A Tallgrass Journal

2011-12-21T14:21:00.000-08:00

"Along Red Mountain Pass" - oil on canvas

(Sold)

I have been buried, literally, in work this month - as I'm sure many of you are experiencing as well! But being extremely busy can be a positive thing - at least that's the way I'm going to take it!

Today is the winter solstice! And here we are...brown, only a smidge of snow left here and there in the shadows! I had a client come over the other evening to pick up a framed piece; they said, "Brown Christmas - White Easter." I can live with that. However it does seem out of character for a brown Christmas here...I only remember one brown Christmas in NW Iowa in 61 years...its just not normal!

The image at the top of the post does not have anything to with with the tallgrass prairie of course - I had used the painting above in a blog last winter sometime...Its was used this Christmas on my cards sent out to family, friends and clients, so I'll use it here as a "wish" for you.

I would like to wish you the very best this Christmas - and the best possible new year in 2012. God Bless and thank you for stopping by on the prairie every now and again...I hope to keep it up!

See you on the tallgrass next year!

2011-11-12T13:32:00.001-08:00

Great Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)

color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view)

This is going to be a short double post from my studio blog today...

My mother's favorite color was blue. I remember all the things she decorated with; many things throughout the house favored blue. I think of her during the year when the few blue flowers of the prairie bloom. In the spring it's Blue-eyed Grass, in the late summer its some of the asters, (like Sky Blue Aster)...in the early fall, for me its Great Lobelia!

I came across a large group of Great Lobelia this past September on a hillside seepage. I took several photographs of the plants but none seemed to do them justice, like I feel they need...so I decided to make it a fall project to do a small color pencil of them instead. I should probably title this piece something like "Great Lobelia Blues".

I've not had success getting this wildflower to grow in our pasture because we're fairly gravely here, and this flower really favors a wet location. Now I have a small bouquet of them "growing" in a frame in my studio...a nice way to remember my mother, and a late September morning on the prairie.

Hope you had time on the prairie this fall during those Indian Summer days! With the weather getting colder here, I'll soon be trekking the prairie with the snow shoes on! Not sure I'm quite ready for that though!

Hope to see you on the Tallgrass.

Indian Summer

2011-10-24T12:21:00.000-07:00

"Mid October Along Waterman"

photograph © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view)

I've visited Indian Summer in past blogs, its such a bitter sweet time of the year (as memories of Indian Summers past are as well). I can't get over the transformation the landscape undergoes at this time either. Here, its been very dry, not like drought stricken areas in the south and southwest but dry for "here"; nearly no rain of consequence since July...none measurable here at Prairie Hill Farm since August or early September.

I looked forward to walking the Waterman when fall took hold in the valley here, but it was so dry and windy for an extended period that the leaves simply dried up, turned brown and dropped! That is when the landscape takes on a new character and visually becomes more elusive for "me".

I like this time of the year. I enjoy time in the warm sun with a cool/crisp air about, making things very pleasant. A good hike doesn't seem as taxing in the fall...the usual tormenting entourage of insects have "mostly" abated. Birds are moving through; the music is different but contemplative.

On the day this image was taken, the banks and sand bars were hopping with small Eastern Chorus Frogs out sunning themselves, basking in the warmth of an Indian Summer day. I haven't seen that in many years...what good fortune for me!

Eastern Bluebirds lined the fence lines when I come up upon a field; their sweet understated conversations were relayed down the line from post to post, wire to wire. What pleasantry!

A Beaver dam came into view and I walked around and above it...there laid the cache, or beginnings of one for their winter storage. It wasn't a high dam but the pool behind was substantial...I'd watched two Beaver downstream from here about 3 weeks earlier, I'm sure this is their lair.

One thing I found very interesting about this dam was the materials used were largely made up of Indigo Bush (Amorpha fruticosa)! There was a thick stand of it on the south bank above the dam and this is where the Beaver were cutting dam materials. I didn't see evidence of it cached for food though...I wondered about that...

I have never seen a stand of Amorpha fruticosa anywhere in this county (O'Brien) until this year, and this section of Waterman Creek south of us has the largest population I've found in this county. We are just too dry of an area here and our plants are typically lacking in wetter habitat type species. But this section of Waterman had other "pockets" of wetland species too...rushes, Northern Arrowhead (Sagittaria cuneata), Bur Marigold (Bidens aristosa) and others.

