Andy Wood

"Now is not the time for environmental or political gamesmanship. Nobody hopes for such an event as this."

By Andy Wood

Wilmington, NC –

Andy Wood is Education Director for Audubon North Carolina and author of Backyard Carolina, a collection of his WHQR commentaries.

"After two solid drought years that saw rain pools dry through our frog breeding seasons, 2010 is sure to be a bumper year for what must certainly be a bunch of pent-up amphibians."

By Andy Wood

Wilmington, NC –

Andy Wood is Education Director for Audubon North Carolina and author of Backyard Carolina, a collection of his WHQR commentaries.

"Cardinals are woodland songbirds that begin their singing at the first hint of morning's light."

By Andy Wood

Wilmington, NC –

Andy Wood is Education Director for Audubon North Carolina and author of Backyard Carolina, a collection of his WHQR commentaries.

"We are collecting data about the presence of birds in early winter because birds tell us much about the changing face of our world. We know, for example, that many birds are now found further north in winter than just 40 years ago, testimony to a warming climate trend."

By Andy Wood

Andy shares his experience with this year's Christmas Bird Count.

Andy Wood is education director for Audubon North Carolina and author of "Backyard Carolina," a collection of his WHQR commentaries.

"Outdoor exploration requires focused attention so it's best to leave distracting toys behind (yes, I refer to electronic games and other gizmos, which actually serve to disconnect children from the world around them)."

By Andy Wood

In the spirit of Winter Solstice, the heralding time of Spring, commentator Andy Wood has some suggestions for gift giving this time of year, that might help children, and adults, to connect with nature, especially outdoors.

"The sad truth about gillnets is they catch and kill animals indiscriminately, including undersized and non-target fishes, along with sea turtles, waterbirds and marine mammals."

By Andy Wood

Wilmington, NC – I was recently visiting Cedar Key, a coastal community on the Gulf Coast of Florida where I saw firsthand evidence of how well a community can adapt to change by escaping the economic trap of "business as usual."

"The fire ants I was watching, also called imported fire ants, have origins in South America and they are more aggressive and invasive than our native fire ants."

By Andy Wood

Wilmington, NC – Following more than a week of off and on rainfall, some of it substantial, a change in the weather seemed to be in the making as I was taking an account of some wet places around my property.

"After hatching, the larvae carry the flow of energy once again, hopefully to the fruition that we are now seeing and enjoying in the form of bright yellow sulphurs, along with other butterflies, flitting across an autumn landscape."

By Andy Wood

The rancor in town hall meetings during our legislator's August recess has reached a fever pitch, and I truly hope people will take time to separate fact from fiction, especially in discussions about climate and energy legislation.

By Andy Wood

An era of green inventions is now upon us...

By Andy Wood

Wilmington, NC – Commentator Andy Wood needed something to renew in him a sense of optimism, and he found it, in an up and coming generation of biologists...

Andy Wood is education curator for Audubon North Carolina, and author of "Backyard Carolina," a collection of his WHQR commentaries.