This relatively large, Robin-sized bird is common year-round on our Plateau and in the eastern U.S. from Canada to Florida. The Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) has a black-and-white barred back […]
About three miles northwest of Highlands on US 64/NC 28 along the Cullasaja River is Dry Falls. The trip from Highlands follows a National Scenic Byway which is part of […]
A few miles north of the Highland-Cashiers Plateau — out State Road 23/74 north of Sylva — is America’s most visited national park. Begun in the 1930s and not completed until […]
This unusual member of the finch family has a beak specially formed to extract seeds from pine cones. The Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) inserts its slightly opened bill between conifer […]
The Gray Catbird gets its vernacular name from its distinctive vocalization that sounds like a cat’s mew. Not somewhat like a cat’s mew, the call is a clear feline “mew.” […]
Time is the fourth dimension after the three spatial dimensions. In Newtonian physics time moves forward, never backwards, and cannot be speeded up or slowed down. In human experience, however, […]
This bird is startlingly beautiful. On first seeing the Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) most people do a double-take: “What is that!” What indeed. Also known as the Carolina Duck, this […]
Ask people who live here on the Plateau what they like most about living among the mountains and forests and before long the word ‘beauty’ gets uttered. That same beauty […]
The gifts of May, amidst the lingering trials of April, have been immortalized by poet Lucy Larcom: When April steps aside for May, like diamonds all the rain-drops glisten; Fresh […]
The Tree Swallow, a radiant presence in field and sky, is a migratory bird that historically has returned to our area in May. With global warming, it’s becoming an […]
William McReynolds