Outdoor Wanderings in the Outer Banks, NC
Nag’s Head Ecological Preserve
This year we took our “summer” vacation in September. Our first walk was to a familiar preserve, but at a more leisurely pace than previous visits.
The butterflies were active; I never got a shot of either a yellow or grand swallowtail, though they were fluttering everywhere. The ones I did photograph seemed a bit faded, though still lovely. Lizards, turtles, frogs and flowers were a feast for the eyes.
Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge
In our second walk, I hoped to see some migratory birds. Some of our regular customers here in the Northeast have already departed, after all, and those further north have been moving southward for even longer. But we soon discovered they either hadn’t reached Hatteras yet, or had taken a different route. The seaside wetlands adjacent to the ocean were populated by egrets, geese, ospreys, terns, gulls and other waterbirds, but no warblers or songbirds that we could see.
Once again, the turtles in a little pond at the start of the trail stole the show. It’s fascinating how interested the snappers were in looking us in the eye, and how different their faces were.
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Elizabethan Gardens
This was, I think, our third visit to the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo. Its ordered, geometric, flourishing glory makes me abandon all attempt at photographic discipline. Every vista seems to leave me open-mouthed, drinking in the beauty. I snap pictures indiscriminately, knowing I’ll return to them for visual nourishment when winter comes.
We arrived just as they were concluding a butterfly release of painted ladies that had been shipped from Michigan. Many of them were sitting groggily on leaves, adjusting to their new paradise.
