A Learning Weekend

Ben & I traveled to Fayetteville for a workshop on Amphibians of North Carolina. It was really fun to see our friend Matt before he deploys to Iraq and hang out at his new house! We had such a fun time exploring the middle of the state; we stopped at a several nature centers and took Mavie on hiking trails. And yes, Ben looked for birds!

Our workshop was really cool- we learned about lots of frogs, toads, and salamanders. We hiked around Clark Park and found lots of cute little critters, the two in the picture are both southern toads. There are about 22 species of frogs and toads in eastern North Carolina!

Then on Saturday, while my old friends were celebrating National Estuary Day (sigh, I miss you guys!), Ben and I were out at Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge in honor of National Hunting and Fishing Day (who knew?) The event was sponsored by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and Ducks Unlimited, so the kids received a t-shirt and hat, fishing rod and reel, bait and a tackle box to keep. There were prizes for the heaviest and longest fish and hot dogs for lunch (I ate chips and cookies instead!) We did have a good time- it reminded me of when I used to go to those tournaments with Dad and Rayme, and when I won a nice pole with a 16" trout! The part of the refuge that we were in is not usually open to the public, so Ben got lots of bird-action: 36 species! Not bad for a day at work :)

Maverick's Shenanigans

The Currituck Sound does not experience traditional tides like the ocean; its tides are wind-driven. We've been experiencing some very strong north-east winds and as a result, there is an extreme low tide on the sound right now. Maverick thinks that this means he has more play area, since there are vast areas of mud exposed where there is usually water. He has been a manic running around through the mud and grass, loving life! We went over to the Whalehead Club and where the old landing strip for planes had washed away, you could see the pilings that are normally underwater. He's squinting his eyes in this pic because its so windy!

And with these NE winds comes some cooler weather! We've had our windows open for a week now and even had to dress a little warmer to play outside (yes, that is a scarf around my neck- it isn't even this cold in January in Florida!) Of course, Ben and Maverick love it outside while Sarah and Otis seek the sunshine filtering through the skylights!

Speaking of Mav loving the outdoors right now, he's discovered that a "kitty cat" likes to hide in the massive pile of bicycles next to our house. The rental store downstairs apparently isn't renting many bikes these days because there are a ton, all lined up, providing stealth cover for the cat. Everytime we go outside, we allow some extra time for "kitty cat hunting" :)

Food!

We've been putting in our time at the Sanderling, that's for sure! Its been fun though, actually, and the food is so good that its worth the dogs barking after 12+ hours on the feet! And... we've been coming home with lots of goodies! I've stocked up on all kinds of candles, vases, coozies, and even salt water taffy.

Otis is a big fan of the flowers we've been bringing home with us. And its win-win for us, too, because I enjoy the bouquet in our house and feed the tortoise a few petals at a time, and when the flowers wilt up and turn brown, they go into our compost bin at work where the wormies eat them up and make rich soil for my plants. My herbs are coming along nicely- lush basil, happy cilantro, skinny lil' chives, and sensual parsley. Did you know that you can grow cacti from a seed? They are the size of a pinhead now, but hopefully they'll grow up to be blog-worthy before I feed them to the shelled-monster. I also have some baby tomato and pepper plants that are going to be our indoor produce supply this winter!

And last but not least... I bought myself an early b-day present: a bread machine! I've been bakin' away and having a lot of fun trying out new stuff. Right now I'm making some sourdough with fresh rosemary and it smells so good my mouth is watering just typing about it! I figure that when its blistering cold outside (which I hope is no time soon!) I will be able to whip up some fresh bread and stay cozy.

Smithsonian Whale

I was recently designated as a marine mammal stranding responder at work and within a few days, I was out responding to my first beached whale! This was a Blainsville Beaked Whale, and only the second one to ever wash up in all of North Carolina, ever! It weighed about 1000 pounds and washed up on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Because this species is so rare and not much is known about them, some fancy researchers arrived from Wilmington to take a look. We performed a necropsy and noticed that she had recently given birth, but was no longer lactating, meaning that her baby would be able to survive on its own now. The cause of death is yet to be determined, but we cleaned up her skeleton and she was shipped to the Smithsonian for display!

These whales dive up to 3000 feet in search of squid, which makes them of particular interest to scientists. How do they hold their breath that long? It is suspected that these guys are extra sensitve to military sonar, which sometimes results in beaching. In fact, some of the researchers that I met that day from UNC-Wilmington are actually employed by the Navy to fly a 40-mile transect from Jacksonville, NC out towards Bermuda every 10 days so that they can estimate whale populations in the area. There is a proposed underwater training facility for submarines near Jacksonville, which means high concentrations of sonar in the near future.

