Prairie Hill Farm
photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison
The heat has just abated a little and the Black Flies (having undergone a second hatch) have finally calmed down a bit...now its the skeeters - but hey, the dragonflies, bats and swallows need to eat too! The prairie pastures have continued to wow me...the insects, birds, grasses and forbs are giving cause to pause and watch. Get out if you can...I know that life tends to get in the way, but a quiet walk is in order!
(Click on any image for a larger view)
Monarch Butterfly (male) feeding on Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
in the pasture here at Prairie Hill Farm
photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison
Mass of Cup Plants (Silphium perfoliatum) in bloom in the pasture
photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison
Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardi)
photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison
Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta)
photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison
Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison
Fairy
Napkin! OK...just a dew covered spider web!
The "little fairy" can be
seen peeking out from it lair in the upper hole in the web
(should have
zoomed in on him).
photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison
Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)
photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison
Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison
My
favorites in the low areas of the pasture and ditches -
Swamp Milkweed!
(Asclepias incarnata)
photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison
Mass
of Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) - delicate little plants,
balanced in the left foreground by spikes of Sideoats Grama (Bouteloua
curtipendula)
photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison
Mass
of Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata)
photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison
Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison
The prairie keeps changing - hopefully I can keep up and record it...if you get a chance - get out and enjoy it.
Hope to see you on the Tallgrass!!!
