Clouds settle over Town Marsh in Beaufort during a recent summer evening. Photo : Dylan Ray
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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
Quiet calm
A lone paddleboarder moves over the slick waters of Onslow Bay near the Bogue Inlet Pier in Emerald Isle. Photo: Dylan Ray
Storm kicks up big surf
Waves top the end of Jennette’s Pier Monday just after high tide. With a low-pressure system parked off the coast, waves pushed by near gale-force winds from the north and northeast battered the northern Outer Banks from Oregon Inlet to Corolla.
Pea Island welcomes Canada goslings
Canada goslings are among the newest residents of Pea island National Wildlife Refuge Most of the Canada geese on the refuge during the winter months are migratory and have already migrated out. But over the years, a few pairs have stayed on refuge all year. Canada geese are known for flying in V-formation and for their loud honking. Most Canada goose pairs stay together for life. The goslings may stay with the parents for their entire first year.
Flock party
Judy L., of Morehead City, who says she’s also known as “the Bread Lady,” feeds the gulls at Fort Macon State Park on the east end of Bogue Banks.
Led to water, but not to drink
Wild mares enter the salty water between Town Marsh and Carrot Island in the Rachel Carson Reserve along Taylor’s Creek in Beaufort. Photo: Dylan Ray
Herons on the hunt
Herons, shown in the foreground, look for prey along the shore of the Newport River near Crab Point in Morehead City. Photo: Dylan Ray
Winter bloom
A yellowjacket climbs the winter bloom of a Fatsia japonica, or paper plant, in a Beaufort garden. Photo: Dylan Ray
Currituck catbird
A gray catbird surveys its snow-covered surroundings Saturday at the Currituck Banks National Estuarine Research Reserve north of Corolla. Photo: Kip Tabb
After the rain
A rainbow commands the sky over the Newport River and the Radio Island Fishing Pier Wednesday in Carteret County. Photo: Dylan Ray
December sunset
The sun sets over the Newport RIver in Carteret County on a calm December evening.
Highway marker unveiled
A state highway marker commemorating the first combat operations by African American troops from North Carolina in the state was unveiled Saturday at Elizabeth City’s Waterfront Park. Hundreds of enslaved North Carolinians were set free by Black soldiers during Gen. Edward Wild’s raid in December 1863. Photo: Kip Tabb
Sanderlings take flight
Sanderlings take flight over the beach in Kitty Hawk. Although a familiar and common sight on beaches around the world, this migratory species’ numbers may be in serious decline in the Americas, with surveys showing as much as an 80% drop since the early 1970s, according to Audubon. Photo: Kip Tabb