Spotted on Ocracoke: Another Glimpse of Winter Light
December 2010
Text and photo by Peter Vankevich
What is spotted this month is not a curious artifact but an impressionistic mood. As Yogi Berra allegedly...
Looking at both sides of wind power along the Outer Banks
By Pat Garber
As Outer Banks communities and citizens prepare to fight off-shore oil drilling proposals, clean energy advocates are gearing up to see wind...
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...
It was a cereus night
In between the full “blue” moon on July 31 and the Perseids meteor showers peaking Aug. 11 to 13, an earthly event occurred at...
Birds of Ocracoke: The Bonaparte’s Gull
To see more profiles in the Birds of Ocracoke series, click here
Chroicocephalus philadelphia (formerly Larus Philadelphia)
By Peter Vankevich
This is a small buoyant gull with a...
Sea turtles are nesting in record numbers
Text and photos by Ruth Fordon
“Female sea turtles nest in cycles and this year is exceptional,” National Park Service Ranger Jocelyn Wright, lead biotech...
Spotted on Ocracoke: the Eastern Phoebe
By Peter Vankevich
Sayornis phoebe
The Eastern Phoebe is from the large family known as tyrant flycatchers that inhabit North and South America.
A rather plain-looking bird, it...
Birds of Ocracoke: the Palm Warbler
To see more profiles in the Birds of Ocracoke series, click here
Setophaga palmarum
Text and photos by P. Vankevich
This is a streaky bird with a...
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,...
Birds of Ocracoke: The Snow Bunting
For more profiles of the birds of Ocracoke, click here
By Peter Vankevich
Birds are amazing in that they may be found in the most extreme...