All and all, a very fascinating day...

Birding with Ben

I finally went on a birding trip with Ben... and it was actually a really fun time! We went down to Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and did a birding walk with a naturalist (and counted it towards our Environmental Education Certification), complete with the new spotting scope that Ben is very (VERY) excited about! It just so happened that the Center was in need of a good scope and Ben got right on it and ordered a super nice ($$$) one for us to use. So we tried it out, and after using it, I don't want to go back to binoculars! It is the clearest and most magnified image I've ever seen- sort of like looking through the Hubble Telescope, haha.

Even though I'm not very into birding, there are a few species that get me excited (spoonbills, frigate birds, and kingfishers) and we saw one of those beauties on this trip- a white pelican! It was a real highlight because they're not real common here; in fact, Sibley calls them "pretty rare" in these parts! And Ben is lucky, because I just might want to tag along on another birding adventure. Besides, we got a chance to sport our new, matching hats like true dorks :)

PS- Ben also took me to the Bodie Island Lighthouse on the way home. Very smooth, that Ben!

Our Animal Friends

Last week at work was an interesting one- we did some major fish tank maintenance which included a complete switch-out of all of the fish. We lowered the tank water (it holds 8,000 gallons!) and hopped in to catch the little buggers with nets. It was very tricky because there is a duck blind in the middle of the tank! All of fish had to be euthanized due to a fungal disease and then the tank was bleached. Everything is back in order now and the new fish arrive this week!

On a more positive note, we did have our second black swallowtail butterfly emerge this morning, healthy as can be. Our first little one came out with a broken wing and couldn't fly (is that just karma from hatching during a tropical storm?) so we're proud parents of this one for sure! Since the first one ate almost ALL of the parsley plant, we tried to feed this one every kind of thing imaginable but he finally settled on some celery from our fridge, which was Ben's brilliance. Congrats to Ben for saving the species one caterpillar at a time!

Hurricane Hanna

We survived Hanna! It was actually no big deal at all. We were prepared with extra doggie food, bottled water, beer, and snacks, but it turned out to be just a rainy, windy day. It was actually kind of cozy to stay inside with the whole family and lounge on the sofa. Maverick hit under the coffee table and Otis inside his shell, haha.

The beach was pretty interesting. We took a walk out on Saturday morning and it was very windy, blowing sand in a rather painful pattern, and waves that were enormous for Corolla. There were no people to be seen, but so much trash blowing around. Check out the homevideo!

I spent the afternoon setting up for a wedding under a huge tent at the Sanderling. It was an event! The table cloths were blowing everywhere with the napkins flying and wine glasses toppling off the tables as we set them. The ceremony was scheduled to take place on the sand and ended up in the lobby of the hotel! Hours later, it turned out to be a gorgeous sunset after the wind and waves calmed down.

Today, we spent some time at the beach checking things out, and it appears as though they're back to normal. The birds have returned to the sand and were resting, while the waves were much more Corolla-sized. We spotted a big dark shape out in the water, about 50 yards from shore, and its actually a HUGE boat anchor! We don't know if it washed up in the storm from a nearby shipwreck or where it may have come from. I'm hoping to get to the beach at low tide in the next few days to take some more pictures of it upclose.

Camping Trip

We had a little adventure last weekend to the Cliffs of the Neuse State Park, about 5 hours away. We attended a class for work, so we cruised in the state vehicle and made use of the gas card! The class was enjoyable and the park was beautiful. Ben saw lots of birds that we don't see here on the coast and I enjoyed the cypress trees, spanish moss, and resurrection fern like in Florida (those don't grow on the coast here either). Like a million years ago, the Neuse River formed along a fault line and cut through to create the 90' cliffs.

We took the scenic route on the way back and took a ferry across Pamlico Sound and then and drove around Lake Mattamuskeet, the largest natural lake in North Carolina. There was a huge thunderstorm across the lake and we could see the lightning for miles, it was gorgeous.

Maverick and the Bee

Poor Mavie got stung by a bee when he was playing the woods last week. He was jumping around like a deer and all of the sudden he shot out of the brush like there was a bear after him! He layed on the ground, yelping, and pulled the bumblebee out of his forarm with his teeth, stinger and all. He was pretty mopey for several days, and layed around sad like this picture. He deemed our bed his hospital bed during recovery and put his right paw out for us to fawn over his teeny, tiny little red dot of a sting (no swelling or tenderness, just self-pity!) He was all recovered in two days and back to playing in the park. The picture is blury because he moves so darned quick with his frisbee!