With high temperatures expected to soar into the mid-70s in parts of North Carolina this weekend, you have no excuse for not getting into the wild, be it learning to reconnoiter at the coast, scoping birds in the Piedmont or hiking the Blue Ridge escarpment.
A new year brings new opportunities to be active: go birding with seasoned birders on the Outer Banks or learn the sport of curling. Or, stick to the tried-and-true with a good ol’ winter mountain hike, courtesy the Carolina Mountain Club.
Coast
We adopt a three-day weekend for the purposes of this week’s recommendations in order to alert you to the weekly bird walks held every Friday at the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. Pea Island is home to about 400 species of birds, and now is a good time to catch a good mix of year-round residents and migrants down for the winter from Canada and other points north.