Sense of Place

Tag: wildlife

  • The Rhythm of the Land

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    by Nicolette L. Cagle, July 22, 2026, Sennett’s Hole, Durham, NC The air is thick with the reverberations of cricket frogs that clatter, katydids that creak, and birds that burr. Between the pulsing choruses and punctuated calls, the river chatters, babbling over boulders and burbling through descending levels of metamorphic rock. A gentle wind pushes…

  • Looking into the Box: Individuality and Variation in Eastern Box Turtles

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    by Nicolette L. Cagle, June 1, 2026 In the last post, we opened the box by looking at the Eastern Box Turtle’s participation in the forest-floor food web. We considered the turtle not as an ecosystem service, but as a participant in the exchanges that make the forest floor come alive. Now we look more…

  • Opening the Box: The Eastern Box Turtle and the Forest-Floor Food Web

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    by Nicolette L. Cagle, Ph.D., May 31, 2026 In the last post, we unwrapped one of the Eastern Box Turtle’s clearest gifts: the seeds and spores it carries through the landscape. We followed Mayapple seeds and fungal spores through the turtle’s body and back into the forest floor. But the story does not end there.…

  • Unwrapping the Box: Seeds, Spores, and the Forest Inside the Turtle

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    by Nicolette L. Cagle, Ph.D., May 26, 2026 In the last post, we began a new part of this Eastern Box Turtle series by considering the turtle’s gifts. In Western science, many of these gifts are described as ecosystem services, or the useful work a species does in a larger ecological system. That language can…

  • Holding History: Irises of the Mongolian Steppe

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    by Nicolette L. Cagle, June 13, 2026 In Khentii Province, Mongolia, history is close to the ground. This is a landscape closely associated with Chinggis Khan, with the Onon and Kherlen river worlds of his birth, with sacred mountains, and with the stories that connect empire, pastoral life, and Mongolian identity. To walk in Khentii…

  • Wrapped in a Box: The Gifts of the Eastern Box Turtle

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    by Nicolette L. Cagle, Ph.D., May 25, 2026 In the previous posts in this Eastern Box Turtle series, we followed the turtle from deep evolutionary time into the present: through its ancient shell, its contested names, its once broad but now shrinking range, its remembered routes, its habitat mosaics, and the broken landscapes that threaten…

  • Beyond the Box: Young Turtles, Interrupted Routes, and the Future of Eastern Box Turtle Landscapes

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    Eastern Box Turtles can persist for decades in changing landscapes, even as the conditions needed for their future quietly disappear. In this post, I explore what the scientific literature reveals about young turtles, population declines, skewed sex ratios, fragmented habitats, roads, mowing, and management. The story is sobering, but clear: conserving box turtles means protecting…

  • What Happens to a Nut on the Forest Floor?

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    by Nicolette L. Cagle, June 1, 2026 What happens to a hickory nut or walnut after it falls to the forest floor? At first, it can seem like a simple thing, a stored future released from the canopy and left beneath the tree that made it. Imagine a hickory nut resting inside its husk, a…

  • Around the Box: Home Range, Movement, and the Remembered Routes of Eastern Box Turtles

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    by Nicolette L. Cagle, Ph.D., May 20, 2026 In the last post, I explored the early Western scientific descriptions of the Eastern, or Woodland, Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina): a turtle that early naturalists struggled to name, classify, and even describe, but repeatedly recognized for its most remarkable feature: the ability to close itself away…

  • Drawing the Box: Early Descriptions and Studies of the Eastern Box Turtle

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    by Nicolette L. Cagle, Ph.D., May 25, 2026 In the last post, we explored the overlapping ranges and contemporary taxonomic debates surrounding the Common Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina), focusing our attention on the most widely distributed and iconic form of the eastern United States: the Eastern or Woodland Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina). In this…

