Majestic wild horses are just some of the creatures that inhabit this wildlife oasis just a short paddle from the Beaufort waterfront.
The Humpback of Emerald Isle
An early evening stroll for Sam Bland and Bright Walker brought an unexpected pleasure: a humpback whale cruising the shore, and a moment of community with all who experienced it.
Sam’s Field Notes: The Migration of the Monarchs
When the temperatures start to drop,the king of butterflies — the monarchs — begin their long and amazing migration back to the mountains Mexico.
Sam’s Summer of the Hummingbirds
Sam Bland, our naturalist and photographer,found his life being taken over this summer documenting the lives of a mother hummingbird and her two chicks.
Sam’s Field Notes: The Call of a Nightjar
The call of the chuck-will’s-widow is one of Sam’s favorites… as long as it’s in the distance.
The Life and Times of the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker
Sam Bland gets a ride-along with US Fish and Wildlife Service biologists as they locate and band endangered red-cockaded woodpecker chicks in the Croatan National Forest. Read more to find out how the birds are doing in their fight to survive.
Sam’s Field Notes: American Oyster Catcher
Sam Bland and a ranger friend spy a rare sight on Bear Island: American Oyster Catcher hatchlings. Come, read about their encounters.
A Healthy Forest Is a Burned One
“Fire dependent” may sound like an oxymoron, but a fire now burning in the Croatan National Forest will ensure that the longleaf pines will survive.
Cedar Island Refuge
The refuge’s squadrons of mosquitoes and deer flies chased Sam Bland back to his truck, but the dance of dragonflies mesmerized him.
Sam’s Field Notes: The Timber Rattlesnake
Sam Bland loves snakes, but when he comes across one unexpectedly, his perfectly understandable reaction is to run… and then go back for a look and a few photos.
Rare Butterfly Begins to Stir Among Dunes
Along a 30-mile stretch of the central N.C. coastline what may be the rarest butterfly in the world is awakening from its winter slumber.
Giant Beavers or Celestial Encounters?
Catfish Lake in the Croatan National Forest is one of more than 500,000 Carolina bay lakes that dot the East Coast. Their origins are mysterious, though our Sam Bland is voting for the beavers.
Sam’s Field Notes: Yellow-Rumped Warblers
When these winter visitors are gone, we know spring has arrived in coastal N.C.
A Wildlife Spectacle at Pungo Lake
Many coastal residents are unaware that a great wildlife spectacle occurs each winter just a day trip away at the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.
Sam’s Field Notes: Sea Star
Many stuffy marine biologists would scoff at the term “starfish” because these animals aren’t fish. But, by any name, they are awesomely cool.
Sam’s Field Notes: Kingfisher
As the setting sun lowered a crimson veil over the horizon, I took a late afternoon stroll down to a favorite marsh overlook and was greeted by a loud, clear rattling call that sliced through the calmness of the approaching evening. A disturbed Kingfisher stared at me with obvious irritation, its magnificent crest feathers stood erect, resembling a Mohawk hair style spiked up with gel.
