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Ocracoke Island, Hyde County,
NC
Ocracoke Island is mostly
park land (the Cape Hatteras National Seashore), but the town of Ocracoke has a
lot of interesting wildlife, especially in its new Springer's Point Nature Preserve.
See live map.
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/19/24
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Anomalous white Narrowleaf Blue-eyed Grass |
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Brookweed (Samolus parviflorus) |
Brookweed (Samolus parviflorus), overhead |
Brookweed (Samolus parviflorus) |
Brookweed (Samolus parviflorus) and Hairy Sedge |
Normal blue Blue-eyed Grass flowers |
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Captains Landing |
Snail shells |
Katydid nymph on fleabane |
Twoflower Melicgrass |
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Thurston House garden |
View across a Silver Lake inlet |
Male House Sparrow |
Birdfoot Trefoil |
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Ocracoke Island, out of town, Hyde County, NC 4/18/24
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Rufous-backed Cellophane Bee (Colletes thoracicus) |
Poison Ivy flowers |
Beaked Cornsalad |
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Thistle |
Grackle |
Thistles |
Teneral Blue Corporal |
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Teneral Blue Corporal |
Ghost Crab |
Same Ghost Crab |
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Sanderlings |
Sanderling |
USAF plane going over the beach |
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Pony eating hay |
Male Red-winged Blackbird |
Same male Red-winged Blackbird |
White Ibis |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/18/24
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Sunset, 7:38 pm |
Great Egret |
Same Great Egret |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/17/24
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Small-flower Catchfly (Silene gallica) |
Small-flower Catchflies (Silene gallica) |
Small-flower Catchflies (Silene gallica) |
Small-flower Catchflies (Silene gallica) |
Small-flower Catchflies (Silene gallica) |
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Male Poison Ivy flowers |
Male Poison Ivy plant branch with flowers |
Roses spreading into tree |
Little Quaking Grass (Briza minor) |
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Hornet |
Little Quaking Grass (Briza minor) |
Little Quaking Grass (Briza minor) |
Little Quaking Grass (Briza minor) |
Queendevil (Hieracium gronovii) |
Male House Sparrow |
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Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria) |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/16/24
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Territorial battle between Northern Mockingbirds |
Victor and vanquished |
Hairy Sedge (Carex pilosa) |
Rooster, wandering around two properties on Howard Street |
Same rooster |
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Evening Primrose |
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Springer's Point Nature Preserve, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/16/24
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Blue Toadflax |
Eurasian Collared Dove pair |
Common Starling |
Fowler's Toad |
Ghost Crab |
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Ghost Crab |
Male Eastern Towhee |
Same male Eastern Towhee singing |
Same male Eastern Towhee |
Same male Eastern Towhee singing |
Ocracoke Beach, Hyde County, NC 4/15/24
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Karl |
Willet |
Willet landing |
Willet landed |
Willet landing |
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Willet flying |
Willets engaging in a territorial battle |
The battle continues |
More of the battle |
Willet remaining |
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Narrowleaf Blue-eyed Grass |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/15/24
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House Sparrow |
Common Yellow Wood-sorrel |
Rough Clover (Trifolium scabrum) |
Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria) |
Royal Tern |
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Narrowleaf Blue-eyed Grass |
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Pamlico Sound, Hyde County, NC 4/14/24
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Double-crested Cormorants and Brown Pelicans on Big Foot Island |
Double-crested Cormorant fleeing from ferry |
Sand bar |
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Part of Ocracoke coastline, including the lighthouse |
Another part of Ocracoke coastline, including the water tower |
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Common Loon |
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Morehead City, Carteret County, NC 4/13/24
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False Garlic, in brush behind a hotel |
Low Hop Clover |
False Garlic, in the hotel parking lot |
European Honeybee on Blackberry flower |
False Garlic |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/7/23
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Dajios, a restaurant |
Frogfruits (Phyla nodiflora) |
Largeleaf Pennyworts (Hydrocotyle bonariensis) |
Lantana |
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Boat |
Piers at sunset |
Jolly Roger restaurant sign |
Gate to pier (and fence in background) |
Piers in Silver Lake |
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Juvie House Sparrow |
Belted Kingfisher |
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Springer's Point Nature Preserve, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/7/23
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Dune Bluecurls (Trichostema nesophilum) |
Mystery flower |
Eastern Baccharis aka Sea Myrtle (Baccharis halimifolia), but difference in appearance from the form seen on the mainland |
Juvie Common Starling |
Dragonfly |
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One of several similar fish, apparently rejected by whomever caught them. Looks somewhat like a sunfish. |
Great Blue Heron (very distant) |
Singing Northern Mockingbird, at the top of a tree |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/6/23
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Silver Lake at sunset. Photo by Karl D. Gottschalk. |
Square-backed Marsh Crab (Armases cinereum) |
Possibly a mature Square-backed Marsh Crab (Armases cinereum), feeding on tiny vegetation underwater |
Possibly a mature Square-backed Marsh Crab (Armases cinereum), feeding on tiny vegetation underwater |
Same, possibly a mature Square-backed Marsh Crab (Armases cinereum), feeding on tiny vegetation underwater |
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Same, possibly a mature Square-backed Marsh Crab (Armases cinereum), feeding on tiny vegetation underwater |
Same, possibly a mature Square-backed Marsh Crab (Armases cinereum), feeding on tiny vegetation underwater |
Same, possibly a mature Square-backed Marsh Crab (Armases cinereum), feeding on tiny vegetation underwater |
Fishing boat in Silver Lake |
Sailboat in Silver Lake |
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Square-backed Marsh Crab (Armases cinereum), feeding on tiny vegetation underwater |
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Nature Trail, Ocracoke Island, Hyde County, NC 10/6/23
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Golden Silk Spider |
Dune Bluecurls (Trichostema nesophilum) |
Carolina Anole |
Yellow and Black Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) |
Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) |
Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/5/23
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Swan Quarter ferry arriving |
Great Egret |
Brown Pelican |
Brown Pelicans |
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Salt Marsh Mallow (Kosteletzkya pentacarpos) |
Salt Marsh Mallow (Kosteletzkya pentacarpos) |
Lighthouse |
Canada Geese |
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Beach Goldenrod |
Spotted Bee-balm (Monarda punctata) |
Squareback Marsh Crab |
Squareback Marsh Crab |
Squareback Marsh Crab |
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Squareback Marsh Crabs |
Perhaps distant storm, seen from Silver Lake |
Gull |
Royal Tern with fish prey |
Coastal Waterhyssop (Bacopa monnieri) |
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Salt Marsh Pink (Sabatia stellaris) |
Jolly Roger sign |
Brown Pelicans |
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Springer's Point Nature Preserve, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/4/23
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Wildflower |
Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) acorns |
Coastal Waterhyssop (Bacopa monnieri) |
Dune Bluecurls (Trichostema nesophilum) flowers |
Another Dune Bluecurls (Trichostema nesophilum) flower |
