Peter Vankevich News Today

Roseate Spoonbill on Ocracoke Island, Jan.24, 2024. Photo by Peter Vankevich Text and photos by Peter Vankevich Over the past 10 years, Ocracoke has been a wintering ground for three fascinating bird species. In 2018 a Trumpeter Swan was present for several months and from December 26, 2013, to March 8, 2014, two Snowy Owls…

The pen is mightier than.... Some souvenir pens from the 2020 election were still at the Ocracoke voting station. By Peter Vankevich Primary elections in North Carolina will take place from 6:30 am to 7:30 pm. Tuesday, March 5. Winners will be listed on the ballots for the national general election slated for Tuesday, Nov.…

A Dovekie in Ocracoke Island's Silver Lake harbor on Jan. 4, 2024. Photo by Peter Vankevich By Peter Vankevich The cold open waters off Newfoundland may not seem like an ideal location to spend the winter. But it is for some, especially the Dovekie (Alle alle), a small seabird known as the Little Auk in…

By Peter Vankevich Just as the Outer Banks stunned-turtle patrols are gearing up as the weather gets colder, there is one remaining outlier from this year’s nesting season. On Dec. 3, a green sea turtle nest was found on Hatteras Island near the ORV Ramp 49 at Frisco. This is the latest known sea turtle…

Heather Johnson stands in front of an Osprey platform, a project she spearheaded, at NCCAT. Text and photos by Peter Vankevich Just off the NCCAT campus in the Pamlico Sound is a new structure. Though it has a striking appearance, it is not a cell tower or even a modern sculpture. It is an Osprey…

Muffie and Liza Newell. Text and photo by Peter Vankevich Donald Davis runs storytelling workshops throughout the country. Every year he holds two of them in his home village of Ocracoke and the island benefits from having the storytellers perform at the Ocracoke Preservation Society and at Books to Be Red. One of those performers…

Red knots, which stopover on Ocracoke during their spring migration, has a been a source of concern due to a rapid decline of its population linked to a drastic decrease of their food source, horseshoe crab eggs.

Red Knots of Ocracoke May 22, 2023. Text and photos by Peter Vankevich Those spending time on Ocracoke beach and other areas of the Outer Banks this spring may have been pleasantly surprised to see flocks of binge-foraging Red Knots, the rufa supspecies (Calidris canutus rufa). Transitioning from the drab basic or winter gray/white plumage…

More than 500 gathered at the base of Ocracoke Lighthouse Thursday for the 200th birthday celebration of Ocracoke Light Station.

By Peter Vankevich Ann and Michael Ehringhaus, married at the time, were newly graduated English majors from UNC Chapel Hill in 1970. They heard about a school on the Outer Banks looking for teachers.  They found out it was Ocracoke School. Neither had been to the island. They traveled from Cedar Island for their interviews,…