A month ago, on a day that was officially in winter but which felt like spring, I was walking in the woods near my house.

Lake Junaluska’s Corneille Bryan Native Garden is offering wildflower walks on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. from March 27 through May 8. 

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) is seeking public comment on the 2024-2025 migratory game bird hunting seasons for waterfowl, webless migratory species and extended falconry. 

One day last December, a flock of robins descended on the loaded winterberry hollies in our yard, their red breasts making the clump look like it was hung with big Christmas tree ornaments.

Join MountainTrue’s 18th annual caravan around the Lake Chatuge shoreline to view a variety of birds 7:30-9:30 a.m. Saturday, March 9. 

Catch a sight of migratory birds at 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at Lake Junaluska. 

Red-necked phalarope, Bonaparte’s gull, band-rumped storm-petrel and harlequin duck. If you are thinking these don’t sound like names that should be included in a story about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, you’re right.

Find out how birds talk to each other during a program offered at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29, at the Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center near Franklin. This talk was rescheduled from its original Jan. 15 date due to inclement weather. 

If you plan to travel around Western North Carolina or East Tennessee to visit friends or family and eat turkey for the coming Thanksgiving holiday, there is a good chance you’ll spot a few wild turkeys along the way.

As we prepare for the arrival of fall, we can also be on the lookout for a breathtaking wildlife spectacle that is a part of life here in the Southern Appalachian Mountains: the migration of the broad-winged hawk.