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Purple Morning Glory (Ipomoea purpurea) |
Mourning Dove |
Largeleaf Pennyworts (Hydrocotyle bonariensis) |
Double-crested Cormorant |
Hawk |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/4/23
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Spotted Bee-balm (Monarda punctata) |
Salt Marsh Pink (Sabatia stellaris) |
Mystery aster |
Mystery aster |
Wharf Roach |
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Same Wharf Roach |
Green Heron |
Same Green heron |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/3/23
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Trailing Wild Bean (Strophostyles helvola) |
Killdeer |
Royal Tern |
Another Royal Tern |
Yet another Royal Tern |
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Royal Tern |
Northeast part of Ocracoke |
Another part of Ocracoke's northeastern part |
Spotted Bee-balm (Monarda punctata) |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/2/23
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Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) seedheads |
Rain Lilies (Zephyranthes candida) |
Pink Wood-sorrel (Oxalis debilis) |
Juvie and adult White Ibises |
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White Ibises, with one not quite adult |
Nonbreeding Common Starling |
Dune Camphorweed (Heterotheca subaxillaris), with spider |
Trailing Wild Bean (Strophostyles helvola) |
Trailing Wild Bean (Strophostyles helvola) |
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Fish mural |
Nonbreeding Common Starling |
Common Starlings bathing |
Fish swimming with tail partially out of the water |
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Brown Pelican |
Same Brown Pelican |
Willet |
Royal Tern |
Another Royal Tern |
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Royal Tern |
Trailing Wild Bean (Strophostyles helvola) |
Spotted Bee-balm (Monarda punctata) |
Pennywort |
Unusual Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) |
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Firewheels (Gaillardia pulchella) |
Nonbreeding Laughing Gulls |
One of the many artworks in Ocracoke serving as store signs |
Swan Quarter ferry arriving |
Same ferry |
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Wind sculpture |
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Ocracoke Beach, Hyde County, NC 10/2/23
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Beach Morning Glory (Ipomoea pes-caprae) |
Juvie Sanderling |
Juvie Laughing Gull with a hard, round object |
An adult Willet seemed curious, briefly |
Just before the gull gave up on the object |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/1/23
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Lantana |
Carolina Anole |
Condos and lighthouse, seen from ferry |
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Big Foot Island, Hyde County, NC 10/1/23
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Double-crested Cormorants |
Double-crested Cormorants and Brown Pelicans |
Double-crested Cormorants and Brown Pelicans |
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Double-crested Cormorants crowd this part of the island. |
Double-crested Cormorants and Brown Pelicans |
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Swan Quarter, Hyde County, NC 10/1/23
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Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum) |
Fragrant False Garlic (Nothoscordum borbonicum) |
Mystery building, seen from the ferry landing area |
Mystery ferry |
Flowers on the border of the ferry landing area |
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Mushroom |
Flower fly and Dune Camphorweed (Heterotheca subaxillaris) |
Common Buckeye |
Delaware Skipper |
Pink Wood-sorrel (Oxalis debilis) |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/25/23
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Birdfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) |
View of a pond |
Low Hop Clover (Tifolium campestre) |
Red-winged Blackbird with prey |
White Ibis |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/24/23
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Red-winged Blackbird attacking a crow |
Frogfruit (Phyla lanceolata) |
Frogfruit (Phyla lanceolata) |
Ibis |
Manyflower Marsh-Pennywort (Hydrocotyle umbellata) |
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Rattlebox (Sesbania punicea) |
Red-winged Blackbird |
Another Red-winged Blackbird |
Yet another Red-winged Blackbird |
Semi-palmated Sandpiper |
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Semi-palmated Sandpiper |
Semi-palmated Sandpipers |
U.S. Navy Beach Jumpers memorial |
The other side of the U.S. Navy Beach Jumpers memorial |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/23/23
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Loop Shack Hill archaeological site |
Brookweed (Samolus valerandi) |
Chairmaker's Rush (Scirpus pungens) |
Coastal Waterhyssop (Bacopa monnieri) |
Deertongue (Dichanthelium clandestinum) |
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Virginia Dwarf-dandelion (Krigia virginica) |
Virginia Dwarf-dandelion (Krigia virginica) |
Eastern Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa) |
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Eastern Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa) |
Eastern Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa) |
Eastern Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa) |
Male Eastern Towhee |
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Same male Eastern Towhee |
Faded Cutleaf Evening Primrose (Oenothera laciniata) |
Cutleaf Evening Primrose (Oenothera laciniata) |
Frogfruit (Phyla lanceolata) |
Gray Everlasting (Gamochaeta coarctata) |
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Lined Orbweaver (Mangora gibberosa), running away, but came back |
Lined Orbweaver (Mangora gibberosa) |
Mourning Dove |
Purple False Foxglove (Agalinis purpurea) |
Another Purple False Foxglove (Agalinis purpurea) |
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Rattlebox (Sesbania punicea) |
Sensitive Archaeological Area designation |
Sensitive Archaeological Area designation, with site in the background |
Persian Silk Tree (Albizia julibrissin) |
Snail shell |
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Stiff Marsh Bedstraw (Galium tinctorium) |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/22/23
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Airplane |
Same airplane |
Double-crested Cormorant |
Firewheels (Gaillardia pulchella) |
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House Sparrow |
House Sparrow |
Kite |
Pinwheel display outside a store |
Least Tern, flying against the wind |
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Same Least Tern |
Same Least Tern |
Same Least Tern |
Same Least Tern |
Same Least Tern |
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Same Least Tern |
Lighthouse, from across Silver Lake |
Parasailing rider and boat |
Parasailor |
Juvie Sanderling |
Ocracoke Beach, Ocracoke Island, Hyde County, NC 5/21/23
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Annual Ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) |
Asian Multi-colored Ladybug Beetle |
Beach Morning Glory (Ipomoea imperati) |
Beach Morning Glory (Ipomoea imperati) |
Beach Morning Glory (Ipomoea imperati) |
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Camphorweed (Heterotheca axillaris) |
Brown-headed Cowbirds |
Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) |
Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) |
Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) |
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Yellow Firewheels (Gaillardia pulchella) |
Fleabane |
Tern |
Female House Sparrow |
Another female House Sparrow |
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Large jellyfish |
Killdeer |
Largeleaf Pennywort (Hydrocotyle bonariensis) |
Another Largeleaf Pennywort (Hydrocotyle bonariensis) |
Little Quaking Grass (Briza minor) |
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Pink Wood-sorrel (Oxalis debilis) |
Royal Tern |
Royal Tern soaring |
Breeding Sanderling |
Another Breeding Sanderling |
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Another Breeding Sanderling |
Another Breeding Sanderling |
Another Breeding Sanderling |
Another Breeding Sanderling |
Another Breeding Sanderling |
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Starrush Whitetop Sedge (Rhynchospora colorata) |
Starrush Whitetop Sedge (Rhynchospora colorata) |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/21/23
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Annual Beard-grass (Polypogon monspeliensis) |
Annual Ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) |
Annual Ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) |
Birdfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) |
Cutleaf Evening Primrose (Oenothera laciniata) |
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Asiatic Dayflower (Commelina communis) |