  • Outside the Box: Range, Roads, and the Future of the Eastern Box Turtle

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    by Nicolette L. Cagle, Ph.D. In the first post of the Eastern Box Turtle series, we explored the evolutionary history of box turtles, from their origins as chunky, shellless, toothed, lizard-like creatures to the emergence of the domed, hinged, beaked turtles we recognize today. We followed that story from the earliest turtle-line reptiles of deep…

  • Before the Box: The 260-Million-Year Story of the Eastern Box Turtle

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    by Nicolette L. Cagle, Ph.D., May 15, 2026 The Eastern Box Turtle is one of the most familiar and beloved turtles of eastern North America, yet its story begins far beyond the forests, fields, and backyards where we encounter it today. To understand this small, domed, gold-mottled turtle, we have to travel through deep time to…

  • European Beech: The Tree That Shapes the Atmosphere of Central Europe’s Uplands

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    by Nicolette L. Cagle, Ph.D., March 29, 2026 In the last few posts, I introduced this Central Europe tree series by reflecting on why trees are such a powerful way into sense of place, then by sketching the mountain forests of Central Europe, and most recently by looking more closely at Sycamore Maple, one of…

  • Mountain Forests of Central Europe

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    by Nicolette L. Cagle, Ph.D., March 29, 2026 Mountain forests in Central Europe feel layered. Across the Czech uplands and the Western Carpathians, one can move in relatively short distances from foothill broadleaf woods into beech forest, then into colder spruce– and fir-dominated uplands, and finally toward dwarf pine and meadow communities above the tree…

  • Why Does the Junco Flash Its Tail and Other Notes

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    A winter storm approaches. Light flakes of snow dance in the air, and the birds forage and feast, fighting to fill their bellies before snow blankets their food source and enforces a period of fasting. The Ruby-crowned Kinglets are acrobats, flipping and bouncing through the trees. The Cardinals are confident, their size and boldness allowing…

  • Deer Rubs

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    On Monday morning, I went for a walk through the riparian woods along the Eno River. On this familiar route, I noticed two trees rubbed raw, rufous-hued, wounded down to the cambium layer. These rubs are from deer, when a buck scrapes his antlers against tree trunks, creating signposts in time and space to mark…

  • Vigur Island Heritage Farm & Nature Reserve, Iceland

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    People have been living on Vigur Island for over 1,000 years. It’s been the site of a working farm since 1650. It’s the home of Iceland’s only historic windmill, built circa 1840/1860 and operational until 1912. The island’s house, called Viktoria’s House, was built in the mid-1800s as an engagement present from goldsmith, Sumarliði Sumarliðason,…

  • Differentiating Local Hawks: Red-shouldered Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, & Sharp-shinned Hawk

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    This morning, as I emerged from the Eno River woods onto a residential street, I saw a hawk flying towards a Mourning Dove in flight. In the Piedmont woods, we often see one of three hawk species perched on a branch at the ready to grab a meal, the Red-shouldered Hawk, the Cooper’s Hawk, and the Sharp-shinned Hawk;…

  • Whitebark Pine Ecology

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    The Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis) is a keystone species in the sub-alpine forests from western Wyoming north to central British Columbia and Alberta. It can also be found at the timberline in the Cascades (think: BC down to the Sierra Nevada) and some mountains between the Cascades and the Rockies. The Whitebark Pine has been…

  • Maple-leaf Viburnum

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    This week’s plant feature is the Maple-leaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium). The Maple-leaf Viburnum or Dockmackie, is found across eastern North America, ranging from Quebec to Texas. In the Piedmont, the Maple-leaf Viburnum is a small shade-tolerant shrub, found in bottomland and upland forests. This shrub typically grows in forests that have been growing for at…

  • Weevil Pests of North Carolina Trees

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    Weevils are beetles (order Coleoptera) in a superfamily (Cuculionoidea) of beetles with long snouts that host chewing mouthparts. These species tend to be quite small – less than a quarter inch in length, and they notable as economically significant insect pests. In North Carolina, Conotrachelus nenuphar is most commonly seen in April and May, with…

