The sun sets over Albemarle Sound in Edenton earlier this month near the N.C. Highway 32 bridge in this photo submitted by Tom Brennan of Edenton. “For the past couple of years I’ve been flying my drone over the Albemarle Sound capturing the dramatic cloud formations, sunsets and sunrises,” Brennan told Coastal Review. “This time of year the sound becomes impossibly calm with remarkable sunsets.”
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Fence-sitter in the rain
A green tree frog peers out at the rain from the safety of a fence railing near Russell Creek in Beaufort. Frogs all along the North Carolina coast may be in for more of the same with the potential tropical cyclone stalled about 185 miles south-southwest of Cape Lookout early Monday expected to move northward during the day, dumping very heavy rainfall, according to the National Weather Service Newport-Morehead City office. Photo: Dylan Ray
Gateway to Down East
A maze of creeks cuts through the salt marshes north of the Commissioner Jonathan Robinson Bridge and the gateway to Down East Carteret County. Photo: Dylan Ray
Blaze the plover returns from Illinois after rearing chicks
Blaze, a piping plover shown here on the beach in Waukegan, Illinois, has returned for the second consecutive year to winter at Masonboro Inlet in New Hanover County. The small, but determined piping plover was abandoned before she hatched and became among the first captive-reared chicks to be released from the University of Michigan Biological Station in 2023. Within about two months of her release into the wild, Blaze migrated south to spend the winter at Masonboro Inlet, according to Audubon North Carolina. Audubon officials spotted Blaze Aug. 15 at the inlet, returning from Waukegan, where she successfully raised three chicks. Photo courtesy of the Lake County (Illinois) Audubon Society.
Full sun, fully shaded
A sea of sunshades hug the shoreline recently in Atlantic Beach on Bogue Banks. Photo: Dylan Ray
Salt marsh snacks
A wedge of egrets fish in a salt marsh along North River near Beaufort. Photo: Dylan Ray
Bill for breakfast
A black-necked stilt dips its bill as it feeds in standing water at sunrise July 30 at the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center in Nags Head. Reader Brian Horsley of Nags Head submitted this image, noting that he captured the photo July 30 while on his way to work. When “it rains a lot and we get big freshwater puddles Black Neck Stilts pay it a visit,” he said with the submission.
Ruby-throated hummingbird visits Yeopim Creek
Ed Sanford of Hertford used a long telephoto lens to capture this image of a ruby-throated hummingbird Monday while it visited the hummingbird feeder at his home on the Yeopim Creek in Perquimans County.
Cooper attends wind energy event
Gov. Roy Cooper speaks to reporters about renewable energy, sidestepping questions about his possible selection as a vice presidential candidate, Wednesday at a turbine blade-signing event celebrating construction of the Timbermill Wind project by Apex Clean Energy in Chowan County. The 189-megawatt wind energy project is the state’s second and the first to be built since 2017. It is expected to generate up to $33 million in tax revenue over its lifetime and become the county’s largest taxpayer during its first year of operation. Photo: Dylan Ray
Agile pollinator gets busy
An agile, busy and well-laden pollinator nearly blends into the yellow of a sunflower recently in a barely maintained part of a garden near Morehead City. Photo: Mark Hibbs
Red flags fly on most North Carolina beaches
Red warning flags whip against the wind Friday in Atlantic Beach, notifying swimmers to not enter the water. Life-threatening rip currents were likely and the surf zone dangerous for all levels of swimmers on all North Carolina beaches north of Cape Fear Friday, according to the National Weather Service’s experimental Beach Forecast webpage, which is color-coded to indicate the forecast rip current risk level. Yellow flags indicating moderate conditions flew on Brunswick County beaches Friday. Conditions had improved to moderate to low risk Monday. Photo: Dylan Ray
Overhead lines
Lines of clouds move over Askin near New Bern and the power lines overhead as part of a weekend weather front. Photo: Dylan Ray
Pamlico passageways
The Coastal Railway Swing Bridge spans the Pamlico River in Washington, where the waterfront can be seen on the north bank at upper right in this recent image. Farther in the distance are the U.S. Highway 17 Business bridge into town and, beyond it, the U.S. 17 Bypass. Photo: Dylan Ray
Sunscreen season arrives
An anole, freshly shed of its skin except the still-peeling tip of the nose, suns in a Beaufort agapanthus bed. For us creatures who don’t normally peel, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise that protection from the sun’s rays is important year-round, not just during the warmer months. Photo: Dylan Ray
‘R’ you ready for April?
A mallard strikes a semaphore-like pose signaling the letter “R” as viewed over the weekend from the dike at the Roanoke Island Marshes Dedicated Nature Preserve. Covering almost 1,900 acres of marsh and wetlands, the preserve is possibly the least well-known of the protected natural areas on the Outer Banks. Although most of the preserve is impenetrable, a 1.3-mile trail along an impoundment is, at times, a birder’s delight. Photo: Kip Tabb
Nature’s prescription
Smoke rises in the pines Monday in a section of the Croatan National Forest after a prescribed burn of 561 acres in the area of Nine-Foot Road and Millis Swamp Road near Newport. The U.S. Forest Service also prescribed a burn of 499 acres off U.S. Highway 70, Hibbs Road and Shaver Road, near Newport. This controlled application of fire is to diminish fuel for wildfires and restore natural ecosystems. Note posted signs and watch for firefighters and personnel in the area. Helicopters assist during the burns, so drone use is prohibited. Photo: Dylan Ray
