A TRIP DOWN TO NORTH CAROLINA - PART 4 - WRIGHT BROTHERS MEMORIAL AND DUCK

 One last photo of the sunrise taken by family. This one I didn't share in my other post but I think you will enjoy it. I am not sure which one of our family photographers took it.

One day we visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial, link here. 

I parked myself on a bench while family enjoyed looking around and I took photos of dogs. They occupied my time beautifully (I have been to this memorial many times over the years. We lived three hours away for quite a long time and we took all our visitors). Though I didn't do much while here this time, these beautiful pups kept me happy.

I had quite a few people chatting to me as I sat there. One person I met was a very nice lady who had her adorable four-legged friend with her, and he was very curious about me (not in these photos). She was concerned and tried to gently pull him away, but I assured her he was no bother at all and that I was enjoying him. True!

Showing a little relief she told me how happy she was that this was such a dog-friendly state. She was visiting from Pennsylvania and she had met many nice people who welcomed her pup. I was happy to hear that. We saw a lot of dogs on our travels, and there were many at the memorial.

Gregg later joined me and showed me this photo, a likeness of the Wright brothers...

but these were about all we took between the two of us. We knew a family album would be up online sometime, and I will be able to share more later.

Another place we visited, not on the same day as the memorial, was a town called Duck (maps below with names in white, corresponding to the area where these places are located). 

A timeline of its history can be found at this link. It is a charming little town and has a long boardwalk overlooking the Currituck Sound. After pointing the family in the right direction, Gregg and I found yet another place to enjoy, right next to Duck's Cottage Coffee and Books, which I remembered from our many visits previously. They have seats on the side of the building next to a small pond. It's a pleasant, fun little shop that also sells pastries, muffins, biscotti and others. Traditional coffee is served but you can also choose house lattes with names like Nutty Duck, Mucky Duck and Swan Other, with customer favorites of the Purple Martin, Ruddy Duck, Peep in a Cup and the CocoDuck. I only just found this out at their website and thought the names an absolute hoot.

We were spotted...

and dear sweetie was also, as our dueling photos show.

Below is the water tower which is a well known sight. Its original tower was built in 1963 and was demolished in 2020. That one was a 200,000-gallon steel water tower. A new, larger 400,000-gallon water tower, (160 feet high) was constructed in its place and began serving the community in June 2020.

And there you go, that's more information that I've learned about any other water tower ever, says I with a smile! I can highly recommend browsing around Duck if you are ever in the area.

The day is getting short, I have a few things to do around here, so I will finish my latest post. More coming!

Thanks for visiting and 

I hope your day is a great one.

MY FENCES THIS WEEK

This interesting building is in Duck, North Carolina.  It is an old life saving station.  I saw the fences, so here it is.  

 We are on our way home now.  I liked the sign but more importantly, it has the fence.

 The last three photos were taken of a farm, all from the passenger seat as we were driving by.  I take a lot of my photos with a cell phone now.

 A lot of fencing around here.

I am linking to Fences Around the World.  Thank you for hosting Gosia.  

If you would like to see others from around the world, or join in with your own, you can go here.  

Thank you for visiting everyone and have a great day.

GULLS AND DUCK...

...the 'Duck' being the town of Duck, North Carolina, in the Outer Banks.  

Here are two maps showing its location.

I am continuing our walk along the boardwalk from several posts ago.  At one point there was a small docking area where gulls were resting.  I am always drawn to gulls.

Every time I see one now, I am reminded of a man I met who gave nature talks on gulls.  My whole life I had called them seagulls.  When we were looking at one such 'seagull', he told me that there are no 'seagulls', just gulls.  He seemed to know what he was talking about so I took him at his word...

and yet everywhere I go on the internet, they are known as 'Seagulls", even by Ogden Nash in one of his short poems.

The Sea-Gull
by Ogden Nash

Hark to the whimper of the sea-gull;
He weeps because he is not an ea-gull.
Suppose you were, you silly sea-gull.
Could you explain it to your she-gull?

I know they are not the most popular bird with some, but I have always loved them.  My experiences have never been as some I have heard, and I have read some real horror stories out there.  However, my whole life I remember them fondly,  so I suppose this is why I enjoy them on the rare occasion we are in each other's company.

"Seagulls...slim yachts of the element."
~Robinson Jeffers~ 

And here are some facts I found.

There are approximately 50 species of gulls found throughout the world.

Their lifespan depends on the species.  Most gulls have a lifespan from 10 to 15 years in the wild.

Gulls live in colonies that consist of few pairs of birds, or a couple of thousand birds.

Gulls are monogamous that mate for life.

They are devoted to their chicks and co-parent.

Most gulls breed once a year and have predictable breeding seasons lasting for three to five months.

Nest building is also part of the pair-bonding.  Most species of gull build their nests on the ground, while other species build their nests on elevated areas, such as cliffs or trees.

The clutch size is generally three eggs.

Both male and female take turns incubating eggs, with incubation lasting 26 days.

Young chicks are brooded by their parents for about one or two weeks, and often at least one parent remains with them until they fledge, to guard them.

