BOOK 



MARKET 



about various environments on a barrier 

 island, from the sound to the sea. In case you 

 didn't know it. Jockey's Ridge and Kill Devil 

 Hill are medanos — high sand dunes on the 

 move. 



For good measure, Morris adds 

 appendices — one with a monthly listing 

 of festivals and events, and another listing 

 fishing tournaments along the coast. 



It adds up to a good read and a great 

 resource. 



• How to Read a North 

 Carolina Beach: Bubble Holes, 

 Barking Sands, and Rippled 

 Runnels, by Orrin H. Pilkty, Tracy 

 Moncgaii Rice and William J. Neal. 2004. 

 University of North Carolina Press, Chapel 

 Hill, N.C. 1 76 pages. Paperback, $12.95. 

 ISBN -8078-5510-3. 



"Walking on a beach in the afternoon sun, 

 while taking in a spacious view of the sea and 

 the mesmerizing waves or scanning the great 

 horizon for signs of life, one often feels that 

 time is standing still. All sense of distance and 

 the passage of time are lost in the fascination 

 of searching for shells or wading through the 

 changing patterns of the swash. For the curious, 

 observant beach stroller, the beach holds many 

 mysteries." 



And so the trio of authors set the scene for 

 readers to begin unraveling many of the riddles 

 of any stretch of sandy beach. 



It's important, they say, to understand the 

 dynamic equilibrium of a beach: its shape is the 

 end product of the sea-level change, the quality 

 and quantity of sand, the height of the waves 

 and the strength of the currents. When one of 

 these factors changes, the others adjust accord- 

 ingly. Dynamic is definitely the key word here. 



ROBERT P. TEULINGS 

 RICKY DAVIS 



Birds of the Carolinas 



But what about barking sands? The noise 

 is produced by scuffing your feet on patches 

 of sand on the upper beach, where sand is 

 deposited by both water and wind. For the sand 

 to bark or sing, all the grains must be of similar 

 size, nearly spherical in shape, free of organic 

 material, and have dust-free surfaces. 



According to the authors, the best and 



loudest barks come from the medium-sized 

 sand grains on beaches between Cape 

 Hatteras and Cape Lookout. 



The swash zone often is a virtual 

 palette of patterns that are the products of 

 currents, waves, winds and organisms at 

 work. The pattern also unlocks the mystery 

 of what is going on beneath the surface. 

 Rill marks, miniature gullies or streams 

 crossing the beach in the intertidal zone tell 

 where the water table is on a beach. "Water 

 seeping out of the beach face where the 

 groundwater table intersects the surface 

 produces rill marks," the authors write. 



Beachcombers also may enjoy a 

 botany lesson as they observe various kinds 

 of seaweed washed ashore. Currents carry 

 clumps of Sargassum from islands of algae 

 far out in the sea. The floating Sargassum is 

 a source of food and shelter for sea turtles, 

 juvenile crabs and fish. 



This beach book offers vacationers 

 and naturalists alike a source for turning an 

 ordinary walk on the beach into a scientific 

 adventure. 



• Birds of North Carolina, 

 Second Edition, by Eloise F. Potter, 

 James F. Pamell, Robert P. Tailings and 

 Ricky Davis. 2006. University of North 

 Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. 416 pages. 

 Paperback, $24.95. ISBN 0-8078-5671-1; 

 Hardback, $34.95. ISBN 0-807-2999-4. 



Few regions in North America have a 

 richer bird life than the Carolinas, and these 

 authors have designed a user-friendly updated 

 guide for both novice and experienced 

 birdwatchers. 



In all, 460 individual avian species 

 are described in the latest edition of the 



28 Coastwcttch I High Season 2006 I www.ncseagrant.org 