Fleabane (Erigeron genus, either Strigosus or annuus species) |
Morning Glory (Ipomoea purpurea) |
Starrush Whitetop Sedge (Rhynchospora colorata) |
Vasey's Grass (Paspalum urvillei) |
Vasey's Grass (Paspalum urvillei), up close |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/20/23
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Annual Ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) |
Birdfoot Trefoil |
Feral cat |
Citrine Forktail |
Eastern Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium atlanticum) |
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Fowler's Toad |
Another Fowler's Toad |
Leatherwing Beetle with fly prey |
Northern Mockingbird |
Moth caught in puddle |
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Rattlebox (Sesbania punicea) |
Rattlebox (Sesbania punicea) |
Spotless Ladybug Beetle (Cycloneda sanguinea) |
Same Spotless Ladybug Beetle (Cycloneda sanguinea) |
Same Spotless Ladybug Beetle (Cycloneda sanguinea) |
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Common Starling |
Starrush Whitetop Sedge (Rhynchospora colorata) |
Stink bug |
Sunset |
Sweet Yellow Clover (Melilotus officinalis) |
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Thistle |
View from room |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/19/23
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Birdfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) |
Snowy Egret |
Snowy Egret |
Rainbow |
Rattlebox (Sesbania punicea) |
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Starrush Whitetop Sedge (Rhynchospora colorata) |
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Ocracoke (seen from ferry in Pamlico Sound), Hyde County, NC 4/30/22
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Gull |
Horizon Condos |
Horizon Condos with lighthouse |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/29/22
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Small plane |
Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) |
Boat with crab traps in Pamlico Sound returning to Ocracoke |
Moth |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/28/22
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Meadow Garlic (Allium canadense) |
Meadow Garlic (Allium canadense) |
Meadow Garlic (Allium canadense) |
Meadow Garlic (Allium canadense) |
Meadow Garlic (Allium canadense) |
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Meadow Garlic (Allium canadense) |
Mottled Duck |
Red Admiral |
Red-winged Blackbird |
Another Red-winged Blackbird |
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Red-winged Blackbird in flight |
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Wild radish |
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Largeleaf Pennywort (Hydrocotyle bonariensis) flowers |
Canada Geese |
Same Canada Geese |
Carolina Cranesbill (Geranium caroliniana) |
Cutleaf Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) |
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Two ferries |
Same two ferries |
Georgia Sunrose poster |
Goldenrod |
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Springer's Point Nature Preserve, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/28/22
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Blue-eyed grass |
Greenbriar flowers |
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Moth |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/27/22
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Annual Baby's Breath (Gypsophila elegans) |
Male House Sparrow gathering nesting material |
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Meadow Garlic (Allium canadense) |
Springer's Point Nature Preserve, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/27/22
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Georgia Sunrose, either Helianthum georgianum or Crocanthemum georgianum. H. georgianum seems to be gaining more acceptance. |
American Sea Rocket? |
Greenbriar and a mystery grass with purple flowers |
Greenbriar flowers up close |
Rush (Juncus genus) |
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Mulberry leaves and fruits |
Largeleaf Pennywort (Hydrocotyle bonariensis) flowers |
Poison Ivy fruits |
Maybe Sandhill Bean? |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/26/22
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Blue-eyed Grass |
Blue-eyed Grass |
Fish mural |
House Sparrow feeding baby |
Japanese Mock Orange (Pittosporum tobira) |
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Lantana |
Lighthouse |
Northern Mockingbird |
Sow Thistle |
Wisteria |
Ocracoke Island, North Beach, Hyde Park, NC 4/26/22
Pony Pasture, Ocracoke Island, Hyde County, NC 4/26/22
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Ponies |
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Hammock Hills Nature Trail, Ocracoke Island, Hyde County, NC 4/25/22
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Common (European) Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) |
Ferns |
Fowler's Toad |
Little Quaking Grass (Briza minor) |
Palamedes Swallowtail |
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Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) |
Bristly Thistle (Cirsium horridulum) |
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Beach and Grass across from the Hammock Hills Nature Trail, Ocracoke Island, Hyde County, NC 4/25/22
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Birdfoot Trefoil |
Eastern Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium atlanticum) |
Eastern Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium atlanticum) |
Leucistic blue-eyed grass |
Crab tracks |
Sanderling |
Ocracoke Beach, Hyde County, NC 4/24/22
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Sanderling |
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Group of Sanderlings far down the beach |
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Same group of Sanderlings |
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Same group of Sanderlings |
They were originally sitting |
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Willet |
Another Willet |
Willet |
Willet |
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Springer's Point Nature Preserve, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/24/22
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American Sea Rocket (Cakile edentula) |
American Sea Rocket (Cakile edentula) |
Two-flower Melicgrass (Melica mutica) |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/24/22
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View across Silver Lake |
Small plane |
Catchfly |
English Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) |
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Eurasian Collared Dove |
Everlasting |
Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) |
Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) |
Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) |
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Fowler's Toad |
Grackle |
Another grackle |
Gull |
Horizon Condos |
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Female House Sparrow |
Male House Sparrow |
Courting Laughing Gulls |
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Low Hop Clover (Trifolium campestre) |
Purple Morning Glory (Ipoema purpurea) |
Mourning Dove |
Swan Quarter Ferry leaving Ocracoke |
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Ocracoke Water Tower |
Horizon Condos seen from Springer's Point Nature Preserve |
Pink Wood-sorrel |
American Robin |
Southern Broken-dash |
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Same Southern Broken-dash |
Common Starling |
Another Common Starling |
Sunrise |
View of Springer's Point from Horizon Condos |
Ocracoke Beach, Hyde County, NC 9/11/21
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Mystery succulent aster |
Foam |
Breeding Sanderling |
Waves |
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Waves |
Waves |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 9/11/21
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Dogday cicada exuvia |
Flower fly |
Palamedes Swallowtail pair |
Squirrel Treefrog |
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Ocracoke Beach, Hyde County, NC 9/10/21
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Looking south |
Breeding Sanderling |
Another Breeding Sanderling |
Willet |
Same Willet |
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Willet |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 9/10/21
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Eastern Kingbird |
Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) |
Another Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) |
Another Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) |
Great Egret |
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Great Egret |
Same Great Egret |
A sign on a shop |
Anamalous blue morning glory |
Pea, maybe Panicled Tick Trefoil (Desmodium paniculatum) |
