An unusually high number of small horseshoe crabs started showing up in Stump Sound. That got a noted naturalist thinking about global warming, changing ecosystems and the powers of observation.
Our Coast
Old Light Tower May Get New Life
One of the more unusual deals in the history of Outer Banks real estate closed last week, when a Minnesota businessman signed off with the federal government on the purchase of the Diamond Shoals Light Tower.
The Albatross Fleet
Seventy-five years ago, Ernal Foster of Hatteras had a notion that sportsmen might actually pay to go fishing. The three elegant boats that arose from that simple idea are still taking folks fishing and are now a part of Outer Banks lore.
Big Day for a Watermen’s Celebration
The weather was perfect in Hatteras — bright, sunny and not too hot — and the hundreds, if not thousands, of visitors who attended this year’s celebration made it the biggest and best Day at the Docks yet.
Pond Fishing: ‘Like Hounds on a Hunt’
A Wilmington historian takes a look at “serious” pond fishing along the southeast N.C. coast at the turn of the 20th century. The bugs could be ferocious back then, too.
Reviving the Heart of Old Ocracoke
The Ocracoke Foundation hopes to preserve the Community Square in the heart of the village, maintain its docks for public use, manage stormwater and restore the shoreline.
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.
A Baby Boom of Turtles?
A record number of sea turtles have nested on some N.C. beaches this year, though experts think it’s too early to know whether the threatened animals have turned a corner.
Louis Moore: An Original Tree Hugger
Louis T. Moore, the longtime secretary of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce in the mid-20th century, had the head of businessman but the eye and heart of a poet. He championed protecting the city’s natural beauty, especially its trees, before such notions were popular.
Rebuilding an Outer Banks Icon
A year ago today Hurricane Irene turned the Stinson Ranch, an iconic house in Roanoke Sound in Nags Head, into a pile of rubble. But thanks to the persistence of its owner and accommodating state rules, a new house is beginning to take shape.
Meet Midge Ogletree
For Midge Ogletree of Columbia, retirement wasn’t exactly about relaxing, but more about giving back. She serves on the Columbia Board of Aldermen and on the federation’s Board of Directors and works tirelessly to restore the environment of the northeast N.C. coast.
Fishermen’s Festival
The Day at the Docks festival next month in Hatteras has been expanded to four days and will feature some fresh faces and events in addition to the usual festivities, such as the Blessing of the Fleet.
Celebrating Watermen
The Day at the Docks festival celebrates the spirit of Hatteras village and honors the enduring strength and heritage of a community anchored by its commercial and charter fishermen.
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.
The Call of the Wild
Gather in the woods of Dare County on Wednesday evenings and howl for red wolves. Better yet, listen as they howl back.
Counting Birds, Then Mrs. A’s Egg Bread
Wilmington back in the 1950s regularly put on one of largest and most productive annual Audubon Christmas Bird Counts on the East Coast. Edna Appleberry’s egg bread awaited after a cold day in the field.
