Tag: birds
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Chinqua Penn Hiking Trail (Reidsville, Rockingham County, North Carolina)
Note: This site is now closed. Overview: Located about 30 minutes north of Greensboro, Chinqua Penn Plantation once consisted of 22 acres of gardens, a short hiking trail, and one of North Carolina’s architectural treasures: the Chinqua Penn home. Built in the 1920s, the English-style house includes 27 rooms filled with antique furniture from around…
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Eno River State Park – Few’s Ford Access: Birding Trail (Durham, North Carolina)
Overview: Eno River State Park offers several easy-to-moderate trails (plus a few more challenging options) for weekend hikers. If you want a short, easy loop through a variety of habitats, try the Birding Trail at the Few’s Ford access. Starting from the Few’s Ford parking loop, the route can be completed in about 40 minutes.…
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Glennstone Preserve (Durham, North Carolina)
Overview: Glennstone Nature Preserve is an 82-acre natural area in Durham, protected by the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association. It offers a short but rewarding hike through early successional habitat favored by American woodcocks, as well as bottomland forest underlain by diabase-derived soils that support some unusual plant species. Directions: From northbound I-85, take the Glenn…
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Howell Woods (Johnston County, North Carolina)
Overview: Howell Woods in Johnston County offers more than 25 miles of trails through a striking mix of North Carolina habitat types, including coastal plain bottomland hardwood forest, cypress–gum swamps, and pine/scrub-oak sandhills. Visitors can start at the Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center, then explore the preserve by canoe, horseback, bike, or on foot. Directions:…
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FEBRUARY WILDLIFE: Woodcocks
Woodcocks (Scolopax minor), cryptic, stocky woodland birds with long pointed bills made for picking out small invertebrates, are out and about this February. This time of year, they can be found in open wooded areas (e.g., Mason Farm, Butner Game Lands near the end of Brick House Road) making a scene with their whimsical mating…
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Near the Mouth of the Cape Fear River (Brunswick & New Hanover Counties, North Carolina)
Overview: On November 8, 2008, my husband and I were able to take a fascinating boat tour of the magnificent mouth of the Cape Fear River. The tour originated on Oak Island in Brunswick County, North Carolina and ended miles upstream in Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, North Carolina. This tour was offered at the…
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Green Swamp Preserve (Wilmington, North Carolina)
The Nature Conservancy’s nearly 16,000-acre Green Swamp Preserve represents one of the best remaining examples of the region’s longleaf pine savanna. The understory is filled with carnivorous plants, including pitcher plants, Venus flytraps, and sundews, and the preserve is also home to a number of orchid species. Much of the landscape is dominated by pocosin—thick,…
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Lake Mattamuskeet & Swanquarter NWR (Hyde County, North Carolina)
On Sunday, my husband and I took a road trip to one of North Carolina’s hottest spots for winter birds: Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge. Located about 200 miles east of the Triangle in Hyde County, Lake Mattamuskeet is North Carolina’s largest natural lake. It’s also very shallow and nutrient-rich, providing food for thousands of…
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Cole Mill Access, Eno River State Park (Durham, North Carolina)
oday my husband and I explored the Pea Creek Trail, a 1.25-mile loop at the Cole Mill Road access point of Eno River State Park in north Durham. For a longer option, this trail connects to the Dunnagan Loop (2 miles). We started our hike in oak and beech uplands—white oak (Quercus alba), post oak…
Sense of Place 