  • Fringetree

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    This week’s plant feature is the fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus), also known as old man’s beard because of the way its pretty, white petals droop when it blooms in April. According to Donald Culross Peattie, the fringetree “contributes to the higher things of life: it is a raving beauty when in mid-spring it is loaded from…

  • Grapes

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    This week we investigate the Piedmont’s native grapes, some of which are fruiting now. While this profile focuses on those plants that we commonly call “grapes” in English or “ᏖᎸᎳᏗ” (pronounced te-lv-la-di) in Cherokee, it’s important to know that the common Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is closely related! The most well-known local grape species is…

  • Piedmont Birds in November

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    By November, the song of the wood thrush has disappeared, replaced by the melodic tune of the hermit thrush. Juncos and a number of sparrows, including tree, fox, white-throated and white-crowned sparrows have returned. Brown creepers will start showing up on tree trunks, along with winter wrens (smaller and more shy than our year-round Carolina…

  • Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers & Tree Damage

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    The yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius), also referred to as the red-throated, squealing, and whining sapsucker (McAtee 1911), is a species of woodpecker found across eastern North America. This migratory species breeds in the hardwood and coniferous forests of Canada, the upper Midwest, and the northeastern United States. In winter, yellow-bellied sapsuckers reside in the southeastern…

  • Four-Toed Salamander

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    The four-toed salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) is listed as a species of special concern in North Carolina. Although some populations have been found in the Coastal Plain and Mountains, the four-toed salamander predominantly occurs in the Piedmont where it prefers marshes, swamps and ephemeral ponds surrounded by forest. After mating in the fall, some female four-toed…

  • Coyotes in North Carolina

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    Reports of coyotes (Canus latrans) in North Carolina first emerged in the 1930s, often associated with imported specimens intended to help hunters practice for better game, i.e., red fox. Not until 1947, on Cherokee land in Swain County, did a forest ranger make the first recorded wild sighting of a coyote. In the mid-1980s the range of coyotes…

  • Braving the Bitter Cold for the American Bittern

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    On my birthday, in mid-December, I dragged my entire family — parents, husband, and 4-year-old son — to find an American Bittern. We drove to Prairie Ridge Ecostation in Raleigh, NC, following a trail of eBird and list-serv sightings of this bulky brown and tan bird in the Heron family (Ardeidae). On a crisp, clear winter’s day, we slowly…

  • Eastern Garter Snakes: Mating Balls & Sex in the Trees

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    Last week, Duke Forest staff photographed Eastern Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) intertwined on the forest floor. They had a discovered a “mating ball” of small males vying for the chance to fertilize a mature female. Other garter snake species are better known for their mating balls, including the Red-Sided Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis). In…

  • Where do birds go when it snows?

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    On days like this, when the snow drifts down steadily in large, dense clumps, where do all the birds go? Many birds species spend the winter in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Some species, like Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice, spend their time in mixed foraging flocks, searching for food sources as a group. Other…

  • Temple Flat Rock (Wendell, Wake County, North Carolina)

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    Just outside Wendell, North Carolina (an eastern satellite town of Raleigh), Temple Flat Rock protects a striking expanse of exposed granite—about 5,270 square meters—that supports a specialized community of lichens, bryophytes, and flowering plants. In 1984, the Temple family donated this unusual Registered Natural Heritage Site to The Nature Conservancy. In the mid-1990s, stewardship transferred…

  • Return to Mason Farm (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)

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    One evening this April, I visited Mason Farm with my dear friend gumby. As we started hiking down the grassy path, I commented on how Mason Farm was always a lucky place to find snakes, especially brown snakes, rough green snakes, and rat snakes. We were lucky to add another species to that list: redbelly…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: September in the Piedmont

