E63 Naturally Scott Adventures – Colonial Spanish Mustangs & the Wild Horses of Corolla 🐎🌊

E63 Naturally Scott Adventures – Colonial Spanish Mustangs & the Wild Horses of Corolla 🐎🌊

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2523691/fan_mail/new] Welcome to another edition of Naturally Scott Adventures, where Scott Harris takes you into the field to experience some of North America's greatest wildlife spectacles, iconic species, and wild places. In this episode, Scott heads to the remote beaches of Corolla in North Carolina's Outer Banks to spend time with one of the most fascinating populations of wild horses in America: the Colonial Spanish Mustangs.  For more than 500 years, legend holds that these remarkable horses have survived along this isolated stretch of coastline after Spanish ships wrecked offshore. Whether every detail of the story is true or not, the horses themselves are very real—and absolutely unforgettable.  Scott shares stories from multiple visits to the Outer Banks, including close encounters with stallions, mares, and foals, sunrise moments on empty beaches, and why these horses have become one of his favorite wildlife experiences anywhere in North America.  In this episode: 🐎 The legend of the Colonial Spanish Mustangs  🌊 Wild horses living along the beaches of the Outer Banks  ☀️ Sunrise encounters in Corolla and Carova  📸 The best ways to experience the horses responsibly  🐻 Nearby wildlife opportunities at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge  🦅 Osprey, bald eagles, dolphins, and other coastal wildlife  ✨ Why some wildlife experiences stay with us for a lifetime Part history, part adventure, and part wildlife story, this episode explores one of the most unique natural experiences on the East Coast. 👉 Stay up to date and get bonus content here: https://naturallyscott.kit.com/5fd12c6752 [https://naturallyscott.kit.com/5fd12c6752]

E62 Jessica Ware – Dragonflies, Ancient Flight & the Secret World of Insects! 🪰🌎

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2523691/fan_mail/new] Dragonflies are older than dinosaurs, can migrate across oceans, and spend most of their lives underwater. In this fascinating and surprisingly fun episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris sits down with entomologist and evolutionary biologist Jessica Ware of the American Museum of Natural History to explore the incredible world of dragonflies, damselflies, insect evolution, and why insects deserve far more attention than they get. Jessica explains how dragonflies were among the first animals ever to fly, how some species migrate over 11,000 kilometers across oceans, and why these ancient aerial predators are among the greatest hunters on Earth. Along the way, the conversation dives into: 🪰 The difference between dragonflies and damselflies  🌎 Dragonfly migrations across oceans  ❄️ Dragonfly nymphs freezing solid in Arctic winters  👀 Why dragonflies have some of the best vision in the insect world  🦟 How dragonflies help control mosquitoes and other pests  🦖 Giant prehistoric “dragonflies” from hundreds of millions of years ago  🐛 Why insects may be the most overlooked animals on Earth Jessica also shares how childhood curiosity led her into science and why she believes insects deserve the same wonder and attention we often reserve for birds and mammals. 👉 Stay up to date and get bonus content here: https://naturallyscott.kit.com/5fd12c6752 [https://naturallyscott.kit.com/5fd12c6752]

E61 Naturally Scott Adventures – One Million Snow Geese! 🕊️❄️

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2523691/fan_mail/new] Welcome to the very first edition of Naturally Scott Adventures — a new series where Scott Harris takes you directly into the field to experience some of nature’s greatest spectacles, species, and wild places. And for Episode 61, we begin with one of the most breathtaking wildlife gatherings on Earth: one million snow geese at Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge. Each March, hundreds of thousands — and sometimes more than a million — snow geese converge on this Missouri refuge during migration. The sound is overwhelming. The sky turns white with birds. Bald eagles patrol the edges. Coyotes wait in the darkness. And for a few weeks, one corner of the Midwest becomes one of the greatest wildlife spectacles in North America. In this episode: 🕊️ What it feels like to stand beside a million snow geese  🦅 Bald eagles hunting over massive flocks  🌨️ Watching snow geese land during a snowstorm  📸 Why sunrise and sunset matter most for wildlife viewing  🦢 Trumpeter swans, muskrats, coyotes & red-winged blackbirds  🚗 How to visit Loess Bluffs yourself Scott also reflects on why this experience became one of his personal “perfect moments” in nature — alongside music, memory, and the feeling of being completely immersed in the wild. Upcoming Naturally Scott Adventures episodes include: 🐊 Alligators  🦉 Burrowing Owls  🦅 California Condors  🐎 Wild Horses of Nevada 👉 Stay up to date and get bonus content here: https://naturallyscott.kit.com/5fd12c6752 [https://naturallyscott.kit.com/5fd12c6752]

E60 Zach Steinhauser – One Million Purple Martins & South Carolina’s Greatest Wildlife SpectacleUntitled Episode

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2523691/fan_mail/new] What does it feel like to sit beneath a sky filled with a million birds? In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris is joined by naturalist, filmmaker, and Carolina Safari Co. founder Zach Steinhauser for a conversation about one of America’s most overlooked wildlife spectacles—the gathering of over a million Purple Martins at Bomb Island on South Carolina’s Lake Murray. Zach shares the remarkable story behind his documentary Purple Haze and explains how these tiny swallows became almost entirely dependent on humans for nesting sites. The conversation moves from South Carolina to the deserts of Arizona and even the Amazon rainforest, following Zach’s journey to uncover the hidden story of Purple Martins across the Americas. Along the way, they discuss: The surreal experience of watching a million birds spiral overhead  Why Purple Martins rely on human-made housing  The search for naturally nesting martins in giant saguaro cacti  Filming in the Amazon rainforest  South Carolina wildlife spectacles most people never experience This episode is a celebration of wonder, migration, storytelling, and the wild places still hiding in plain sight. This episode, like all Naturally Scott episodes, is dedicated to Scott’s mother — an incredible mind, an incredible woman, and a shatterer of many glass ceilings. She was a force, but never quiet. 👉 Stay up to date and get bonus content here: https://naturallyscott.kit.com/5fd12c6752 [https://naturallyscott.kit.com/5fd12c6752]

E59 Matt Forister – Butterflies, Climate Change & the Hidden Crisis Facing Insects

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2523691/fan_mail/new] Butterflies are beautiful. They are also disappearing. In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris sits down with University of Nevada, Reno biology professor Matt Forister for a fascinating and surprisingly urgent conversation about butterflies, insect declines, climate change, pesticides, and why these tiny creatures may tell us more about the health of our planet than almost anything else. Matt explains how a decades-long butterfly monitoring project in California revealed dramatic declines in both butterfly abundance and species diversity, and why modern pesticide use may be playing a major role. But this conversation is not all doom and gloom. It is also about wonder. From tiny butterflies no larger than a fingernail to massive monarch migrations stretching across North America, Matt shares why butterflies captivate so many people and how anyone can begin exploring the incredible diversity of the insect world. Topics include: 🦋 Why butterflies are declining across North America  🌎 Climate change and shifting migration patterns  ☠️ The hidden dangers of modern pesticides  🐛 Why caterpillars and moths matter more than most people realize  📚 The surprising book that led Matt into science  🔬 How 53 years of butterfly data became one of the longest-running insect studies in America This episode is dedicated to Scott’s mother — an incredible mind, an incredible woman, and a shatterer of many glass ceilings. She was a force, but never quiet. 👉 Stay up to date and get bonus content here: https://naturallyscott.kit.com/5fd12c6752 [https://naturallyscott.kit.com/5fd12c6752]