Bird Buck Springs

Go birding at Buck Spring along the Blue Ridge Parkway with an expedition meeting 8 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, at Jukebox Junction in Bethel.

Howard Browers will lead the walk. Loaner binoculars are available. Cost is $10. Sign up at bit.ly/haywoodrec.

Get schooled in the Smokies

Catch a doubleheader in mountain education with a pair of programs offered through the University of Tennessee Smoky Mountain Field School Saturday, Aug. 19.

Explore the soundscape of nature

Author and biologist David George Haskell will delve into the captivating world of sonic communication and its profound impact on the planet’s evolution and cultural tapestry during a lecture at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 27, at the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands.

Up Moses Creek: The creek runs blue and red

A bluebird has been knocking at our door this week — at the glass storm door, that is — and at the transom over the door and the windows nearby.

Document diversity at Deep Creek

Record wildlife and remove litter from the Deep Creek area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Bryson City during a family-friendly event Friday, July 14, and Saturday, July 15.

Being mindful of Mother Nature’s gifts

Lately we’ve been enjoying the hummingbirds each morning on our back deck.

Notes from a plant nerd: World, lose strife

For the past few years, whenever I encounter the whorled loosestrife growing along a trail or roadside I have been saying its name out loud, and slowly. Like a prayer: “World, lose strife.”

Up Moses Creek: Snapper, Part II

(Editor’s note: The first installment of this story was published in the May 10 issue of The Smoky Mountain News and is online here.) 

Notes from a plant nerd: Put that in your pipe, but don’t smoke it

Plants and butterflies have a long history of evolution and interconnected relationships. Plants serve as food for caterpillars who eat their leaves to gain energy for their growth and transformations. This co-evolved host-plant relationship mostly occurs between native plants and native caterpillars. Many butterflies depend on this relationship for their lives.

Summer starts at Highlands Nature Center

The Highlands Nature Center kicks off its summer season on Memorial Day weekend, with extended hours noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 28, and summer hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday starting Monday, May 29.

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