I followed all kinds of tracks along the creek all the way back to the road, a section of ground away; its been a long walk...I hope its not too long before the next one! Its a tough job but someone's gotta do it! :)

Happy Indian Summer, hope to see you on the tallgrass!

2011-09-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

"Waterman Sunrise"

photograph © Bruce A. Morrison

Its fall already (!) and its been just glorious here. Although I hate time slipping by so quickly, I'm a sucker for autumn! I've been doing more work than prairie upkeep this year...with so much to do here in the studio, my prairie experience has been mostly relegated to exploring, photographing and painting (or drawing).

I love the exploring part! This year I've been very blessed to get access to some very nice places to walk and photograph. They've all been in the "neighborhood" here...but this neighborhood is intoxicating and I'm hooked bad.

We live along the Waterman Creek in the valley here...this creek is part of the Little Sioux River shed and this river shed has been identified as one of the last large tallgrass remnant areas in this state (Iowa).

"Cattle Crossing"

color pencil drawing © Bruce A. Morrison

Top that off with the richness of cultural heritage here and its just hard to not get drawn in and absorbed. I can only lament that I wish I'd been here and exposed decades ago! I'm certainly not getting any younger but I haven't felt this way since I was a kid and discovered the river and creeks near my home for the first time.

I think being an artist of regional bent...a representational painter, a landscape photographer, a prairie fanatic, is all my vision desires and that is where I'm at now. I'm home.

"Summer Evening on Waterman"

oil on mounted canvas - 9X12"

But this "home boy" needs to earn a living so here comes my shameless plug! You can see the prairie up close and personal here in my studio/gallery at the Prairie Hill Farm Studio during the 2011 Artisans Road Trip coming up this Friday (September 30) from 4-8:00 p.m. and Saturday through Sunday (October 1 and 2) from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day!

Come see the prairie on canvas, in the frame, on the easel or here in the valley (or all of the above)! Enjoy some conversation, drink some fresh (from here at the acreage) raspberry lemonade and eat decadent treats! We'd love to see ya!

Have a wonderful fall - hope to see you on the Tallgrass!!!

2011-09-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

It has been a whirl wind summer! Too bad it just does not slow down a tad, but that is just the way of things I guess.

We had our Monarch roost again this year here at the acreage. It wasn't particularly impressive...about 300 the heaviest evening...down to just 9 last night. But it was a neat sight none-the-less. I suspect the Monarchs we're seeing now are from the pasture here...we were still finding caterpillars here on the milkweeds just 8 days ago; some of those individuals may now be adults feeding here.

The weather fronts have been moving them out. The first morning after our high numbers, the wind had switched out of the north and Monarchs were rising above the tree tops and being blown south at quite an impressive speed! (Hated seeing them leave but what can you do!?)

Journey North and Monarch Watch are still two really good sites to check out, report through, and support with your donations...its a remarkable natural heritage, and one I look forward to each year.

Hope the last days of the summer are treating you well - see you on the tallgrass!

Mid (to late?) Summer at Prairie Hill Farm

2011-08-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

Big Bluestem in flower at the Prairie Hill Farm Prairie

(still image taken from "Mid Summer at Prairie Hill Farm" video)

image © Bruce A. Morrison

This is a repost from the studio blog today, but this really fits the Tallgrass Journal blog much better I think!

Its really past what I'd consider "mid" summer here on the prairie now, but there is about a month of summer left to enjoy yet! We had one nasty storm just two days ago and were very fortunate that we only lost a couple trees and gained a mess in the landscape with shredded leaves and plants...didn't do the gardens any good either.

I don't think the small prairie here will look too great the rest of the summer but think that "close-up" you may not be too disappointed. I decided to put together an 8 minute video (long for me) of the prairie here before the storm (some footage the day before), much of which was compiled "mid" summer.

(If you get this blog via e-mail subscription, you may not see the embedded video and will have to follow the link to view.)

I'm hoping to make this video part of the "From the Tallgrass" exhibit at Arts on Grand - at the Artist's Reception tonight! One last plug! :) 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. - hope to see you there! The exhibit runs through September 25th so if you can't make the reception, you'll have nearly the "rest of the summer" to make it!

