Archive
Aquatic Macroinvertebrates on Bald Head Island
By Riley Westman, Fall Intern 2024 Aquatic macroinvertebrates are organisms that can be seen with the naked eye (“macro”), don’t have a backbone (“invertebrate”), and live in water for all or part of their life cycle. Despite being ubiquitous in freshwater ecosystems, they rarely get the love they deserve. Macroinvertebrates provide a number of...
Morgan Greene
Efforts to Eradicate Beach Vitex Start Again in Fall 2024
By Riley Westman, 2024 Fall Intern Starting the last week of September and continuing through the end of the year, the Conservancy is once again trekking through the dunes in their annual effort to manage beach vitex. Beach vitex is an invasive plant species that was purposely brought to the United States from Japan and […]
Morgan Greene
Rescuing Our Island Birds
By Natalie Novak, 2024 Fall Intern Living on Bald Head Island brings unique challenges every single day. With hundreds of animals inhabiting the island, they can get into some trouble. Bald Head Island Conservancy is the primary organization that responds to wildlife emergencies on the island. As an intern, I have been learning to rescue […]
Morgan Greene
Conservation Team Releases 2023 Environmental Services Report
By Dr. Beth Darrow, Director of Science Each year, the Bald Head Island Conservancy conducts an Environmental Services Contract on behalf of the Village of Bald Head Island to understand and protect the habitats and species that make the island a special place for all residents and visitors. In 2023, the Conservancy continued valuable...
Morgan Greene
Audubon Pelican Banding
By Dr. Jennifer Wiggen, Senior Educator In mid-August 2024, our Senior Educator Dr. Jennifer Wiggen had the opportunity to go out with Lindsay Addison of Audubon North Carolina to assist with Brown Pelican banding and sampling on the Cape Fear River. The goal of the project was to determine type and amount of PFAS (per- […]
Morgan Greene
Prototype Plankton-Tow Activity for Barrier Island Botanists
By Sarah Powers, Fall Intern 2024 As part of our Barrier Island Botanist program, our education team recently tested a new hands-on plankton-tow activity, aimed at engaging participants with the tiny but fascinating organisms that thrive in our island’s waters. We explored three different sites around Bald Head Island and collected five...
Morgan Greene
Beach-nesting Birds on BHI
By Allison Polinski, Coastal Scientist Shorebird nesting season runs from April 1st to August 31st, and it is important to “share the shore” during this time. While walking the beach, you may have noticed signs designating bird nesting areas. Shorebirds nest directly on the sand, and their eggs are camouflaged well, so it is important […]
Morgan Greene
Alligator Surveys: A Night with the Conservation Team
By Lauren Collver, Summer 2024 Intern Over the course of the summer, BHI Conservancy staff will complete weekly surveys of the island’s alligator population. By counting the number and size of each alligator we see, we can provide an estimate of how many alligators live on the island. While alligators are often seen resting on […]
Morgan Greene
Sounds of Spring: Common Frog Calls on BHI
By Allison Polinski, Coastal Scientist As the weather warms up, male frogs and toads have started calling to find their mates. There are 31 species of frogs and toads in North Carolina, and many of these species can be heard on BHI. Bald Head Island Conservancy participates in both CASP (Calling Amphibian Survey Program) and […]
Morgan Greene
2023 Christmas Bird Count on Bald Head Island
Beth Darrow, Chief Scientist Volunteer Ana Novak and Bald Head Island Conservancy Chief Scientist Beth Darrow assisted with the Audubon Society’s 2023 Christmas Bird Count on December 31, 2023. Fifty-two bird species were identified in Bald Head Island’s diverse habitats. Bring your binoculars with you when you’re on the back nine this time of...
Morgan Greene
