Our Sam Bland shares his adventures trying to catch a glimpse of a pair of sandhill cranes that made a stop in Beaufort during their fall migration to the wintering grounds in Florida.
Puffer Prize
Sam Bland captured in Emerald Isle this photo of a gull with a puffer fish trapped in its beak.
Winter Home for Snow Geese
Snow geese take flight over the Pungo Unit of the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern North Carolina. Photo: Sam Bland
White Cliffs of Bogue Banks
Our Sam Bland captured Thursday this image of snow-capped dunes at the Point in Emerald Isle, the westernmost tip of Bogue Banks.
Sam’s Field Notes: The Balloon Problem
Balloon releases at concerts, games, weddings and other events have … well, ballooned in popularity but, as Sam Bland explains, coastal wildlife often suffers when they’re sent skyward, whether intentionally or not.
Sam’s Field Notes: Bats Get A Bum Rap
They’re the stuff of ghost stories and Halloween scares, but bats are not the blind, blood-sucking demons they’ve been made out to be. However, they are in trouble.
Sam’s Field Notes: National Estuaries Week
Our Sam Bland writes about the importance of estuaries in celebration of National Estuaries Week, Sept. 16-23, a time set aside to raise awareness and appreciation of our coastal natural heritage.
Sam’s Lens: Sandy Path to the Milky Way
Our Sam Bland captured this image of the Milky Way Aug. 20 from a public beach access boardwalk near the point of Bogue Banks in Emerald Isle.
A Coastal View of the Eclipse
Our Sam Bland captured this image of the solar eclipse near its peak Monday at the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s headquarters near Newport.
Sam Bland Shines light on Aug. Eclipse
Sam Bland reminisces about experiencing with two of his friends a solar eclipse in 1970 eastern North Carolina, explores the myths surrounding the natural phenomenon.
Sam’s Field Notes: Coquina Clams
Our naturalist, Sam Bland, recently enjoyed a late-afternoon walk on the beach in search of his favorite critters, the coquina clams, 1-inch, colorful, wedge-shaped mollusks found at water’s edge.
Sam’s Field Notes: Baby Bald Eagles
Our naturalist Sam Bland recently spent a day in a kayak near Oriental, watching as young bald eagles learned to spread their wings and fly.
‘Awash In Color’
The late-afternoon sunlight casts rich hues over the dunes at Bogue Inlet in Emerald Isle. Photo: Sam Bland
Sam’s Field Notes: Diversity of Carolina Crabs
A crabby disposition may not be so great, but crab diversity on the North Carolina coast, which is home to a large number of different crustaceans, is a positive sign.
Sam’s Field Notes: The Polar Bear Connection
The effects of global warming are especially visible in the land of polar bears, as columnist Sam Bland recently witnessed, but how will the forces now affecting the arctic eventually change life on the North Carolina coast?
Sam’s Field Notes: The Monarch Migration
Monarch, the “king of butterflies,” have embarked on their marathon fall migration to Mexico, arriving just in time for the Day of the Dead, where they are regarded as the souls of the departed returning to earth.