Clouds settle over Town Marsh in Beaufort during a recent summer evening. Photo : Dylan Ray
Summer thyme
An assassin bug sets a trap for its prey near a blooming thyme plant in Beaufort. Photo: Dylan Ray
Mighty cypress
A cypress tree stands tall just off the shoreline of the Neuse River near James City. Photo: Dylan Ray
Fox boxing
Fox kits roughhouse in a clearing on the edge of the Croatan National Forest. Photo: Dylan Ray
Quiet calm
A lone paddleboarder moves over the slick waters of Onslow Bay near the Bogue Inlet Pier in Emerald Isle. Photo: Dylan Ray
Flock party
Judy L., of Morehead City, who says she’s also known as “the Bread Lady,” feeds the gulls at Fort Macon State Park on the east end of Bogue Banks.
Led to water, but not to drink
Wild mares enter the salty water between Town Marsh and Carrot Island in the Rachel Carson Reserve along Taylor’s Creek in Beaufort. Photo: Dylan Ray
Herons on the hunt
Herons, shown in the foreground, look for prey along the shore of the Newport River near Crab Point in Morehead City. Photo: Dylan Ray
Winter bloom
A yellowjacket climbs the winter bloom of a Fatsia japonica, or paper plant, in a Beaufort garden. Photo: Dylan Ray
After the rain
A rainbow commands the sky over the Newport River and the Radio Island Fishing Pier Wednesday in Carteret County. Photo: Dylan Ray
December sunset
The sun sets over the Newport RIver in Carteret County on a calm December evening.
Silver liquid drops
A droplet of rain catches a ray of sunlight as summer showers wash over Beaufort in Carteret County. Photo: Dylan Ray
Softly the evening came
The sun sets over the Newport River in between Beaufort and Morehead City in Carteret County. Photo: Dylan Ray
Stick the landing
A dragonfly descends upon a twig breaching the surface of Black Creek in western Carteret County. Photo: Dylan Ray
Reflections of summer
Fishers watch their lines as a scope reflects the pier house Thursday at the end of the Bogue Inlet Fishing Pier in Emerald Isle. Photo: Dylan Ray
Seeking shoreline snacks
A blue heron hunts near the shore of the Straits in Marshallberg amid a combination of man-made bulkhead and living shoreline in Down East Carteret County. Photo: Dylan Ray