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Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriaticus) |
Common Starling |
Succulent aster |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 9/9/21
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Fuzzybean (Strophostyles genus) |
Little Blue Herons |
Marsh grass |
Palamedes Swallowtail |
Purple False Foxglove |
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Rattlebox (Sesbania punicea) |
Saltmarsh Mallow (Kosteletzkya virginica) |
Saltmarsh Mallow (Kosteletzkya virginica) |
Sanderling |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 9/8/21
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Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) |
Canal |
Coastal Waterhyssop (Bacopa monnieri) |
Crablike Spined Orb Weaver |
Creeping Cucumber (Melothria pendula) |
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Cypress Vine (Ipomoea quamoclit) and fuzzybean (Strophostyles genus) |
Dogday cicada |
Lanceleaf Fogfruit (Phyla lanceolata) |
Mourning Dove |
Pinewoods Rose Gentian |
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Slender Glass Lizard |
Squirrel Treefrog |
Same Squirrel Treefrog, staring to turn green (eventually became all green) |
Whitetop Sedge (Rhynchospora colorata) |
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Springer's Point Nature Preserve, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 9/7/21
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American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) |
Largeleaf Pennywort (Hydrocotyle bonariensis) |
Another Largeleaf Pennywort (Hydrocotyle bonariensis) |
Big fish |
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Ghost Crab |
Same Ghost Crab trying to scale a log |
Same Ghost Crab entering a hole (after having gone under the log) |
Pea, maybe Panicled Tick Trefoil (Desmodium paniculatum) |
Another such pea |
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Sea Oxeye Daisy (Borrichia frutescens) |
Spotted Bee Balm (Monarda punctata), with only one flower left |
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Ocracoke Beach, Hyde County, NC 9/6/21
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Black-backed Gull |
Not quite breeding Black-bellied Plover |
Not quite breeding Black-bellied Plover |
Female Cloudless Sulphur on a Beach Morning Glory (Ipomoea imperati) |
Another female Cloudless Sulphur on a Beach Morning Glory (Ipomoea imperati) |
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Female Cloudless Sulphur on a Beach Morning Glory (Ipomoea imperati) |
Male Cloudless Sulphur on a Beach Morning Glory (Ipomoea imperati) |
Another female Cloudless Sulphur on a Beach Morning Glory (Ipomoea imperati) |
Bonaparte's Gull |
Breeding Sanderling |
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First-year Sanderling |
Female Seaside Dragonlet |
Tern |
Same tern |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 9/6/21
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Assassin bug (Zelus luridus) |
Birdfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) |
Carolina Anole |
Chaste Tree (Vitex agnus-castus) |
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Lanceleaf Fogfruit (Phyla lanceolata) |
Paper wasp |
Pin-striped Slug Moth |
Porcelain Berries |
Rattlebox (Sesbania punicea) flowers |
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Rattlebox (Sesbania punicea) seed pods |
Carolina Saddlebags |
Same Carolina Saddlebags |
Male Seaside Dragonlet |
Male Seaside Dragonlet |
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Clouded Skipper |
Old or diseased Squirrel Treefrog |
Same old or diseased Squirrel Treefrog |
Another Squirrel Treefrog |
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Sunset |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 9/5/21
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Coastal Waterhyssop (Bacopa monnieri) |
Squirrel Treefrog |
Another Squirrel Treefrog |
Another Squirrel Treefrog |
Another Squirrel Treefrog |
Pamlico Sound, Hyde County, NC 9/5/21
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Boat leaving Ocracoke as we were coming in |
Departing ferry |
Ferry wake |
Midge on ferry |
Paraglider near Ocracoke |
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Brown Pelicans on Big Foot Island |
Closer view of Brown Pelicans on Big Foot Island |
Shrimp boat |
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Swan Quarter, Hyde County, NC 9/5/21
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Dogday Cicada |
Great Blue Heron |
Osprey |
Passionflower |
Pokeberry on piling |
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Royal Tern |
Another Royal Tern |
Royal Terns |
Saltmarsh Morning Glory |
Male Seaside Dragonlet, still marginally teneral |
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Male Seaside Dragonlet |
Another male Seaside Dragonlet |
Female Seaside Dragonlet |
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5/1/21
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Possibly a White Campion, but the calyxes are too hairy and the petals too simple |
Part of an Ocracoke house near Route 12, viewed from the ball field |
Frog sculpture at Heron's Landing |
Spiny Sowthistle (Sonchus asper) |
Heron's Landing, viewed from the ball field |
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Morning Glories (anomalous Ipomoea purpurea) |
Mourning Dove |
Ballfield scoreboard |
Sow Thistle seedheads |
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Hammock Hills Nature Preserve, Ocracoke Island, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Hyde County, NC 4/30/21
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Juniper Hairstreak |
Karl |
Pearl Crescent |
Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) flowers and leaves |
Amber |
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Eastern Blue-eyed Grass |
Fowler's Toad |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/30/21
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Carolina Anole |
Aphid |
White Campion (Silene latifolia) |
Another White Campion (Silene latifolia) |
Seen in a patch of White Clover, it was perhaps a mutant. |
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Coral Honeysuckle |
More Coral Honeysuckle |
Large mystery mosquito |
Dwarf Blue-eyed Grass |
Eastern Blue-eyed Grass |
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Eastern Blue-eyed Grass |
Departing ferry and channel marker |
Yellow Firewheel |
Firewheels (Gaillardia pulchella) |
Fowler's Toad |
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Morning Glory |
Thicket Bean or Sandhills Bean (Phaseolus polystachios var. sinuatus) |
Another Thicket Bean or Sandhills Bean (Phaseolus polystachios var. sinuatus) |
Another Thicket Bean or Sandhills Bean (Phaseolus polystachios var. sinuatus) |
Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria) |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/29/21
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Aphid exuvia |
Asian Multi-colored Ladybug Beetle |
Manyflower Marsh-Pennywort (Hydrocotyle umbellata) |
Black Willow flowers |
Black Willow flowers and buds |
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Black Willow flower |
Black Willow flowers, from a different angle |
Brookweed (Samolus parviflorus) |
Another Brookweed (Samolus parviflorus) |
Common Vetch (Vicia sativa) |
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Milkweed Assassin Bug |
Pearl Crescent |
Whitetop Sedge |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/28/21
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Mustard plants |
Narrow-leaf Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium) |
Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria) flowers |
Coral Honeysuckle |
Grounselbush Beetle (Trirhabda bacharidis) |
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Fleabane |
Gray Catbird |
Hooked Buttercup |
Low Hop Clover |
March fly |
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Northern Mockingbird |
Multiflora Rose, with Virginia Creeper |
Multiflora Rose |
Mustard |
Common Starling |
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Mystery vine |
Yellow Thistle |
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Ramp 59, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, Hyde County, NC 4/27/21
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American Sea Rocket |
Boat |
Cedars |
Crab tracks |
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Eastern Towhee |
Large washed-up fish |
Ring-billed Gull, victim of Hurricane Dorian |
Hurricane damage |
More hurricane damage |
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As far as we could go |
Osprey |
Same Osprey |
Same Osprey |
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Prickly Pear fruit |
Male Red-winged Blackbird singing |
Sanderlings |
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Sanderlings |
Same Sanderlings |
Some Sanderlings |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/27/21
