The Fabulous Ordinary: Discovering the Natural Wonders of the Wild South

by Georgann Eubanks

Georgann Eubanks offers readers a tour of the seasonal joys of ecosystems in the Southeast. The ordinary destinations and events she explores are scattered across seven states and include such wonders as a half-million purple martins roosting on an island in a South Carolina lake, the bloom of thirty acres of dimpled trout lilies in a remote Georgia forest, gnat larvae that glow like stars on the rock walls of an obscure Alabama canyon, and the overnight accumulation of elaborately patterned moths on the side of a North Carolina mountain cabin.

These phenomena and others reveal how plants, mammals, amphibians, and insects are managing to persevere despite pressures from human invasion, habitat destruction, and climate change. Their stories also shine a light on the efforts of dedicated scientists, volunteers, and aspiring young naturalists who are working to reverse losses and preserve the fabulous ordinary that's still alive in the fields, forests, rivers, and coastal estuaries of this essential and biodiverse region.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature

264 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2025

Reviews

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I don't live in America, very little of the described wildlife is ordinary to me, apart from sparrows and starlings, which are introduced non-natives in these pages. The bald eagle gets a chapter, but shares pages with other birds like ospreys. Some stunning photos add weight to the narrative of simply driving from one conservation spot to another, on a day trip, to see what inhabits the local environment.

Guides take the author to look for night-glowing insects the size of rice grains. They explain to her how a patch of dappled woodland was bought and saved from development or logging, to preserve a yellow flower called trout lily. The photo shows this growing with the profusion of bluebells in England. More guides develop an interest in moths, or frogs and toads. And presto, the author later discovers that she has some of these in her backyard.

Chapters could be read out of sequence, but refer back to earlier pages so it makes more sense read as presented. However if you really need to look up the swamp alligators or cranes, there's plenty of info. The full colour photos, taken on the trips, are clear and helpful. To someone who doesn't necessarily know what American trees and birds and salamanders are like, there is a lot of work on a nature app or Google to be done. Still, this might inspire readers to go out and see what is in their locality as well.

Bibliography p. 227 - 244 arranged by chapter. I think a list of the nature apps used and recommended would also be helpful. They are mostly named in the text but for instance, the Cornell bird one is not good for someone who doesn't know what road they are on, such is my experience anyway. And whether the apps need you to be connected to a cell mast in the field, or you can take a photo and add it when you get to wi-fi. Not everyone can spend a fortune on phone usage.

I read an e-ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quit interesting. showing stars in the Animal and Plant Kingdom that I knew little about; makes one want to take and visit some of these places told about, and see these marvelous birds, butterflies and elk.

[Jessi Waugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but it is hard to read of someone else’s experience in nature, the envy is torture