red Knot: The Tale of a Famous Flyer
A red knot known as B95, aka Moonbird, has been delighting bird watchers almost 20 years. Its epic migrations are almost equal to a round-trip to the moon.
A Sign of Autumn: Fall Webworms
Look for the white, cottony webs in the trees this fall. Inside are hundreds of caterpillars munching on leaves, fattening up for a winter’s hibernation. They will emerge as moths next spring.
Nature’s Hints of Autumn
If you pay attention to the natural world, the signs are all around us that summer will soon give way to fall.
Take a Birding Cruise Along White Oak
Local bird expert Joanne Powell will guide birding cruises along the White Oak River, and she says participants are almost guaranteed to see something special: birds, other wildlife or just stunning beauty.
Life at the Surf’s Edge
During this long holiday weekend, summer’s last hurrah, take a stroll on the beach at the water’s edge. There, look for the brightly colored coquina clams, the scurrying mole crabs and ghost crabs wetting their gills.
Turtle Tales
Young hands can touch a sea turtle shell and inquiring minds can learn about our coast’s most beloved sea creature at weekly programs at Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Take a Drive to See Bears
The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge offers guided drives this summer to view black bears. More bears live in the refuge than in just about any other place on the East Coast.
Atlantic Sturgeon: Is the Giant Making a Comeback?
The endangered sturgeon has been showing up in the James River in Richmond and one even spawned in the Roanoke River in North Carolina.
A Holiday Tradition That’s for the Birds
The National Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count begins this weekend on the N.C. coast. For more than 100 years, “citizen scientists” all over the country have scanned the skies counting birds and compiling invaluable data on hundreds of species.
Red Wolf Program Ends Its 25th Year
Twenty-five years after the first red wolves were released into the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, the success of the Red Wolf Recovery Program is intertwined in an uneasy relationship with the wolf’s close cousin, the coyote.
The Comeback of the Wild Turkey
On this Thanksgiving, its seems appropriate to consider the story of our native wild turkeys. Once very rare, they are now everywhere. These birds are at the center of one of the great conservation success stories in state history.