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Aphids |
Mystery bush |
Groundselbush (Trirhabda bacharidis) |
Groundselbush (Trirhabda bacharidis) |
Larva and an exuvia |
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Milkweed Assassin Bug |
Milkweed Assassin Bug |
Male Spotless Ladybug Beetle |
Male Spotless Ladybug Beetle |
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Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, Hyde County, NC 4/26/21
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Firewheels |
Sanderling |
Flying Sanderlings |
Sanderlings |
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Sanderlings |
Willet |
Same Willet |
Another Willet |
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Willets and Sanderlings |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/26/21
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Ocracoke sunrise |
Aphids |
Milkweed Assassin Bug nymph with fly prey |
Milkweed Assassin Bug nymph with fly prey |
Milkweed Assassin Bug nymph with fly prey |
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Big Milkweed Bug |
Blowfly |
Curly Dock |
Eastern Blue-eyed Grass |
Fish reaching for food on pond surface |
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Same fish |
Flea beetle larva (Trirhabda bacharidis) |
Tiny fly |
View of Pamlico Sound from the other side of Route 12 |
Northern Mockingbird |
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Northern Mockingbird |
Pearl Crescent |
Pink Wood-sorrel |
Soldier fly (Stratiomyini tribe) |
Sow Thistle |
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Another Squirrel Treefrog |
Another Squirrel Treefrog |
Same Squirrel Treefrog |
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Ocracoke and Swan Quarter, Hyde County, NC 4/25/21
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Brown Pelican |
Double-crested Cormorants and a few gulls on Big Foot Island |
Double-crested Cormorants and many gulls on Big Foot Island |
Beach Evening Primrose |
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Double-crested Cormorants on Big Foot Island with Ocracoke houses in the background |
View from our deck in Ocracoke |
Dwarf Dandelion |
Eastern Blue-eyed Grass, still unfolding in the morning |
Brookweed or Water Pimpernel (Samolus parviflorus) |
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Eurasian Collared Dove in Ocracoke |
Gulls on Big Foot Island |
House on the big marsh in Ocracoke |
Killdeer in Swan Quarter |
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Full moon |
Ocracats is an organized effort to support feral cats in an Ocracoke neighborhood. |
Pink Wood-sorrel (Oxalis debilis) in Swan Quarter |
Little Quaking Grass (Briza minor) in Ocracoke |
Birdfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) in Ocracoke |
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Flying Killdeer |
Two other Killdeers, one flying |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/21/19
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Spotless Ladybug Beetle (Cycloneda sanguinea) |
Same Spotless Ladybug Beetle (Cycloneda sanguinea) |
Vedalia Beetle (Rodolia cardinalis) |
Vedalia Beetle pupa |
Cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi), natural prey of Vedalia Beetles. |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/20/19
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Polished Ladybug Beetle (Cycloneda munda) |
Mating Vedalia Beetles (Rodolia cardinalis) |
Aphids |
More aphids |
Cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi), natural prey of Vedalia Beetles. ID thanks to Ken Wolgemuth. |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/19/19
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American Oystercatcher, at the north end of the island |
Same American Oystercatcher |
Anchor Bug (Stiretrus anchorago), in town |
Moth fly (in town) |
Atlantic Ocean |
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Heron's Landing, seen from the beach |
Sanderlings, far up the beach |
Squirrel treefrog |
Another squirrel treefrog |
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Willet and Sanderlings, far up the beach |
Willet struggling to keep its balance in the strong winds |
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Ocracoke Island (Hammock Hills Nature Trail), Hyde County, NC 4/18/19
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Carolina Anole |
Eastern Blue-eyed Grass |
Flesh fly |
Fowler's Toad |
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Blooming Poison Ivy |
Sawtooth Blackberry |
Tiny wasp |
Fowler's Toad |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/18/19
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Kite |
Public beach |
Palamedes Swallowtail |
Sanderling |
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Sandwich Tern |
Willet |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/17/19
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Birdfoot Trefoil |
House |
Eurasian Collared Dove courtship ritual: the dove on the right bowed repeatedly. |
Another scene from the Eurasian Collared Dove courtship ritual |
Little Quaking Grass (Briza minor) |
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Male House Sparrow |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/16/19
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Brown-headed Cowbird |
Fledgling Brown-headed Cowbird struggling to catch its balance |
Feral cat. There is a substantial population of cats given food by residents, otherwise on their own. |
Coral Honeysuckle |
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Daisy Fleabane |
Eurasian Collared Dove |
Evening Primrose |
Happy Easter yard display |
Female House Sparrow |
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Marsh during the golden hour |
Mint plants |
Mourning Dove |
Osprey aircraft in helicopter mode |
Same Osprey aircraft |
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Red Admiral |
Common Starling |
Yellow Thistle (Cirsium horridulum) |
Violet Wood-sorrel |
Wisteria |
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Wisteria branch |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/15/19
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Brown Pelican |
Daisy Fleabane |
Eastern Blue-eyed Grass |
Firewheel |
Mystery grass |
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Female House Sparrow |
Fledgling House Sparrow |
Same fledgling House Sparrow |
Same fledgling House Sparrow |
Ring-billed Gulls and a Laughing Gull |
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Sea Oxeye Daisies |
Violet Wood-Sorrel |
Asters |
Wisteria |
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Carolina Wren |
Eastern Blue-eyed Grass |
False Garlic (Crow Poison) |
Grackle |
Little Quaking Grass (Briza minor) |
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Gull |
Mystery iris, thriving in a large marsh |
Shield-backed bug |
Black Willow male catkins |
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Ocracoke Island (nearest beach to town), Hyde County, NC 5/26/18
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Black Skimmer |
Ghost Crab |
Laughing Gull |
Red Knots |
Red Knots in flight |
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More flying Red Knots |
Red Knots seeking mollusks |
Large group of Red Knots |
Another view of that group |
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Red Knots, two in breeding plumage |
More Red Knots |
Yet more Red Knots |
Breeding Sanderling |
Juvie Sanderling |
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Semipalmated Plover |
Same Semipalmated Plover |
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Ocracoke Island (Southpoint), Hyde County, NC 5/25/18
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Eastern Mud Turtle |
Deer Fly |
Grackle |
Great Egret |
Female Needham's Skimmer |
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Male Needham's Skimmer? |
Female Needham's Skimmer |
Teneral Eastern Pondhawk |
Red-winged Blackbird |
Same Red-winged Blackbird |
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Red-winged Blackbird |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/25/18
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Probably Lanceleaf Fogfruit |
Another Lanceleaf Fogfruit |
Moon |
Shield-backed bug |
Cat with bird prey? |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/24/18
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Floats |
Mourning Dove |
Sandwich Tern over North Pond |
Same Sandwich Tern |
Wharf Crab in a residential neighborhood |
Ocracoke Island (nearest public beach), Hyde County, NC 5/23/18
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Breeding Black-bellied Plover |
Another Black-bellied Plover |
Same Black-bellied Plover |
Red Knot |
Same Red Knot |
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Breeding Ruddy Turnstone |
Same Ruddy Turnstone |
Sanderling facing away from the wind |
Sanderling, with maybe transitional plumage |
Nonbreeding Sanderling |
