Ocracoke’s unexpected visitor
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,...
Observed on Ocracoke: peregrine falcons, lots of ‘em
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,...
Spotted on Ocracoke: Gulls in the ‘ hood – or maybe...
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...
Alien in the waters of Ocracoke: The Octopus
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,...
From the archives: Remembering Mr. Bob, an Ocracoke pony
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...
Shell identification on Ocracoke, N.C., beaches
The images below were created by John Tinnerman of the North Carolina Shell Club to help beachcombers identify the shells found on Ocracoke beaches,...
Released balloons: the scourge of the beach and seas
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...
Christmas Bird Count the oldest wildlife census in the world
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....
Nesting birds on sound islands take a hit from Hurricane Arthur
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...
Birds of Ocracoke: the Merlin
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...