You can go online and view "Mid Summer at Prairie Hill Farm" here - (the HD version is much more fun to watch on you tube any way!)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uZrZ8g1Wzg

Hope to see you on the Tallgrass!!!

From the Tallgrass - the First Exhibition

2011-08-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) at the Prairie Hill Farm Prairie

Photograph © Bruce A. Morrison

How's the prairie where you are right now?! The native pasture here is transitioning from mid summer to late. The goldenrods are just beginning to tinge with blossoming, the False Boneset is in bloom, the asters are showing signs of awakening, the warm season grasses are either all in bloom or just finishing that stage.

The season is progressing! I sure hate to see things move this fast; wouldn't it be great to put the brakes on for a bit?!! One thing I really appreciate this time of year is the insects and their music. The Katydids are really making the afternoon and evenings seem alive! The Robber Flies are out now again, making their raids through the grasses. This is a banner grasshopper year here so hope the Robber Flies concentrate there some. I've been hoping to video tape Monarchs depositing their eggs on the milkweed here...I haven't succeeded yet but have witnessed the "deed"...they're just too quick about it! I'll get lucky one of these days.

"From the Tallgrass", an exhibit of paintings, drawings and photography of the Tallgrass Prairie opens on Tuesday, August 16th next week! I'm both excited and nervous but I think that comes from spending all your time in the tallgrass and not enough around other homo sapiens! OK, thats a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it has been a long time since I went solo in an exhibit. Most of the last few weeks has been completely devoted to framing, re-framing, and all the other things that figure into something like this...there is so much more to it than meets the eye.

The prairie is the subject matter of course, and the prairie has been going great guns this summer - very hard to keep up!!! I think once we get the show hung in a few days, I need to step back onto the prairie and see what I've been missing these past weeks!!!

The Exhibit "From the Tallgrass" runs through September 25th. There will be an artist's reception on August 25th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The exhibit is at Arts on Grand in Spencer, Iowa. You can always give them a call, should you have any questions, at (712) 262-4307; they're open Tuesday through Saturday!

Hope to get to see and talk with you at the reception on the 25th (last Thursday in August)! If not, please try and get over to Arts on Grand to see the show!

A Prairie Cantabile

2011-08-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

"Prairie Cantabile" Painted Violin

(casein on applied canvas)

(click on image for a larger view)

This will be a double post from my studio blog...it relates "esthetically" to the prairie at least, and I'd like to get the word out about "From the Tallgrass", a solo exhibit celebrating the Tallgrass Prairie.

Not many folks have seen the painted violin I did several years ago, for a fund raiser to benefit the NW Iowa Symphony Orchestra. I have a solo exhibit coming up at Arts on Grand in Spencer, Iowa, in a couple weeks and this piece will be there. The buyers have agreed to let me show the piece once again and I will honestly say I am still taken aback by it...I can't believe how nice is looks, I'm extremely proud of this piece! It was my first attempt with Casein as a painting medium...casein is extremely permanent...I believe it is one of the earliest painting medias in use today.

"Cantabile" is from the Italian meaning "worthy to be sung". I sing praises of the prairie in all my works; what more aptly fits than this title for this work?!! The back of the violin depicts the prairie as a landscape, the front of the piece celebrates the prairie "up front" and close-up.

From the Tallgrass" is the title of this solo exhibit. It opens August 16 and runs through September 25th. There will be an "Artist's Reception" on Thursday the 25th, from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. Please come and enjoy this exhibit devoted to our region's natural and cultural heritage!

I may refer to "From the Tallgrass" once or twice more this month...hope you can make it to Spencer during the show!

See you on the Tallgrass!

Piece by Piece

2011-08-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

Waterman Prairie - Cherokee County

I recently photographed on a new acquisition of multiple organizations: the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, The Iowa Nature Conservancy and the Iowa DNR. Thankfully this could not have been done without the willingness and help from the private land owners.

