Home
 Field and Swamp: Animals and Their Habitats

Click on arrows to show pull-down menus:

              

Archived-by-Date Pages

 

Bogue Banks (Barrier Island), Carteret County, NC

This island, also known as the "Crystal Coast," includes one site of the North Carolina Aquarium, next to the Theodore Roosevelt Natural Area.  See the live map at the bottom of the page; click on "See Larger Map" to navigate.

Fort Macon State Park, Atlantic Beach, Carteret County, NC 9/14/25

Dune Bluecurls (Trichostema nesophilum) Monarch on Pennsylvania Smartweed Orb Weaver with dragonfly prey Salt Marsh Morning Glory flowers Eastern Black Nightshade (Solanum ptycanthum)

     
Vegetation bordering a pond Duckweed-laden pond      

Alice Hoffman Trail, North Carolina Aquarium, Pine Knoll Shores, NC 9/13/25

 
Juvie Tricolored Heron escaping from crab Adult Tricolored Heron Another Tricolored Heron Holly Tree  

Southern Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago mexicana) Snowy Egret Pine pollen in the water Osprey Juvie Little Blue Heron

Gulf fritillary on other side of inlet Great Egret Great Egret flying Crab shell Maybe a crab shell

       
Bald Eagle, apparently captive        

Atlantic Beach, Carteret County, NC 9/13/25

 
Wave Mystery spider clinging to leaf Sanderling Same Sanderling  

 
Ruddy Turnstone Same Ruddy Turnstone Pink Fuzzybean Brown Pelican  

Fort Macon State Park, Carteret County, NC 9/12/25

Velvet ant (Timulla vagans) Trumper Creeper fruits Semi-palmated Sandpiper, in a duckweed-covered pond Rusty Spider Wasp (Tachypompilus ferrugineus) Same Rusty Spider Wasp (Tachypompilus ferrugineus)

Royal Tern Frogfruit Dune Bluecurls Cloudless Sulphur on a Salt Marsh Morning Glory Cloudless Sulphur

   
Teneral Blue Dasher Atlantic Dunerobber (Laphystia litoralis), on the beach, but on a trail leading to the water Juvie White Ibis    

Hoop Pole Creek Trail, Atlantic Beach, Carteret County, NC 9/11/25

 
House on island, with boardwalk leading to it American Beautyberry Another American Beautyberry Paper Mulberry  

 
Woodland Lettuce (Lactuca floridana) flower and seedheads Woodland Lettuce flower Woodland Lettuce flower and leaf Flowering portion of Woodland Lettuce  

Atlantic Beach, Carteret County, NC 9/11/25

Tumbling flower beetle (Mordella genus), about thrip-size Whorled Pennywort blooms Swamp Rosemallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) Prickly Pears Pink Fuzzybean flowers and beans

Pink Fuzzybean flowers and beans Pink Fuzzybean flowers and beans Green Lynx Spider with leaf-footed bug prey and small flies Green Lynx Spider with leaf-footed bug prey and small flies Maybe a lesser dung fly (Sclerocoelus genus)

Firewheels in grass Firewheels on dune Anomalous Firewheel Another mostly anomalous Firewheel Yellow Firewheel

     
Dune Camphorweed Mystery bugs      

Fort Macon State Park, Atlantic Beach, Carteret County, NC  12/26/21

 
Double-crested Cormorants Some of the same Double-crested Cormorants Killdeer Same Killdeer  

 
Red Admiral on Karl's pant leg Sanderling Sea foam Swamp Rabbit  

Rough waters on the Atlantic Ocean White Ibises Yellow-rumped Warbler   Another Yellow-rumped Warbler

   
Another Yellow-rumped Warbler        

Hoop Pole Creek Trail, Atlantic Beach, Carteret County, NC  12/25/21

American Robin Same American Robin Carolina Chickadee Male Downy Woodpecker Same male Dowy Woodpecker

       
Juvie Yellow-bellied Sapsucker        

Pine Knoll Shores, Carteret County, NC  12/25/21

Atlantic Ocean Bogue Sound Brown Pelican Camellia Common Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris)

Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) Mourning Dove and Boat-tailed Grackle Eurasian Collared Dove Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens)

Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) Male Boat-tail Grackle Hairy White Oldfield Aster Male House Sparrows

Male House Sparrows Maritime forest Northern Mockingbird Same Northern Mockingbird Moon

   
Mourning Dove Mourning Doves Common Starlings    

Theodore Roosevelt Natural Area, Pine Knoll Shores, Carteret County, NC  12/24/21

 
Karl Snowy Egret Willet Yellow-rumped Warbler  

Fort Macon State Park, Atlantic Beach, Carteret County, NC  12/24/21

 
Christmas tree Male House Sparrow Kite-surfer Sanderlings  

Atlantic Beach, Carteret County, NC  12/24/21

Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) blooms Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) buds Gull, probably killed by a car.  It's legal to drive on the beach in Atlantic Beach, but not in neighboring Pine Knoll Shores. Gull in the sunrise light Moon, with some of the many craters on its "outer", more exposed, side showing

Pier near the city line of Pine Knoll Shores, with gulls (who have learned to avoid Atlantic Beach) Ring-billed Gull holding mystery item Ring-billed Gulls gathering under a pier near the Pine Knoll Shores border. These Ring-billed Gulls have gathered beyond the pier, very near the city line.  But tracks have shown that a few cars drive under the pier, but of course have to turn around soon. Ruddy Turnstone, in a small group of birds, including several Sanderlings, a Willet, and a few Ring-billed Gulls.

