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Birds of the Blue Ridge: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

If woodpeckers needed a percussionist for the jazz ensemble, this would be the bird.

Birds of the Blue Ridge: White-throated Sparrow

These large, plump sparrows with a small bill scratch backward on the ground and are regular visitors to backyard feeders.

February’s Wild Edible: Turkey Tail Mushrooms

In our region, one of the most common mushrooms during the fall and winter is the turkey tail mushroom.

Kurt’s Hikes: Oct-Dec, 2022

Our fall hikes included lots of old favorites, a few urban walks and three great family hikes, with grandkids as young as 5 along for hikes of nearly eight miles total—in the cold!

January’s Wild Edible: Teaberry

Gaultheria procumbens, also known as the winterberry, boxberry, and checkerberry more or less officially goes by the appellation of the Eastern teaberry, but most folks drop the first half of its name.

Current Issue

d108defc-a62d-11ed-b4ca-12b3f1b64877-Yellow-bellied-Sapsucker-2---photo-by-Mike-Blevins

Birds of the Blue Ridge: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

If woodpeckers needed a percussionist for the jazz ensemble, this would be the bird.
70fed52a-a62d-11ed-84a6-12b3f1b64877-White-throated-Sparrow-4---photo-by-Mike-Blevins

Birds of the Blue Ridge: White-throated Sparrow

These large, plump sparrows with a small bill scratch backward on the ground and are regular visitors to backyard feeders.
Turkey tail growing on a dead hardwood stump.

February’s Wild Edible: Turkey Tail Mushrooms

In our region, one of the most common mushrooms during the fall and winter is the turkey tail mushroom.
b3c3b582-9d96-11ed-96a4-12b3f1b64877-IMG_1092

Kurt’s Hikes: Oct-Dec, 2022

Our fall hikes included lots of old favorites, a few urban walks and three great family hikes, with grandkids as young as 5 along for hikes of nearly eight miles total—in the cold!
Gaultheria procumbens.

January’s Wild Edible: Teaberry

Gaultheria procumbens, also known as the winterberry, boxberry, and checkerberry more or less officially goes by the appellation of the Eastern teaberry, but most folks drop the first half of its name.
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Departments

At Coopers Rock State Forest, new Stargazer cabins invite guests to look up through skylights and telescopes.
Country Roads

Even Closer to Almost Heaven

New Stargazer cabins at Coopers Rock State Forest offer a skyward escape in the mountains of West Virginia.

June 29, 2026
©Duncan Seaman
Country Roads

A Mountain Tradition Turns 90 

Visitors flock to Galax, Virginia, each summer for the Old Fiddlers’ Convention, a days-long celebration of Appalachian music.

June 29, 2026
Synchronous Fireflies
Creature Feature

The Light Fantastic

Fireflies are struggling with the effects of artificial light.

June 29, 2026

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