Waterman Prairie - Cherokee County...along the

Little Sioux River valley corridor

This is an addition to the Waterman Prairie Complex that is south of us in O'Brien County - except now it includes Cherokee County! The 60 acre parcel is only a drop in the proverbial bucket but every little niche helps the overall picture. Waterman Prairie is in the Little Sioux Valley and this valley has been identified as the last important "interior" corridor remnant of the tallgrass prairie in Iowa. The Nature Conservancy and the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation have been working to preserve remnants of the prairie here; an attempt to piece together a "corridor", or may be more simply put as "connecting the dots". As more parcels are preserved, more pieces of the puzzle are once again intact.

female Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa) at the Cherokee Waterman Prairie site

I did find some very good stands of native grasses, especially June Grass...don't believe I've seen so much in one location before? Other native grasses seemed abundant here and there but the former use of this as pasture ground shows a very large presence of Brome. But its the strategic placement of this tract and its size that is important for the fauna that is in desperate need of habitat! The Grasshopper Sparrow for instance - I was hearing quite a few Grasshopper Sparrows here; these grassland obligates are in real need of habitat...they require large tracts and you just will not find them along roadside plantings and such. One thing in their favor here is the surrounding private tracts are also hillside pasture. Other grassland birds present here during my walk were Sedge Wrens, Dickcissels, Field Sparrows, and Bobolinks.

Hats off to these great organizations and private citizens that support them and who work with them for additions to our natural heritage! Check these organizations out - they are worth your time and consideration too!

Hope to see ya on the Tallgrass!

Monarch Summer

2011-07-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

Monarch with a caterpillar tattered Heliopsis helianthoides

(click on image for a larger view)

This is going to be a double post this time, both here and on the Prairie Hill Farm Studio blog as well...the prairie is an important theme in my work and my interests elsewhere.

Have you been seeing many Monarch butterflies out there this summer? We've had a good number here on the remnant prairie pasture here at the studio...but the question is also academic, I guess you could say. The Monarch Butterfly is probably one of our best know insects in North America, yet is one with many issues regarding its health and future in our world.

Journey North, an educational project through The Annenberg Foundation, is asking the question, and has been asking it for several years now. Journey North is "A global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change." It is also described as a "free citizen science project for students across North America". Although this was intentionally set up as a K-12 curriculum, it is open to anyone's participation, and frankly benefits from that. To learn more about the Monarch and Journey North go to their page at http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/index.html

I like to send in reports as they transform here at the prairie, it contributes to a better understanding of the Monarch and keeps tabs on issues of their population health and the environment around them...they are quite like the proverbial "canary in the coal mine".

Monarch Watch is much the same...Monarch Watch is part of the Biological Survey through the University of Kansas. Monarch Watch is about the same business as Journey North - the health and status of this North American icon butterfly. Monarch Watch also takes on the promotion of "habitat for Monarchs". And because I like to watch and photograph (and draw and paint) Monarchs, habitat "is" important.

If you are ever interested in growing thing for Monarchs, the following might be helpful.

They're well know for their dependence on milkweeds. We have 4 species of Asclepiadaceae (milkweed family) here at Prairie Hill Farm - Common (A. syriaca), Butterfly Milkweed (A. tuberosa), Swamp Milkweed (A. incarnata) and Whorled Milkweed (A. verticillata)...the latter, Whorled, is the only one that seems to be more of a "pest" plant here...I've never encouraged it but it is definitely the "bully" milkweed! Which seems somewhat humorous because its also the smallest in stature...but I also see it as the milkweed of preference for the Monarchs here...oh, they love the Butterfly Milkweed, but mostly the seed pods! Which I try and save to use for future propagation. You'll often see me picking Monarch caterpillars off of the A. tuberosa and repositioning them onto the A. verticillata plants!

But Monarchs, in the butterfly stage, love to feed on just about any nectar, so any wildflower you can find out here on the prairie is a great food source for Monarchs! If I were to vote on what the butterflies like "here", I'd say mid summer favorites are the Heliopsis helianthoides like in the post photo above (sometimes called Ox-eye sunflower, but it isn't really a sunflower), Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta), Gray-headed Coneflowers (Ratibida pinnata), Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum) and of course, flowers of all the milkweeds. Later on in the summer the Liatris family and all the Goldenrods and all the Asters are butterfly magnets! "Here" the Stiff Goldenrods (Solidago rigida) are the Monarch champs...they are very aggressive forbs too so they aren't necessarily "my" favorites!