Both parents feed the chicks, although early on in the rearing period, the male does most of the feeding and the female most of the brooding and guarding.

They can drink fresh water or salt water, though they prefer fresh.

That being said, being marine birds, gulls are often far from sources of fresh water.  Because of this they have special bill adaptations that allow them to filter the salt out of the water and make it drinkable.

Case in point, many of the world's species of gulls are the type we see all the time and display normal behavior, but there are also many who have evolved to suit their environs.  The lava gull for instance has adapted to volcanic islands and is black from bill to wingtip.  The swallow-tailed gull, native to the Galapagos Islands, is actually nocturnal, and specializes in hunting squid, swooping down in the moonlight to capture its prey.

Seagulls have existed on the earth for at least 30 to 33 million years.

In many cultures, seagulls are symbolic of freedom, versatility and a carefree lifestyle.

All gulls belong to the Laridae bird family, along with terns, kittiwakes, skimmers and noddies.  Noddies?  Click here to find out what those are.

And bingo!  This next bit refers to what I mentioned at the beginning of my post.  Despite the universal use of the general term "seagull" these birds are not associated just with pelagic, marine or coastal environments, and in fact there are no birds officially named seagulls.

At least one species is found on every continent, including Antarctica, and many gulls have widespread ranges that make them familiar to birders from vastly different regions.  This makes gulls one of the most widespread families of birds in the world.

A flock of gulls is called a colony, squabble, flotilla or scavenging.

Gulls are opportunistic feeders and yes, they will swoop down and steal a bag of fish and chips right out of your hands, and anything else they can get a hold of in the way of food.  I've never actually experienced this but have seen on several occasions people voluntarily feeding them for the fun of it, to watch them descending by the dozens.  When we were little and on holiday in a caravan (camping trailer to us over here), my father would open the small window in the roof and feed the gulls stale bread, and we delighted in feeling them peck our fingers as a whole flock grabbed all the bread they could before it ran out. Amazingly they never drew blood, and whether this was due to fast reflexes I don't remember.  I might add that I learned long ago now, that to feed any wildlife human food is most definitely not what we should do, however tempting.  It can be harmful to them, and to us, for so many reasons.

As far as gulls go, the California gull is quite smart.  Unlike many gulls, this species favors inland environments for nesting, and often migrate through farmland.  In these environments, insects are a preferred diet of choice.  Which leads to the following.

The California gull (Larus californicus) is the State Bird of Utah.  Not only is this the only gull to be an officially designated state bird, but it is also the only bird to be a symbolic icon for one state even though it is named after another state.  The reason is that in 1848 a great crop of gulls once saved the people of Utah by eating up hordes of crickets that were destroying the crops.  All day long they ate the crickets, and kept eating until these insects were gone, and then they returned to the lake islands from where they originated.  And the people of Utah were saved.  What a wonderful way to become a State Bird.

The Seagull Monument on Temple Square in Salt Lake City honors the gull.  Two sculptured gulls stand atop the monument which was unveiled in 1913.  Mahonri MacKintosh Young sculpted the monument.

The size of a gull varies widely.  The little gull (Hydrocoloeus minutus) is the smallest at just 11-12 inches long, a wingspan of 24 inches, and weighing just 3-4 ounces.  The Great black-backed gull (Larus marinus) is the largest gull at 28-30 inches long, with a 60-inch wing span and a weight of 3-4 pounds.

The smallest gull species in most of North America is a small bird with a black head, white body and red bill and legs.  It is called the Bonaparte's gull, named after Charles Lucien Bonaparte, the illegitimate cousin of Napoleon Bonaparte.  I have no idea how that came about but this History site tells us how many family members of Napoleon ended up in America.  And isn't it interesting how research on Gulls can send you in so many different directions?  Well, learning is fun, and I have had fun doing this post.

I bounced all over the internet last night, from one website to another.  Unfortunately I wasn't very careful taking note of their addresses, even though I was fascinated with all these facts I was reading.  I was up late and though my fingers were moving fast, my brain wasn't quite on the same pace.  That's the way I roll on a sleepless night at three in the morning.  I got caught up in the enjoyment of finding all about one of my favorite critters, and I didn't realize how late it.  I am having an early night!

So, I hope you've enjoyed all these interesting facts, and my apologies if it is a bit too long.  I wanted to get everything on record so that I could go back whenever I wanted, to re-read and maybe do more research while remembering to make a note of where I got my information from.  From childhood I have always had a curious mind on just about everything.

FENCES AROUND THE WORLD FOR GOSIA

A few weeks ago we took a walk along the Boardwalk in Duck, North Carolina. We walked by a lot of shops and as there were fences in many of them, I am linking with Gosia’s Fences Around the World. 

I found an article here with a few more photos.

 Our little opportunists were flying from table to table to see if there were any crumbs about.  

I seem to be all over the place with my posts lately, but I will have more of the boardwalk sometime.  It was a really neat place for a walk.

If you would like to see other fences, or join in with your own, you can go here. Thank you for hosting Gosia!  

I take Saturday's and Sunday's off from blogging now, and will be back on Monday.  Have a great weekend!