Spotted on Ocracoke: Well, a spotted turtle
By Peter Vankevich
While driving on NC 12 near the airport earlier this spring, I noticed a dark small object in the road. As I...
Late green sea turtle nest suffers overwash; nesting status not yet...
By Peter Vankevich
Just as the Outer Banks stunned-turtle patrols are gearing up as the weather gets colder, there is one remaining outlier from...
Another good year for nesting sea turtles including leatherback
By Peter VankevichNorth Carolina’s approximately 330 miles of ocean-facing sandy beaches provides prime nesting habitat for five species of sea turtle: loggerheads, green, Kemp’s...
Can Ocracoke support monarch butterfly-friendly gardens?
By Peter Vankevich
When an animal is part of a sustained news cycle, it frequently is not good news.
The monarch butterfly is one of them....
Ocracoke nature: Avian Triptych
Vultures and gulls are scavengers and have a role in removing carrion from the ecosystem.
A Turkey Vulture is eating what appears to be...
Sea turtles have another banner nesting year but beware of the...
By Peter Vankevich
In the dark hours of May 4, a loggerhead sea turtle ventured out of her expansive ocean home and crawled onto the...
Beach bird nesters have bad year, sea turtles faring well
An Oystercatcher parent and chick feed along Ocracoke beach. Photo by Amy Thompson
Peter Vankevich
The downward spiral in the spring nesting season on...
An island home companion
Ocracoke does not have many nesting warbler species. One of these is the Prairie Warbler, an early arrival. Males, like the one above, are...
The five sea turtles of the Outer Banks
This is a supplement to an earlier feature on the nesting success of sea turtles.
By Peter Vankevich
Worldwide, there are only seven species of...
The weary diamondback terrapin’s latest foe: Phragmites
throughout much of the Outer Banks, faces another foe: Phragmites