Ocracoke Nature

April 2013  by Pat Garber Ocracoke Island had an unexpected visi­tor on the afternoon of Monday, January 21. An­nounced by the pings from her tracking device,...

Jann & Gil Randell on the dunes of Ocracoke Photo by P. Vankevich November 2014 By Peter Vankevich Peregrine falcons are spectacular birds. To see one in flight,...

September 2011 Text and Photos by Peter Vankevich  The Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla, is the most common black-hooded gull that can easily be seen along the coasts...

By Pat Garber It was another daring prison escape. Lounging in my Ocracoke window seat and listening to NPR one recent morning, I was intrigued.    The escapee,...

  This article was originally published in the October 2010 Ocracoke Observer By Pat Garber; photos by Barbara Adams ...If such a place there be, an island...

The images below were created by John Tinnerman of the North Carolina Shell Club to help beachcombers identify the shells found on Ocracoke beaches,...

This is the first of a series of stories regarding the ecological and economic harm of marine debris. By Peter Vankevich and Caroline Branan The magnitude...

We don’t need too much birdlore, do we,
 To tell a flamingo from a towhee;
 Yet I cannot, and never will, Unless the silly birds stand still....

By Maria Logan It’s summertime and Ocracoke is in full swing. There is a frenetic energy about the island as visitors flock to paradise...

  To see more profiles in the Birds of Ocracoke series, click here  Merlin (Falco columbarius) By Peter Vankevich A small stocky agile-flying  falcon, males can be distinguished...