A side benefit here is our grove bordering the north and west side of our acreage. We tend to be a migration stop-over in September here...its great seeing the 1-2-3 hundred or more Monarchs gather together in the evening, and disperse again in the morning! What a great circle for the season to complete...I recommend keeping your proverbial door open for the Monarch each year...we need them and they need us!

Early Summer at the Prairie Hill Farm Prairie

2011-07-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

Prairie Phlox (Phlox pilosa)

excerpt from HD video footage © Bruce A. Morrison

Already into the second week of July here and the plant progression on the prairie is really moving! I've been trying to keep up with some maintenance here, especially where the county ripped out the old ditch out front. We've got some fairly nice forbs and grass taking hold but still have big issues with sweet clover, mare's tail, sow's ear and thistle. Trying to be a good neighbor and all...besides it needs to be kept under control! With the weather we've been having (heat) and the fertile bed of forbs there, pulling is my only option. Between the heat, humidity and mosquitoes, its a mess to work with!

Prairie footage from Prairie Hill farm!

I've been out in the prairie remnants south of here the past week but have been spending most of my free time here or in the studio. We do have some nice things coming along on the prairie here at the acreage and I've been shooting footage as I get a chance. Here's another short video, this of just a few plants and things from the past couple weeks...

Enjoy! And hoping to see ya on the tallgrass!

Tallgrass Summer

2011-06-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

"Dawn in the Valley"

(click on image for a larger view)

I've been spending these days exploring new remnants, but still along the little creek that flows past our home in the valley. The tallgrass is entering summer now and there is no holding it back!

One pleasant personal observation this year has been the larger than remembered vocal presence of Dickcissels. They are even calling from the fences bordering our own yard! Now this is likely a good opportunity to get more photos of this grassland favorite...but Murphy's Law steps in with cases like this. If you go out and dig thistle or mow, or pull brome - they sing praises to you! If you even carry something "looking like" a camera - they leave for the neighbor's pasture! Little buggers! But it's nice to hear and see so many here this summer; would be nice if they were actually rebounding a little.

I'm embedding a very short video here of a male Dickcissel singing from a pasture fence post...many people don't realize what a pretty little bird this is (or don't even recognize what kind of bird it is!)...although the video isn't a "close-up" of the bird, it will give you an idea of how it looks. For a better look at a Dickcissel, you can view a closer shot in a past post in my Prairie Hill farm blog - Here. If you subscribe to this blog via e-mail the link for the video feed is - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwuepAhj36E. (That link would also allow full screen viewing.)

See ya on the tallgrass...enjoy the birds on the prairie this summer!

Spring (Summer!) In The Valley

2011-06-06T12:21:00.000-07:00

Scibner's Panic Grass (Panicum oligosanthes) -left

and Porcupine Grass (Stipa spartea) -right

(click on image for a larger view)

It's Spring in the valley here for sure now...in fact summer is more the feel. On the tallgrass there is still some catch up in forbs but they're catching up fast. I was just on an area prairie yesterday morning and the Prairie Phlox, Purple American Vetch, Canada Anemones and Hoary Puccoon were all hitting stride. I'm seeing the Scribner's Panic Grass and the Porcupine Grass setting fruit here on our remnant pasture now also.

Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium campestre) from the

remnant pasture here.

I usually am able to gauge everything here by the Fringed Puccoon and the Blue-eyed Grasses, but they were both later than I've ever recorded them this year (about 12 days late), but they are in record number here - very fun to see! I'm not sure what causes the different variations in the Blue-eyed Grass but they are generally almost white to very pale blue here, yet this year I had 40-50% blue to dark blue...interesting!

I recorded some of the noise in the neighborhood here a couple weeks back, and although they're still singing, aside from the neighborhood Coyotes - some of the frog voices have changed; the Toads and Leopard and Chorus Frogs have finally finished and the Cricket and Copes Gray Tree Frogs are taking over! I'm trying to find a good time to record them as well but here is our "Spring in the Valley" chorus for you to listen to!

If you subscribe via e-mail, you may have to click back to the actual blog to play this audio -

http://tallgrassjournal.blogspot.com/

Stay busy and hope to see you in the tallgrass!