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Breeding Sanderling |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/23/18
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Male Red-winged Blackbird on a cedar |
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Springer's Point, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/22/18
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Mating Redbelly Water Snakes |
Same mating Redbelly Water Snakes |
Sandwich Tern |
Sandwich Tern |
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Thicket Bean (Phaseolus polystachios var. sinuatus) |
Prickly Pear |
Another Prickly Pear |
Another Prickly Pear |
Male Northern Cardinal |
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Fowler's Toad |
Northern Mockingbird |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/22/18
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Male Carolina Anole displaying |
Feral tabby cat |
Eurasian Collared Dove |
Female Needham's Skimmer |
White-topped Sedge |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/21/18
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Sweat bee (Agapostemon genus) on Firewheel flower |
Same sweat bee |
Common Starling |
Squirrel Treefrog |
(Yellow) Firewheel |
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Pink Wood-Sorrel |
Male House Sparrow |
Great Egret |
Gray Catbird |
Firewheels |
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Eurasian Collared Dove |
Same Eurasian Collared Dove |
Flying Double-crested Cormorant |
Same Double-crested Cormorant |
|
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/27/17
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Variegated Fritillary on White Clover |
Squirrel Treefrog (Hyla squirella) |
Slender Ladies' Tresses orchid (Spiranthes lacera) |
Closer look at the same Slender Ladies' Tresses orchid |
Ladies tresses flower from side |
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Spring Ladies' Tresses orchid |
Close-up of a Ladies Tresses group of flowers, showing orange and yellow interiors |
A group of Ladies Tresses flowers from another plant, showing just a green-yellow interior |
Plant bug, seen on building exterior |
Same plant bug |
Ocracoke Island (near beach), Hyde County, NC 5/27/17
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Ruddy Turnstone, nearly in full breeding plumage |
Same Ruddy Turnstone |
Sanderling in breeding plumage |
Another Sanderling in breeding plumage |
Same Sanderling |
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Non-breeding Sanderling |
Breeding Willet |
Firewheels |
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|
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/26/17
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Eurasian Collared Dove |
Artwork on a house |
Fort Ocracoke memorial plaque |
Seen at a business |
Killdeer |
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View across the North Pond |
Sanderlings flying across the North Pond |
Snowy Egret at the North Pond, near the downtown area |
Sunset |
Sunset reflected in a window |
Ocracoke Island (north shore), Hyde County, NC 5/26/17
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American Oystercatcher |
Same American Oystercatcher |
Washed-up blowfish |
Ship dredging channels |
Eastern Beach Tiger Beetle |
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Same Eastern Beach Tiger Beetle |
Same Eastern Beach Tiger Beetle |
Ferry arriving at Silver Lake |
Young Ghost Crab |
Largeleaf Pennywort (Hydrocotyle bonariensis) |
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Sanderling |
Another Sanderling |
Sandspurs |
Seaweed |
A view of the shore |
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Spider wasp (in dunes) |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/25/17
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Sandhill Bean (Phaseolus sinuatus) |
View of the marsh |
Ladies tresses orchid (Spiranthes genus) |
Fowler's Toad |
Figurine in front yard |
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Aphid |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/24/17
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Male Northern Cardinal |
Feral cat (seen at old lighthouse) |
Fowler's Toad |
Male House Sparrow |
Female Mallard |
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Mandevilla |
Salt Marsh Mallow |
Male Common Starling in breeding plumage |
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Ocracoke Island (north shore), Hyde County, NC 5/24/17
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Sanderling in breeding plumage |
Another Sanderling in non-breeding plumage |
Common Tern |
Same Common Tern |
Same Common Tern |
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Male Brackish-water Fiddler Crab |
Tiny beetle in the dunes |
Male Rambur's Forktail |
Ghost Crab |
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Jellyfish |
Royal Tern |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/22/17
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A lone Laughing Gull at Silver Lake |
The gull issues several cries. |
Another view |
A second gull arrives. |
The courtship ritual begins. |
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The gull that came looks down. |
They brush beaks. |
Now the caller looks up. |
Purple Morning Glory vine |
Mourning Dove taking off. |
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Male Red-winged Blackbird |
Same male Red-winged Blackbird |
Sanderling in breeding plumage |
Another Sanderling, also in breeding plumage |
Juvie Gray Catbird |
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Barn Swallow |
Bike sculpture |
Feral cat |
Male Eastern Towhee (very early) |
Grass flowers |
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Gray Catbird |
Laughing Gulls and Herring Gulls compete for scraps tossed from a nearby restaurant |
Male House Sparrow |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/21/17
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Eurasian Collared Doves |
The USDA calls this a "rattlebox" (Sesbania punicea). It's a kind of locust tree, a member of the pea family (Fabaceae) and is native to South America. It's considered to be invasive and a noxious weed in Florida and California, but North Carolina's chilly winters keep it in check. |
White-topped Sedge flower |
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Pamlico Sound and Big Foot Island, Hyde County, NC 5/21/17
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Brown Pelicans on Big Foot Island |
Another view of Brown Pelicans on Big Foot Island |
More Brown Pelicans on Big Foot Island |
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Diving tern over Pamlico Sound. Probably a nonbreeding Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) |
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Swan Quarter, Hyde County, NC 5/21/17
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Barn Swallow in flight |
Barn Swallow, also in flight |
Delaware Skipper |
Killdeer |
Same Killdeer |
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Killdeer |
Female Needham's Skimmer |
Palatka Skipper |
Female Seaside Dragonlet |
Perhaps teneral female Seaside Dragonlet |
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Male Seaside Skimmer, nearly adult |
Teneral male Seaside Skimmer |
Another teneral male Seaside Skimmer |
Male Seaside Skimmer, nearly adult |
Adult male Seaside Skimmer |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/29/16 (seen from the departing ferry)
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Cormorants flying south |
Big Foot Island just before dawn |
A better view of Big Foot Island, showing pelicans and other birds |
A similar view, closer to sunrise |
Cormorants flying south |
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Cormorants flying from Big Foot Island toward Ocracoke (south) |
The Village of Ocracoke |
Big Foot Island |
Distant cormorants |
Harbor House |
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Egrets |
Another view of these egrets |
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Nature Trail, Ocracoke Island, Hyde County, NC 10/28/16
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Male Brackish-water Fiddler Crab standing his ground |
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Ocracoke Island (north end), Hyde County, NC 10/27/16
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Nonbreeding Black-bellied Plover |
Another nonbreeding Black-bellied Plover |
Probably first-year Piping Plover, which alternated between walking toward me and facing away |
Same Piping Plover, which eventually flew around me. |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/27/16
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Common Starlings |
Common Starlings |
Double-crested Cormorant |
Brown Pelican flying toward setting sun |
After sunset |
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Before sunset |
Closer up |
Same sunset scene with glare screened out |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/26/16
