native plants Plant Walk on Lea-Hutaff Island
Cape Fear Audubon Fall Programs
Paul Hosier will lead a plant walk on Lea-Hutaff Island sometime late in September. The group asks that all participants be fully vaccinated. Contact Charley Winterbauer at cewinterbauer39@gmail.com for details and to sign up for the walk.
Cape Fear Audubon hosts monthly programs of interest to birders. Links to their autumn 2021 programs, which will be held via Zoom, will be emailed to members and posted on the Cape Fear Audubon Facebook page. All programs begin at 7:00 p.m. September 15— Meteorologist Tim Armstrong of Wilmington’s office of the National Weather Service has a really cool program on bird migration and radar. We’re calling it “Feathered Forecasting.” Tim will discuss BirdCast, a program of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, that has been coordinating data and images from more than 120 radar stations across the country. It tracks migrating birds and helps create data for phenomena when birds and weather collide—such as when seafaring birds become trapped within a hurricane’s eye, sometimes depositing them miles away. October 6— Dr. Christopher Tonra, Associate Professor of Avian Wildlife Ecology at Ohio State will introduce us to MOTUS, an international collaborative research network that uses coordinated automated radio telemetry to facilitate research and education on the ecology and conservation of migratory animals. Motus is a program of Birds Canada in partnership with collaborating researchers and organizations. Cape Fear Audubon is funding the placement of a MOTUS tower at Lea-Hutaff Island.
Photo by Lara Berkley
Paul Hosier will lead a NC Native Plant Society walk to Lea-Hutaff Island.
We’re Back! (to doing walks)
After over a year of staying isolated we are happy to get back to doing plant walks. We look forward to going to new places and are open to your suggestions. If you would like to be informed on the walk schedule and other plant-related activities, go to www.ncwildflower.org and join the state-wide NC Native Plant Society. Based on your address, you will automatically be assigned to a local chapter. For the SE portion of the state, that is the SE coastal area chapter.
“I will be discussing the basics of how Motus works, and what types of research and monitoring questions it can be used for, and the limitations in its use. Throughout, I will provide examples of projects I have been involved with applying Motus. This will include work my lab has done on Rusty Blackbird, White-throated Sparrow, and Black-crowned Night-Heron.” (See photo of a MOTUS tower, below.) November 10— Marae Lindquist West is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Biology and Marine Biology Department at UNCW. A member of Dr. Ray Danner’s lab she studies the winter population biology and impacts of sea level rise on Saltmarsh and Seaside Sparrows in tidal marshes in Southeastern North Carolina. This program is being co-presented with Island Wildlife–Cape Fear Region. Learn more about Cape Fear Audubon at their website: https://capefearaudubon.org/.
Native Groundcovers of NC Native species are those that occur naturally in an area. They are better adapted to local conditions requiring less care once established. Native plants support our native wildlife, in particular our birds, butterflies and bees (pollinators). Introduced plants may become invasive, outcompeting the natives and not providing the food and cover our native wildlife depends on.
Southeastern Coastal Area Chapter
Questions? Email cewinterbauer39@gmail.com.
North Carolina Native Plant Society Common Name
Green-andgold
The native plants below are all perennials and should return each year if planted properly. They all attract pollinators, provide a food source, and are available commercially. If your local nursery does not sell these native plants – encourage them to do so!
Scientific Name
Area Best
Planting Needs
Native Notes
Photo by wildlife biologist David Bell
MOTUS receiver station similar to that planned for Lea-Hutaff Island. Piedmont Part sun-part Evergreen; great as Spring,
Chrysogonum virginianum
Fall 2021 Pussytoes
Bloom Time/Color
Antennaria plantaginifolia
or later yellow
Coast and Mountains
shade; average to dry soil
ground cover; deer resistant
Spring, whitish
Piedmont, Mountains, Coastal Plain
Mostly sun; well-drained, non-rich soils
May be only somewhat evergreen; spreads by stolons
Cape Fear’s Going Green
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