Changing for Spring - Update

2011-05-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

American Goldfinch - male

photograph © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view)

I think you could say part of this is an update on an older blog. In the "Changing for Spring!" blog from April 1st, I talked about the Goldfinches molting here at the acreage. Well, they've completed the molt cycle a couple weeks or more back and I thought I'd throw one up for you to see a male American Goldfinch in all its finery :) I'm showing the back of the bird because it's the showiest profile...the beautiful stark black and white patterns with the bird's bright yellow back and nape and the forehead black again (as well as the accent of the bill coloration). What a pretty little bird!

Now that the first flush of dandelions has gone to seed, these birds are all over the ground feeding on the seed heads. It's pretty amazing (and amusing) when you look out on all the beautiful dandelions and suddenly they take flight! The birds are like flying dandelions! And they sing too! What more could you ask?!

I've often asked myself questions about the birds we see out on the tallgrass now...were they all here in similar numbers or did we create conditions making them more prevalent in some ways? I know the American Goldfinch was very likely as common out on the prairie now as a couple hundred years ago. Maybe their population was different than now, but they most certainly were a bird of the prairie as much as the rest of the North American continent.

Baltimore Oriole - male

photograph © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view)

What about others? The Baltimore and Orchard Orioles are back in the acreage now. Were they "here" back "in the day"? I'm assuming they may have been a savanna species...here in SE O'Brien County (Iowa), there were Bur Oak savannas nearby...some along Waterman Creek in the valley here but more so along the Little Sioux River valley south of us. If they were a species of the savanna, were they "common"? Interesting question. I must say that if they weren't common then, we're very fortunate they are now!!! Love these guys!

Gotta get some work done! Hope you're not too distracted like I seem to be!

See you on the Tallgrass!

Every Little Bit

2011-04-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

"Summer Along Angler's Bay"

color pencil - 5X7" - art work © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for larger view)

This "spring" has really been a bugger! Well, maybe I'm just being impatient but until this past weekend, it's just been a gray cold/windy/wet reminder of November!

I haven't been able to do any of the prep work in the pastures that I'd like, other than (thank goodness!) get our burning accomplished about 4 weeks back. We opted to burn 2 of the 3 acres, leaving the third acre abutting the 23 acre native pasture in back, unburned. We had a good deal of insect diversity back in that corner last summer and fall; maybe resting it another year will help make it a banner year again? We also burned another acre south of the driveway...this section has yet to be overseeded...I am very interested in seeing what may come back on it's own...this is the 3rd year we've burned it now. The south edge of this acre burn is our neighbor's pasture - it has never been burned and does have some grass remnants of Side Oats Grama, Tall Dropseed, and Blue Grama Grass. Also has Fringed Puccoon (which we discovered there for the first time last spring) and Blue Eyed Grass. There's about 3 and a half acres there so I'm tending to believe that our one acre burn next to it will still repopulate with invertebrates from there.

There's been quite a stir on the list servs here in Iowa the past couple of weeks. It may have been a small "bit" of a tragedy, but tragic none-the-less.

Maybe the old factoid that Iowa is the most changed landscape of any of the 50 states is being overused? I don't think so, I think that statement is true; we're not being overly protective or cautious - we need to waiver on the side of our natural heritage in our thinking.

Apparently, a small wet/wet mesic prairie disappeared this month in eastern Iowa. Iowa is a state that now has so little of what it was made up of just 150 years ago and whenever a tiny piece that, miraculously survived this long suddenly disappears, well...it's tragic.

The prairie in question was near the town of Dyersville...it was considered a wetland prairie and was known for some high quality wet and wet mesic native plants "for" Iowa. A couple weeks back, someone who was aware of the prairie (it was privately owned), was stunned to see it was being filled over with dirt. Some frantic discussion on the native plants list serv found that it was one of those incidents that no one noticed until it was over. Further investigation showed it was all done by the book (according to Iowa regulations), all permits were applied for, eventually approved, and the work commenced.

Being a wetland, it was "assumed" the property was "safe" from this type of future...but unlike most states (particularly neighboring states) Iowa does not have any state regs against wetland drainage if they do not fall under federal jurisdiction. This small wetland prairie did not.