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Double-crested Cormorant |
Eurasian Collared Dove |
Grackle |
Mallard ducklings |
Mystery bird |
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Interesting street corner |
Fishing mistake |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/25/16
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Monarch |
Yellow-rumped Warbler |
Same Yellow-rumped Warbler |
Same Yellow-rumped Warbler |
Another Yellow-rumped Warbler |
Springer's Point Nature Preserve, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/25/16
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Eastern Phoebe |
Northern Mockingbird |
Hens |
Cooper's Hawk |
Raccoon sculpture |
Ocracoke Island (north shore), Hyde County, NC 10/24/16
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Nonbreeding Black-bellied Plover |
Same Black-bellied Plover |
Cormorants |
Ghost Crab |
Grasshopper |
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Great Black-backed Gull |
Flock of Great Black-backed Gulls |
Four Black-backed Gulls |
The north end, where the effects of the Hurricane Matthew are seen |
Yellow-rumped Warbler, one of several nearby |
Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Hyde County, NC 10/24/16
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Yellow-rumped Warbler |
Juvie Yellow-rumped Warbler |
Yellow-rumped Warbler in a marsh |
Another juvie Yellow-rumped Warbler |
Female Red-winged Blackbird |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/23/16
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Double-crested Cormorant |
Mallard-American Black Duck hybrid pair |
Common flower in the neighborhood |
Sunset over Silver Lake |
Yellow-rumped Warbler eating berries in a Wax Myrtle bush |
Springer's Point Nature Preserve, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 10/23/16
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Northern Mockingbird, actually slightly outside the Preserve |
Yellow-rumped Warbler |
Another Yellow-rumped Warbler |
Remains of a horseshoe crab |
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Big Foot Island, Hyde County, NC 10/22/16
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Double-crested Cormorants and gulls |
A longer view of the Double-crested Cormorants and gulls |
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Pamlico Sound, Hyde County, NC 10/22/16
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Royal Tern |
Laughing Gull |
Laughing Gulls, with fish prey |
Juvenile Brown Pelican landing |
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Swan Quarter, Hyde County, NC 10/22/16
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Blowfly |
Midge |
Royal Tern about to land |
What is the one Royal Tern saying? Flying by are a gull, an adult Royal Tern, and a juvenile. |
Interspecies conversation (including Laughing Gull) |
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Royal Terns and Laughing Gulls, both |
A quiet scene, during a rare moment when both Royal Terns were looking in the same direction |
Sometimes one Royal Tern bumps another one off its perch. In this case, an adult is the one displaying bad manners, while these two juveniles are still unsuspecting. |
Another interesting conversation, perhaps, "You can't land here!" |
One perched Royal Tern watches two other terns pass through. |
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More Royal Tern activity: "Don't even think of landing here!" |
You can see who's boss, at least on this piling. |
It's interesting to see how Royal Terns wriggle their wings when moved in on. |
"Sorry, buddy, but we don't think there's a place for you." |
An adult Royal Tern flies by, watched by two juveniles. |
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One Royal Tern scolds another. |
"Don't even think of doing that!" |
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Ocracoke (beach), Hyde County, NC 4/23/16
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Non-breeding, molting Black-bellied Plover |
Sanderling |
Willet |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/23/16
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Male Northern Cardinal |
Carpet Beetle |
House Sparrow gathering nesting material from cattails |
Male Red-winged Blackbird in cedar tree |
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Springer's Point Nature Preserve, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/22/16
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Beach |
Male Red-winged Blackbird |
Yellow-rumped Warbler |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/22/16
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Banner |
Birdfoot Trefoil |
Birdfoot Trefoil with some faded (fertilized?) flowers |
Evening Primrose |
Houses across the marsh |
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Mite, 1-2 mm long |
Blue-eyed Grass |
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Ocracoke (beach), Hyde County, NC 4/21/16
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Double-crested Cormorant |
Another Double-crested Cormorant |
Mostly gulls on a sand bar |
Tricolored Heron |
Same Tricolored Heron |
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Tricolored Heron and crow |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/21/16
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Barn Swallow |
Barn Swallows |
Blue Jay |
Brown Pelican |
Meadow Garlic (Allium canadense) |
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Big house on the marsh |
Pink Wood-Sorrel |
Common Starling |
Blue Toadflax |
Yellow-rumped Warbler |
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/20/16
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Birdfoot Trefoil in the middle of the day |
Birdfoot Trefoil in the early morning |
Male Northern Cardinal |
Eurasian Collared Dove |
Another Eurasian Collared Dove |
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Great Egret, with green patch indicating breeding status |
Mallard duckling without a family |
A drainage ditch in the big marsh on the south end |
Sunrise |
Tricolored Heron flying past the pier |
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Yellowlegs |
Same yellowlegs |
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Ocracoke (beach scenes were at north end of the island), Hyde County, NC 4/19/16
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Crow |
Egg cases |
Eurasian Collared Dove |
Small Ghost Crab |
Left at tombstone in the town cemetery |
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House Sparrow |
Another House Sparoow |
Osprey aircraft flying low over the marsh |
Another view of the Osprey aircraft |
Palamedes butterfly |
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Interesting street sign |
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Ocracoke (halfway up the island), Hyde County, NC 4/18/16
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Small Ghost Crab |
Blue-eyed Grass |
Grackle (nature trail) |
Palamedes Swallowtail (nature trail) |
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Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 4/18/16
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Barn Swallow |
Beach |
Female Northern Cardinal at Springer's Point Nature Preserve |
Eurasian Collared Dove |
Another Eurasian Collared Dove |
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Grackle |
Gulls in a cedar tree |
Hen |
Male House Finch |
Same male House Finch |
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Male House Finch |
Male Mallard, possibly hybrid w/ American Black Duck |
Mourning Dove |
Palamedes Swallowtail |
Rooster |
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Common Starling |
Sunrise |
Yellow-rumped Warbler in breeding plumage |
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Pamlico Sound, Hyde County, NC 4/17/16
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Swan Quarter |
Swan Quarter |
Herring Gull |
Gull |
Common Loon taking off |
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Herring Gull |
An island |
Laughing Gull |
Herring Gull |
Herring Gull |
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Juvenile Herring Full |
Herring Gulls |
Herring Gulls |
Several Herring Gulls that apparently dove for the same object |
Many Herring Gulls following the ferry's wake |
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Juvenile Herring Gull |
Cormorants and gulls on Big Foot Island, which was created by dredging ferry channels |
Double-crest Cormorant |
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4/19/15 (shortly before dawn)
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Squirrel Treefrog?
This one was much bigger than the one on the right. But
this is a very variable species. |
Squirrel Treefrog |
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4/18/15
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Willet |
Sanderlings and a gull |
Sanderlings |
Ghost Crab |
Feral cat.
