Cape Lookout National Seashore rangers and Crystal Coast Stargazers Club members are chipping away at the yearlong application process for designation as an International Dark Sky Park.
Wildlife & Nature
Bird Care Continues at Cape Amid Lockdown
The pandemic has not affected the mission of protecting endangered shorebirds at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, but the absence of people has brought rare winged visitors.
Portuguese Men-Of-War Dot NC Beaches
They don’t always show up this time of year, but since early May Portuguese men-of-war have been washing up on beaches up and down the North Carolina coast, so step carefully.
Birders Count Portsmouth’s Avian Population
Ocracoke Observer’s Peter Vankevich, birders and National Park Service staff made their way to Portsmouth village to identify and count birds for Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count.
Event to Celebrate Role of Fire in Pine Forests
The Fire in the Pines Festival set for Saturday in Wilmington spotlights the importance of controlled burns for the plants and animals in North Carolina’s pine forests.
Beachcomber’s View: Sand Dollar Treasures
Sand dollars are fragile, so finding an intact one on the sand is a thrill for beachcombers, but they are also fascinating creatures with features that are the stuff of legends.
Summer Brings Southern Rarities, Songbirds
While some migratory shorebirds can still be spotted on the Outer Banks, Jeff Lewis says birders can find plenty of breeding terns and gulls as well as songbirds this time of year.
Beachcomber’s View: Science of Sea Glass
Sea glass, or pieces of glass from broken bottles or other items worn smooth by the ocean, is growing in popularity as a collectible but getting harder to find on beaches.
Warblers and Shorebirds and Terns, Oh My!
Outer Banks birder Jeff Lewis writes that spring birding on the Outer Banks is awesome in May, when songbirds, shorebirds and wading birds are in their most beautiful plumage.
Plymouth Set to Celebrate Black Bears
The N.C. Black Bear Festival, set for May 31-June 2, honors the hefty creature so abundant in the state’s northeast and commemorates National Black Bear Day with bear-themed fun.
Beachcomber’s View: Whelks Versus Conchs
Longtime Outer Banks beachcomber Kristin Hissong explains the myriad differences between conchs, which typically prefer tropical waters, and whelks that are often found on Outer Banks beaches and a favorite of collectors.
Trail Supporters Set to Converge on Surf City
The nonprofit Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail is accepting registrations for its annual gathering, to be held for the first time on the N.C. coast in March.
Audubon NC Expands Native Plant Guide
Audubon North Carolina has released an updated list of 700 recommended native plants to help gardeners, landscapers and others make selections that help birds and pollinators.
October Brings More Migrants Heading South
Birder Jeff Lewis runs through the possibilities of birds that may be spotted this month along the coast and invites fellow bird lovers to the 22nd annual Wings Over Water Wildlife Festival Oct. 16-21 on the Outer Banks.
It’s August, So Let the Fall Migration Begin
With August here, fall shorebird migration is in full swing, says Jeff Lewis, an Outer Banks birder.
That Which We Call A ‘Starfish’
What’s in a name? Would the creatures we know as “starfish” or “sea stars” be as stellar if called something else? Our Jared Lloyd wades into the debate over how best to refer to these echinoderms.