Ironically, this wetland prairie was filled in to build a school building on. Perhaps ironically, again, some day a class at this school might, in studying our vanishing natural heritage, plant a prairie plot in the school yard somewhere...this was poised by a list serv contributor and I must say - this was nearly the first thought that formed in my own mind when I read the circumstances.

The image at the top of the blog is a small color pencil study I recently finished of a location north of us - Angler's Bay on Spirit Lake in Dickinson County. In my rendition I left out "civilization" on the far distant shoreline. In reality it is dotted with houses and docks - visible from this reed filled shore across the bay. That was the future this shoreline was looking at...at least the possibility of it. But the owners of this 3/4 mile long reed bed (the area's largest remaining virgin bullrush bed) saw the need to preserve this "wetland". Through a large/intense campaign, the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation was able to save this "bit" of our natural heritage...only 93 acres, but another "bit" of our grand children's heritage is being preserved!

I know, in general conversation, a lament of losing 10 or 20 acres of prairie or wetland would almost certainly be scoffed at by the majority of people hearing about it...but we've long passed the point where we can write it off like someone tossing trash out of a passing car. When it's gone, it's truly gone...lets try harder to instill a true value on what of our heritage remains - natural and cultural!

They're Here!

2011-04-04T12:08:00.000-07:00

Pasque Flowers (Pulsatilla patens) on Waterman Prairie

Photograph © Bruce A. Morrison

The Prairie has begun blooming! The first flower of spring on the prairie finally began blooming up here in the NW corner of the state this past weekend. This is always my "official" beginning of spring on the Tallgrass...look forward to it all winter long because it means the season has begun and better days..."great" days, are ahead!

Georgie and I went out on Sunday afternoon to check the prairies for pasques... a wind advisory with a real stiff blow out of the west/northwest was making photography almost untenable...a higher shutter speed was the only option!

Pasque Flowers (Pulsatilla patens) and dead cedar on Waterman Prairie

Photograph © Bruce A. Morrison

Waterman Prairie, here in S.E. O'Brien County, is in the "neighborhood" and we checked out all the spots that we've found these forbs in past years. Many slopes that had once been over run with Eastern Red Cedar trees here, have had their trees treated or cut to bring back the original prairie habitat. This, coupled with controlled burns and/or grazing, has encouraged the tallgrass plants to return. It's not uncommon to find Pasque Flowers growing at the base of the cedar stumps and trunks. It's great to see the prairie recovering on the slopes of the hills in the valley!

Veering a little, I'd like to comment that our entire planet "is in the neighborhood". Let's try to take this more to heart. With sincerity, lets celebrate this place we all must live...and heed the needs that exist "in our neighborhood". Give thought and action to the needs of our planet's peoples and our planet's habitats. Please give to your organizations of choice for those in need!

Spring is on the Tallgrass - let the games begin!

Changing for Spring!

2011-04-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

Male American Goldfinch beginning its spring molt

photograph © Bruce A. Morrison

We've really been enjoying the Goldfinches in the yard this winter. We get around 40-50 birds every year that stay in the pastures around us and visit our feeders!

Now that spring has arrived, we're getting more and more types of birds from their winter homes, now headed north, but the Goldfinches stay around all year long here.

One thing that is fun watching for is the Goldfinch molt. We get to watch all the males really change into their spring/summer/fall finery, and it's taking place right now! The image above is of the same male Goldfinch, just starting to put on the brilliant yellow feathers...little patches here and there. None of our neighborhood birds has made the complete transition yet...I suspect that will take another week or more (?), but there is one male I noticed that has really made some progress with it's molt (see image below).

This male American Goldfinch is much further along in its change of color!

photograph © Bruce A. Morrison

This female American Goldfinch is not going to be the brilliant "stand-out" that it's male counterpart will be.

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

The ladies molt too, of course, but their plumage is much duller in color...kind of an olive hint when they've changed; nothing near the yellow gold of the males. But "brilliant" or not, the Goldfinches are great having around the prairie pasture and yard all year long!

As I was walking from the studio to the house this noon, an accipiter flew through the yard, scooping up a Junco for lunch! It gets pretty exciting at times...high drama in the tallgrass. I wasn't able to make an ID but judging from size it was either a male Cooper's or a female Sharp-shinned Hawk. I only had a couple seconds view and it was moving "away" from me as I spotted it.