Not seen at the beach, but put here for convenience. |
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Springer's Point Nature Preserve, 4/17/15
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Great
Crested Flycatcher |
Snake |
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4/17/15
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Palamedes Swallowtail |
American Oystercatchers |
Horned Grebes |
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Grackle
reacting to cat |
Feral cat
eating grass |
Crane flies
mating |
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4/15/15
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Sixteen Mallard ducklings |
Karl at Herons
Landing |
Female
Rambur's Forktail, seen at Nature Trail outside of town |
Two Green
Anoles apparently battling for territory; one was biting the
other. |
Green Anole |
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Tiny caterpillar, seen at Nature
Trail |
Male
Red-winged Blackbird |
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4/14/15
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Male House
Sparrow |
American Mink
(Neovison vison) |
Same mink |
Same mink |
Same mink |
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White Ibis |
Shield-backed bug |
Mallards |
Green Heron |
Eurasian Collared Dove |
4/13/15
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Blue-eyed Grass |
Common
Shore Tiger Beetle |
Cormorants and Royal Terns |
Willet |
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5/24/12
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Red Knot flying |
Two Red Knots |
Black-bellied Plover |
Sanderling |
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Eurasian Collared Dove |
Black-bellied Plover |
Firewheels |
Bee fly at bee nest |
White-topped Sedge |
North shore of Ocracoke Island, 5/23/12
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_small.JPG) |
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Eastern Beach Tiger Beetle
(Cicindela dorsalis). The genus name may have recently
been changed. |
Marbled Godwit |
Marbled Godwit and
Sanderling |
Same Marbled Godwit and
Sanderling |
Firewheels, in a small
patch on a dune |
In town, 5/23/12
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A feral dog barking at me |
The same dog barking at my
husband |
Bird's-foot Trefoil |
Mallard bathing in a large
puddle left by a big storm |
Bear Grass |
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The south end |
Violet Wood Sorrel (perhaps
a member of the same species as Pink Wood Sorrel: maybe
lighting accounts for the slight difference in color) |
White-topped Sedge |
Brown-headed Cowbirds |
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5/13/09
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Male Fiddler Crab, trying to intimidate me |
Same crab, looking intimidated by my much taller husband. |
Eastern Blue-eyed Grass |
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Springer's
Point Nature Preserve, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC 5/12/09
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Ladybug Beetle (Cycloneda mundi) |
Blue-tipped Dancer |
Little Wood Satyr (ventral) |
Little Wood Satyr (dorsal) |
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North end
of the island, NC 5/12/09
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Salt
Marsh Skipper |
Salt Marsh Skipper, ventral view |
Robber
fly |
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5/11/09
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Milkweed Assassin Bug (Zelus longipes) |
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May 13-16, 2007
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Cattle Egret,
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC, 5/16/07 |
Male Brown-headed Cowbird,
Ocracoke, Hyde
County, NC, 5/16/07 |
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus),
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC, 5/15/07 |
Male Red-winged Blackbird,
Ocracoke, Hyde
County, NC, 5/15/07. These birds can control how much of the red
portion of their wings shows. |
Fish Crow,
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC, 5/15/07 |
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White Ibises,
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC,
5/15/07. Note the grayish juvenile. |
White Ibises, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC, 5/15/07 |
White Ibises,
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC, 5/15/07 |
Juvenile Brown Pelican, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC, 5/14/07 |
Probably hybrid goose (Greylag/Canada Goose), Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC,
5/14/07 |
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Snowy Egret, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC, 5/14/07 |
Royal Tern, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC, 5/14/07 |
European Starling, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC, 5/14/07 |
Barn Swallow, Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC, 5/14/07 |
May 9-11, 2006
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Sachem, 5/9/06 |
Juniper Hairstreak, 5/10/06 |
Salt Marsh Skipper, 5/10/06. See more
grass skippers. |
Little Wood Satyr, 5/11/06 |
Stilt-legged Fly, 5/11/06 |
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Ghost Crab, 5/11/06. See more
crustaceans. |
Male Brackish-water Fiddler Crab, 5/11/06 |
Land Birds
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Great Crested Flycatcher
(Myarchus crinitus),
Town of
Ocracoke, 5/15/05. |
Male European Starling,
Ocracoke, Hyde County,
NC, 5/9/06 |
Fish Crow,
Ocracoke, 5/9/06 |
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica), Ocracoke, Hyde County,
NC, 5/19/05 |
Male
Red-winged Blackbird, Ocracoke, Hyde
County, NC, 5/9/06 |
Geese
Canada Goose and Greylag Goose
interspecies mating is suggested by some of these scenes. I first
saw this interspecies couple in 2003 and last saw what may have been them in
2005, when they mostly sat around.
In May 2006, I saw no Greylag Geese and
all of the Canada Geese were youthful and energetic. They and the
apparent hybrids pictured below, perhaps the offspring of the original couple,
stayed together in a group, but no coupling was apparent. There were four
apparent hybrids in all, and about the same number of Canada Geese.
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Goose family, town of Ocracoke, NC, 5/12/03. Definitely not a
typical Canada Goose (Branta Canadensis) family here! The other
adult is a Greylag Goose. I counted 8
goslings, one of
which seems to be facing toward me. (Canada Goose goslings are
tawny.) |
A little over two years later (town of
Ocracoke, 5/18/05), I
spotted what appears to be this odd couple again. They stayed on
land this time, mostly sitting or eating grass, and I saw them on several different days
in the same general area. I didn't see them in May 2006. |
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Apparent
Canada Goose/Greylag Goose
hybrid, maybe the offspring of the couple on the left, Ocracoke, Hyde
County, NC, 5/18/05. This goose and its Canada Goose companion
hung around with the goose couple in the picture on the left in the
evenings. |
The goose on the right (also pictured at
left) hung around with this Canada Goose, doing some swimming and some
flying. The last time I saw them, they had spotted something
interesting in Silver Lake and were flying toward it, honking wildly.
Note the contrast between the Canada Goose on the left and the
apparent hybrid on the right. Even though goslings had appeared in Ocracoke in
mid-May of 2003, none of any species showed up this time anywhere on Ocracoke Island. |
Apparently a
Canada Goose/Greylag Goose
hybrid. Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC, 5/10/06 |
Canada Goose, Ocracoke, Hyde County,
NC, 5/10/06 |
Others
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Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax
nycticorax), town of Ocracoke, 5/19/05. As its name
suggests, this heron is mainly nocturnal. |
Tricolored Heron
(Egretta tricolor),
Ocracoke, Hyde
County, NC, 5/10/06 |
Tricolored Heron,
Ocracoke, 5/10/06 |
Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis), Ocracoke, Hyde
County, NC, 5/10/06 |
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Royal Tern (Sterna maxima), in breeding plumage,
Ocracoke Island, Hyde County, NC, in flight, 5/9/06 |
Royal Terns (in breeding plumage), Ocracoke
Island, Hyde County, NC, perhaps greeting the Hatteras Ferry, 5/9/06. |
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola),
Ocracoke Island, 5/16/05 (breeding plumage). |
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Juvenile Sanderling
(Calidris alba), Ocracoke, 5/9/04. A kind of
sandpiper. |
Dunlin
(Calidris alpina), Ocracoke, Hyde County,
NC, 5/10/06. Breeding plumage. |
Ruddy Turnstones (Atenaria interpres), in
breeding plumage, Ocracoke
Island, 5/16/05. These migratory birds summer in northern Canada. |
Ruddy Turnstone,
also in breeding plumage
Ocracoke Island,
5/16/05. |
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Willet
(Catoptrophorus semipalmatus), Ocracoke,
5/10/06 |
Spotted Sandpiper
(Actitis macularia), Ocracoke,
Hyde County, NC, 5/10/06 |
Greater Yellowlegs,
Ocracoke, Hyde County, NC,
5/10/06 |
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American Oystercatcher
(Haematopus
palliatus), Ocracoke Island (north shore), 5/9/04.
|
American Oystercatcher,
Ocracoke,
Hyde County, NC, 5/10/06 |
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American Coot (Fulica americana),
Ocracoke Island, Hyde County, NC, 5/19/05. |
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Female
Common Green Darner (Anax junius), Ocracoke Island, 5/17/05 |
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Another adult
Laughing Gull, Ocracoke, 5/14/04. |
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Prickly Pears and a Scallop shell, 5/18/05 |
Live Map of the town of Ocracoke (expandable)
View Larger Map
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Copyright © 2006-2020 Dorothy E. Pugh