Same Ruddy Turnstone Sanderlings and the Ruddy Turnstone Sunrise Willet Another Willet

Hoop Pole Creek Nature Trail, Atlantic Beach, Carteret County, NC 8/25/16

Green Anole Seaside Dragonlet Sand Fiddler Crab Seaside Dragonlet Seaside Dragonlet

Fort Macon State Park, Atlantic Beach, Carteret County, NC 8/25/16

Ruddy Turnstone Ghost Crab Eastern Beach Tiger Beetle (Habroscelimorpha dorsalis media) Same Eastern Beach Tiger Beetle Rabbit

 

   
Cicada Killer wasp Red-winged Blackbirds Needham's Skimmer    

Pine Knoll Shores, Carteret County, NC 8/24/16

Laughing Gull helping itself to fishing bait Sanderling Herring Gull Laughing Gull? Tern

 

       
Ghost Crab exuvia        

Fort Macon State Park (nature trail), Atlantic Beach, Carteret County, NC 8/24/16

Bee fly (Exoprosopa fasciata) Female Golden Silk Spider (dorsal view) Female Golden Silk Spider (ventral view) Male Golden Silk Spider (dorsal view) Male Golden Silk Spider (ventral view)

 

Golden Silk Spider pair Another Golden Silk Spider pair Mourning Dove Female Needham's Skimmer Red-banded Hairstreak

 

   
Salt Marsh Mallow Probably a Common Shore Tiger Beetle Trailing Wild Bean    

Pine Knoll Shores, Carteret County, NC 8/23/16

Laughing Gull with fish prey Sanderling Wave Another wave Willet landing

Theodore Roosevelt Natural Area, Carteret County, NC 8/23/16

First-year White Ibis and Little Blue Heron White Ibis family, with very young one hiding in the grass Four White Ibises, including two juvies Juvie White Ibis Same juvie White Ibis

 

 
Two juvie White Ibises Nearly mature White Ibis Great Egret Cloudless Sulphur  

Pine Knoll Shores, Carteret County, NC 8/22/16

Sanderling Willet Another Willet Gull landing Gull landed

 

     
Sunset Gull flying      

Hoop Pole Creek Trail, leading off Atlantic Station Shopping Center, Atlantic Beach, NC  7/23/08

   
Post-mating Seaside Dragonlets: the male stands on the female's head for a while afterward so she can't mate with any other males. Adult male Seaside Dragonlet.  See other dragonflies. Young male Seaside Dragonlet    

 

   
Zebra Heliconian.  There were at least 20 near the trail entrance at around noon that day, all in frantic motion.  See the Butterfly Index. Male Yellow-and-Black Argiope.  See other spiders. Spider wasp    

Theodore Roosevelt Natural Area Nature Trail, Pine Knoll Shores, Carteret County, NC  7/23/08

 
White Ibises.  See other wading birds. Golden Silk Spider Dog-day Cicada  

 

     
Fiddler crabs.  See other crustaceans. Mating tiger beetles (Cicindela marginata) Tachinid Fly      

Pine Knoll Shores, Carteret County, NC 7/23/08

I learned some new things about Northern Mockingbird family dynamics.  Fledglings continue to hang out with a parent, behaving a lot like small children.  They stray some distance away from the parent, making "Tsee!  Tsee!" sounds that I'd learned to associate with baby mockingbirds still in the nest, while their parent comes to investigate things, like photographers, that alarm them.   In the third photo below, an adult is shown checking me out (and at the time decided I was no big deal and flew off.) 

   
Fledgling Northern Mockingbird.  See other songbirds. Another fledgling Northern Mockingbird Adult Northern Mockingbird    

 

Osprey, flying over a dock on the Bogue Sound side.  See other raptors. Mostly Laughing Gulls, with a couple of "black sheep."  Photo by Karl D.  Gottschalk. Picture-winged fly

Pine Knoll Shores, Carteret County, NC  7/22/08

 
Male Red-winged Blackbird Young European Starling Male Great Blue Skimmer Gray Catbird, with prey  

Fort Macon State Park, Atlantic Beach, Carteret County, NC  July 21-22, 2008

 
Eastern Beach Tiger Beetle Zebra Heliconian.  There were many of these (at least ten), mostly flying wildly around. Drone Fly Bee fly (Chrysanthrax cypris)  

 

   
Adult sharpshooter (Oncometopia orbona) Late-instar nymph of the species on left (Oncometopia orbona).  I saw an adult try to protect a nymph by moving next to it and placing its leg over it, but lost the photo. Passionflower    

Pine Knoll Shores, Carteret County, NC  7/21/08

 
Rabbit in swamp, was eating leaves Glassy-winged Sharpshooter Willet Eastern Beach Tiger Beetle  

Atlantic Beach, Carteret County, NC

Sand Fiddler Crabs (Uca pugilator) on Bogue Sound side of Atlantic Beach, NC, 3/22/05. 

Live map of Bogue Banks:


View Larger Map

Copyright © 2005-2019 by Dorothy Pugh.  All rights reserved.