Uwharries

As you hike along the Uwharrie Trail, you may come upon a newly installed Uwharrie Trail audio tour marker and wonder what it is. If you have cell service, you can click on the QR code shown and hear a short story about the historic, natural or cultural significance of the very spot to which […]

During a recent trip to the beach, I realized a number of plants native to the Coastal Plain have found a home in the Piedmont. Yaupon holly, beautyberry, wax myrtle and sweetbay magnolia have become staples in our gardens. Pitcher plants and longleaf pines occur in the natural landscapes of the Uwharries. A botanist friend […]

I’ve spent the spring and early summer in pursuit of a tiny, black and yellow bird with a buzzy song – the black-throated green warbler of the Uwharrie National Forest. It’s made for an experience I’ll never forget. As a Duke University graduate student, I’ve been an intern during May and June with the LandTrust […]

North Carolina is a beautiful state filled with unique features. The state’s majestic mountains, picturesque Piedmont farmland and tranquil beaches provide a variety of habitats and recreational opportunities. This diversity makes it a marvelous place. With the spectacular beauty of our mountains and coast in North Carolina, the Piedmont often receives less recognition. The Uwharries […]

I’ll admit it – I was a little delirious. The first day of summer year before last, I was out at first light, pacing the driveway and cradling our elderly Jack Russell in my arms. He’d been in a slow decline for months, but when he took a sudden turn for the worse, I knew […]

Recently, I participated in a survey of mussels as part of a post-dam removal monitoring effort at the Densons Creek Nature Preserve in Troy (60 miles east of Charlotte). I joined folks from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the N.C. Natural Heritage Program as we donned wetsuits or waders and carried viewbuckets (imagine […]

When the flush of spring ephemeral wildflowers begins to fade, several shrub species come into their own. Mountain laurel ought to be at its peak in the coming week. Their enchanting masses of light pink flowers are found throughout the Uwharries, but some of our most interesting and attractive spring-blooming shrubs aren’t nearly so abundant. […]

“Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen,” noted revered conservationist Aldo Leopold. The trained ecologist, on the other hand, “lives alone in world of wounds.” She takes no pleasure in evergreen thickets of Chinese privet on a dreary winter day. She cringes at patches of lush Japanese stilt grass. She […]

In the Uwharries, raptors make their presence known in late winter and early spring. A lone female northern harrier has spent the winter skimming our fields of native warm season grass. I’ve come to wonder if she’s the same one who shows up every fall, who chased away another pair of harriers who tried to […]

When my niece and nephew were younger, they had large, shallow pans to take along on trips to the Low Water Bridge. Wading and skipping rocks were favorite pastimes on this picturesque section of the Uwharrie River, but on occasion they would also pan for gold. Grandpa provided the labor, shoveling pebbles and sediment into […]