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    BirdsSeptember brings an early pulse of winter residents back to the Piedmont, including Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, occasional Red-breasted Nuthatches, and a suite of wrens (Winter, Sedge, and Marsh) and sparrows (Swamp and White-throated). Ruby-crowned Kinglets—tiny olive-gray birds with a bright red crown patch (usually hidden)—also return this month after spending the summer in conifer forests of…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: April in the Piedmont

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    BirdsApril launches spring migration in earnest, and the next couple of months can bring a steady stream of northbound travelers. Watch for wood-warblers (including Golden-winged, Nashville, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Bay-breasted, and Blackpoll), along with herons (such as Little Blue Herons, Black-crowned Night-Herons, and Cattle Egrets), thrushes (Veery, Gray-cheeked, and Swainson’s), and sandpipers…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: January in the Piedmont

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    BirdsIn the depth of winter, as you walk through quiet woods, you may come across a lone thrush standing at attention, its delicately speckled throat exposed. The Hermit Thrush is a gifted songster, but its voice is mostly muted here; it saves its ethereal song for spring, when it returns to its breeding grounds in…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: October in the Piedmont

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    Birds.− October marks the beginning of food-caching — a food storage strategy developed to sustain year-round avian residents throughout the lean winter. Caching strategies vary by species: red-bellied woodpeckers might store acorns in holes high up in the cracks and cavities of trees, while American crows might simply thrust a left-over meal into the loose soil…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: July in the Piedmont

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    BirdsThis month, lucky birdwatchers may catch a glimpse of uncommon visitors such as Common Mergansers, Tricolored Herons, Little Blue Herons, and Snowy Egrets. Sandpipers also begin returning to the Piedmont. As summer deepens, the melodious songs of many birds fade, though Indigo Buntings can still be heard singing from high perches. Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: June in the Piedmont

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    BirdsThis month, watch for sunning birds. Common backyard species—like Northern Cardinals and American Robins—may perch with feathers fluffed and bills agape, soaking in the sun. This behavior may help with molting and may also reduce ticks, lice, and other parasite loads. Fledging season continues, too. Second broods of Eastern Bluebirds often fledge in June, and…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: March in the Piedmont

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    BirdsAs spring arrives in the Piedmont this month, we begin to see profound changes in the composition of our avifauna. Wood Ducks, Blue-winged Teal (local breeders), Double-crested Cormorants, and Ospreys become more abundant. Expect to start seeing vireos, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Purple Martins, and other swallows as well. Lucky observers may even spot a Snowy Egret,…

  • Pump Station Trail, Eno River (Durham, North Carolina)

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    This morning—before the sun had fully thawed the crisp air—we hiked along the Eno River on the Pump Station Trail in Durham, North Carolina. About thirty feet off the trail, beyond the crumbling remains of a towering stone dam, sits a small pond carved into Carolina mud by spillover from the old structure. In spring,…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: December in the Piedmont

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    BirdsBy December, fall migration has decidedly ended, and the brief celebration that follows the arrival of winter juncos, kinglets, and creepers has faded. Woods and brush can feel eerily quiet, punctuated by the sharp warning calls of Northern Cardinals and the quick flitting of sparrows. The most common sparrows that visit the Piedmont in winter—often…

  • Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area (Hillsborough, North Carolina)

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    OverviewOcconeechee Mountain State Natural Area, located in Hillsborough, North Carolina just off I-85, is widely appreciated for its geologic uniqueness and its unusual plant and animal communities. Occoneechee Mountain is one of North Carolina’s classic monadnocks—an isolated mountain rising above the Piedmont peneplain. Its elevation and relative isolation create conditions suitable for a number of…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: May in the Piedmont

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    BirdsMigration season continues this month. Many of the brilliantly colored warblers are just passing through, but some migrants stop and stay to breed in North Carolina. Local breeders include Scarlet and Summer Tanagers, Ovenbirds, and Prairie Warblers. May may also be your last good chance (at least for a couple of months) to catch some…

