A strong southeast wind, heavy rains and an especially high tide combine to create a pool reaching from the ocean to the showers on the west side of the Oceanana Fishing Pier Thursday in Atlantic Beach. While not a king tide, which are the highest high- and lowest low-tide events of the year and happen when the Earth, sun and moon are aligned while the moon is at its perigee, or closest point in its elliptical orbit to Earth, Dec. 26-25 is a period of higher- and lower-than-normal tides. The the lunar perigee is Dec. 24. Photo: Dylan Ray
Featured Photo
Standing still for a meal
A tricolored heron watches for prey in the water at Roanoke Island Marshes Dedicated Nature Preserve in Wanchese. Photo: Kip Tabb
Feeding frenzy
Flocks of pelican and cormorant chase a bait ball of fish along the shoreline of Atlantic in Down East Carteret County. Photo: Dylan Ray
Swell vantage point
Pigeons take refuge from the wind Wednesday as an unidentified surfer cruises along the face of a wave at the Oceanana Fishing Pier on Bogue Banks in Carteret County. Photo: Dylan Ray
High water in Sea Level
The waters of Styron Creek in Sea Level are pushed by high winds Monday onto Cedar Creek Road blocking access to a fish house in Down East Carteret County. Photo: Dylan Ray
Strategic suspension
The silken egg sac of a spider is strategically suspended against a yucca spine along Carteret County’s Bogue Banks. Photo: Dylan Ray
Shrimp buffet
A wedge of egrets hunts shrimp in the salt marsh along the Newport River in Mill Creek in Carteret County. Photo: Dylan Ray
Harkers Island bridge construction progresses
The sun sets last week behind the $60 million bridge under construction between Straits and Harkers Island in Carteret County. The project, which began in late 2021, is to replace two bridges that connect Harkers Island and the mainland, including the Earl C. Davis Memorial Bridge. Photo: Dylan Ray
Backyard beauty
A swallowtail butterfly peeks around the blossom of a Mexican sunflower Tuesday in a garden near Russell Creek in Carteret County. Photo: Dylan Ray
Winding waters
The waters of upper Ward Creek near Otway in Down East Carteret County are shown in this Thursday aerial. The creek flows into the North River where its meets water from the ocean to create conditions considered favorable for tasty oysters. Photo: Dylan Ray
Delivery service
An endangered red-cockaded woodpecker flies in to his nesting cavity with a spider in in his beak for the awaiting chicks inside. Red-cockaded woodpeckers are an endemic species of the longleaf pine forest and were placed on the endangered species list due to the destruction of nesting habitat. Longleaf pine forests once covered an area the size of the Amazon across the southeastern United States. But today, less than 10% of this forest remains. Photo: Jared Lloyd
Frequent flyers
A trio of great crested flycatchers gather momentarily Saturday in a tree at Sandy Run Park in Kitty Hawk. According to the Audubon Guide to North American Birds, flycatchers are more often heard — especially the males’ loud calls — than seen, as they prefer wooded areas. Photo: Kip Tabb
Water colors
Clouds settle over Town Marsh in Beaufort during a recent summer evening. Photo : Dylan Ray
Summer thyme
An assassin bug sets a trap for its prey near a blooming thyme plant in Beaufort. Photo: Dylan Ray
Mighty cypress
A cypress tree stands tall just off the shoreline of the Neuse River near James City. Photo: Dylan Ray
Fox boxing
Fox kits roughhouse in a clearing on the edge of the Croatan National Forest. Photo: Dylan Ray
