June 2026
June is here and summer is quickly approaching. The temperatures in North Carolina are in the nineties, and discomfort is setting in. The humidity here can make summer feel unbearable, but I always try to get outside as much as possible this time of year. By going out early in the morning and staying well hydrated, I have time to experience the fullness of the season. And nature never disappoints.
This weekend, I drove to Buckhorn Reservoir to drop in my kayak, but when I arrived, the winds were gusting at over 20 miles per hour. On a whim, I left for Wilson, where I pushed off at Wiggins Mill Reservoir. The smaller body of water, surrounded by trees, helped reduce any felt wind. And because this reservoir doesn’t allow gas engines, it is basically uninhabited.
The area was quiet, and I enjoyed being alone out in nature. While I heard an occasional airplane or train horn, the place was serene, filled with the chatter of crows and kingfishers. This reservoir had several trees growing right out of the water, and gliding between them made the place feel even more secluded.
On this trip, I encountered a new bird species, the anhinga. Known also as a darter or water turkey, this enormous bird resembled a heron but sported a cool white geometric pattern on its black wings. They perched on the dead tree limbs that shot out high above the water, and I spent a few hours photographing them.
Later that day, I spotted Jeffrey, a young orphaned raccoon that was hanging around the area. Jeffrey has an injured leg and cannot walk normally. We’ve been putting food out for him, and a trail camera confirmed he found the spread we left for him on a miniature picnic table. I took a few photographs of him while he was eating orange peels at the edge of the grove.
That evening, while sitting out in the orchard with my wife, a lone whitetail doe poked through the treeline. She studied us carefully, approaching a little closer before deciding to duck back inside the trees.
On Sunday morning, on the way back from trails in Raleigh, a large turkey flew right over our truck as we were speeding down a country road. She was close enough to spot the many layers of feathers as she zoomed by. We laughed because my wife said it was Carl. Carl was a wild turkey that was sitting on the side of the road by our house about a week ago. My wife wanted to rescue it, but Carl was nowhere to be found. My wife would try to rescue a fish if she thought it was drowning.
The coolest experience this weekend, by far, was something we saw on the running trails. While heading down a long dirt road through the middle of a large woodland park, three ladies who were walking stopped us to tell us they saw a large coyote cross the road in the direction we were heading. We all stopped to watch and suddenly caught the animal trotting off a mere thirty yards away. It was a large male, and it kept turning back to look at us.
The coyote suddenly stopped by a large fallen tree and kept popping its upper body up and down, looking like it was stuck and trying to get free. As my mind processed what it was seeing, the coyote gave one more stomp toward the ground and suddenly paused. A tense second or two passed, and the coyote suddenly dove its head into the ground, pulling out a large cottontail rabbit. It killed the rabbit quickly and looked up at us, still holding it in its jaws. Then it turned away and headed deeper into the woods. The entire sequence of events happened in about ten or fifteen seconds. It was incredible.
All these cool things happened in the course of a single weekend. Something interesting is always going on in the woods, and I don’t want to miss any of it. I hope you also get outside this summer, brave the heat, and witness what nature offers.
As always, stay safe, cool, hydrated, and keep that skin protected.