  • Turtles Time at Goose Creek State Park (Beaufort County, North Carolina)

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    Here is all you really need to know: it was May 2007. We arrived at Goose Creek State Park—and “turtle time” began. My trusty companion (my husband, Mark) and I pulled into the primitive campground in our reliable blue Jeep. I jumped out before Mark even turned off the ignition, my feet landing on coarse…

  • Pettigrew State Park (Creswell, North Carolina)

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    We stand on a boardwalk that extends over a large, glassy lake, encircled by bulky cypresses whose stark horizontal branches are softened by curtains of Spanish moss. Through the morning mist, I can almost discern an ancient Algonquian fisherman canoeing in the shallows. I can nearly hear the low voice of this mirage calling to…

  • Dendromania at Pilot Mountain (Surry & Yadkin Counties, North Carolina)

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    One Sunday morning, a number of years ago—when my husband and I were still new to North Carolina and dedicated to seeing its natural wonders one by one—we ventured forth to visit the widely esteemed Pilot Mountain, about 25 miles northwest of Winston-Salem. Our mission was to see for ourselves this place of legend about…

  • Eno River State Park – Few’s Ford Access: Birding Trail (Durham, North Carolina)

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    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.…

  • Howell Woods (Johnston County, North Carolina)

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    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:…

  • Lake Waccamaw State Park (Columbus County, North Carolina)

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    Overview: Lake Waccamaw State Park lies in Columbus County, about 160 miles from the Triangle, and showcases one of North Carolina’s most unusual natural features: a pH-neutral bay lake, named for the abundance of bay trees (including sweet bay and red bay). No one knows for certain how bay lakes formed—hypotheses range from meteor impacts…

  • Historic Occoneechee Speedway Trail (Hillsborough, North Carolina)

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    Overview: The Historic Occoneechee Speedway Trail (HOST), a 44-acre preserve and historical site, includes three miles of trails that take visitors around the original speedway (open from 1948–68), or alternately, along the banks of the Eno River. This trail is set to join the statewide Mountains to the Sea Trail. Directions: Travel south on I-85.…

  • Eno River State Park (Few’s Ford Access): Cox Mountain Trail (Durham, North Carolina)

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    Overview: Eno River State Park hosts a number of easy to moderate trails, and a few more difficult ones, for the weekend hiker. If you’re looking for a challenging hike through a variety of Piedmont habitats, try the Cox Mountain Trail. This 3.75-mile loop begins at the Few’s Ford picnic area and quickly descends to…

  • FEBRUARY WILDLIFE: Woodcocks

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    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…

  • Raven Rock State Park (Lillington, North Carolina)

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    Overview: Raven Rock State Park, located south of the Triangle in Lillington, North Carolina, revitalizes one’s senses on a cold winter day with its dramatic scenery. The major attraction, Raven Rock itself, is easily reached on the Raven Rock Loop Trail (2.6 miles). The loop is an easy hike—until the climb back up the stairs…

  • Carolina Beach State Park (New Hanover County, North Carolina)

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    Overview: On November 9, 2008, my husband and I made a delightful stop at Carolina Beach State Park, a 761-acre park located in Carolina Beach on Pleasure Island in New Hanover County, North Carolina. The park offers a number of recreational opportunities, including boating, fishing, camping, and hiking. If you’re looking to learn more about…

  • Eno River State Park – Few’s Ford & the Buckquarter Creek Trail (Durham, North Carolina)

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    Eno River State Park – Few’s Ford & the Buckquarter Creek Trail (Durham, NC) On Labor Day, my family (husband and grandparents-to-be) and I hiked the Buckquarter Creek Trail, located in the western portion of Eno River State Park at the Few’s Ford entrance. This is a great trail to hike with friends and family,…

  • Lake Mattamuskeet & Swanquarter NWR (Hyde County, North Carolina)

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    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…