Columnist Sam Bland notes that when the moon rises Sunday, there will be drama, blood and magic, together known as a full super wolf blood lunar eclipse moon.
Sam's Field Notes
Sam’s Field Notes: Wildlife Festivals Ahead
Celebrate North Carolina’s wildlife during Swan Days Festival at Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge and Wings Over Water Wildlife Festival encore, both the second weekend in December.
Sam’s Field Notes: Interpreting Coastal Plants
A plant identification book, “Seacoast Plants of the Carolinas,” that was fundamental to our Sam Bland’s work as a park ranger on the coast has been updated and doesn’t disappoint.
Sam’s Field Notes: Hurricane Florence
An Emerald Isle resident, our Sam Bland weathered Hurricane Florence, which brought destruction to the community but also brought out the best of those who call it home.
Sam’s Field Notes: Diamondback Terrapin
It’s not a sea turtle but its home is aquatic and its future in peril. Our Sam Bland recently joined area wildlife researchers on a quest to document the diamondback terrapin’s abundance in coastal N.C. waters.
Sam’s Field Notes: ‘Let ’em Rest, Let ’em Nest’
It’s that time of year when beachgoers should watch where they step and take other precautions to protect nesting shorebirds, as our Sam Bland explains in his photo essay.
Sam’s Field Notes: Sandhill Cranes
Our Sam Bland shares his adventures trying to catch a glimpse of a pair of sandhill cranes that made a stop in Beaufort during their fall migration to the wintering grounds in Florida.
Sam’s Field Notes: The Balloon Problem
Balloon releases at concerts, games, weddings and other events have … well, ballooned in popularity but, as Sam Bland explains, coastal wildlife often suffers when they’re sent skyward, whether intentionally or not.
Sam’s Field Notes: Bats Get A Bum Rap
They’re the stuff of ghost stories and Halloween scares, but bats are not the blind, blood-sucking demons they’ve been made out to be. However, they are in trouble.
Sam’s Field Notes: National Estuaries Week
Our Sam Bland writes about the importance of estuaries in celebration of National Estuaries Week, Sept. 16-23, a time set aside to raise awareness and appreciation of our coastal natural heritage.
Sam’s Field Notes: Coquina Clams
Our naturalist, Sam Bland, recently enjoyed a late-afternoon walk on the beach in search of his favorite critters, the coquina clams, 1-inch, colorful, wedge-shaped mollusks found at water’s edge.
Sam’s Field Notes: Baby Bald Eagles
Our naturalist Sam Bland recently spent a day in a kayak near Oriental, watching as young bald eagles learned to spread their wings and fly.
Sam’s Field Notes: Diversity of Carolina Crabs
A crabby disposition may not be so great, but crab diversity on the North Carolina coast, which is home to a large number of different crustaceans, is a positive sign.
Sam’s Field Notes: The Polar Bear Connection
The effects of global warming are especially visible in the land of polar bears, as columnist Sam Bland recently witnessed, but how will the forces now affecting the arctic eventually change life on the North Carolina coast?
Sam’s Field Notes: The Monarch Migration
Monarch, the “king of butterflies,” have embarked on their marathon fall migration to Mexico, arriving just in time for the Day of the Dead, where they are regarded as the souls of the departed returning to earth.
Sam’s Field Notes: Dog-Day Cicadas
The mating calls of dog-day cicadas are one of nature’s familiar sounds of summer that, when they go silent, signal the changing of the seasons.