Aside fom bird activity, other things are undergoing changes for spring now; I'm looking for signs in the prairie here. We're a bit far north for the Pasques to be in bloom yet but they may take us by surprise one of these days soon. I have been hearing forb reports from the more southern parts of the state and they definitely are ahead of us!

We are eyeing the pastures here for spring burning also. We have alternated section burns in the past few springs but may do more this year "if" we find the neighboring pastures being left alone...going to take some communicating before we get started.

As I've mentioned in past years, it's important to leave some spaces untouched for invertebrate survival each year. We have been fortunate in past years...the pastures bordering ours have never been burned since we moved here 9 years ago.

Black and Yellow Argiope (Argiope aurantia) - female

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

If your site has a good number of invertebrates, you'll have more birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, etc.... In other words - more biodiversity. Last year we had an amazing number of Black and Yellow Argiope and Banded Argiope spiders in the late summer pasture. Our dragonflies, robber flies, butterflies, katydids, beetles, bees, wasps, etc, etc. - were amazing!

I know spring has finally arrived...now the games begin for another year!

Winter Prairie Musing

2011-02-23T08:47:00.000-08:00

This is somewhat of a double posting from the studio, but not completely cut and pasted per-se. It really hasn't seemed like a "long" winter here at Prairie Hill Farm. Georgie and I have been extremely busy and that helps, doesn't it? But the Tallgrass has been on my mind nearly every moment, I just can't, nor want to shake it.

My seed from last year's harvest is waiting patiently to stoke up the road ditch this spring. I wanted to get it in last fall but the weather was very uncooperative! I hope this spring planting works as well as the last...sometimes I find the fall seeding to come out the best.

Most of my time has been spent painting or drawing the prairie, and doing studio business. This summer I have a solo exhibit over in Spencer at Arts on Grand, I'll send out more info on that down the road. It has put me under the gun to produce this winter; the exhibit title is "From the Tallgrass" and I'm working with the prairie as I have the past several years.

"Tallgrass Songster"

8X18" color pencil rendering

(click on image for a larger view)

I finally finished a piece that is about the third attempt to an idea I first got 6-7 years ago. The "star" of this drawing is a male Dickcissel belting out it's name, in song form, among the Tallgrass Prairie in bloom. The bird is taken from a study I did, which is now in the permanent "drawing collection" of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin. I have been trying to find a "home" for my study and this is my first "finished" attempt to see if I have! The foreground is a mix of forbs in a prairie remnant near us that Georgie and I often explore. The Echinacea (purple coneflowers) are of our county's true native population - Echinacea angustifolia, or "Narrow-leaved Purple Coneflower". The male Dickcissel is proudly belting out it's name, the call from which the bird was named (virtually sounds like Dick, Dick, cissel). This is a larger piece for me with color pencil...I find the medium can be exasperating at times and generally stick with small studies instead...but I persevered and finished it this week.

"The Ritter Elevator"

11X19" oil painting

(click on image for a larger view)

Another work finished earlier, was an oil painting that was "kind of" different for me; it was a commissioned work done for a client commemorating (if-you-will) her trips to the grain elevator with her father, back when she was a child. The elevator is one I'm very familiar with, have driven past and around it for 30+ years. What I didn't know were some of the history and stories behind the "Ritter Elevator" - was fun to research and depict the elevator during the early 1950's! The red IH box truck was my client's father's truck. I took the rest of the vehicles from the area and other sources...the red tractor is my neighbor's father's Farmall "M" and their flarebox wagon (did repaint that a different color though). I do like doing work depicting the agricultural environment/landscape and felt this was actually a good fit. I've said it before and will likely again - the Tallgrass Prairie made this state what it is today and without that natural heritage, we would not have that "black gold" the prairie gave us - the soil. After handing the painting over to it's new owner, I asked her if I could have permission to share it with you here - she was very happy to!

My first "Morrison's Studio Newsletter" (Vol.1, No.1) went out this week! If you'd like to sign up for it, there's a link to the form right along the sidebar to this blog...if you get this blog via e-mail you can go directly to the form by way of this link -

http://www.morrisons-studio.com/Newsletter%20page.htm

The Tallgrass up here is still under snow and ice! I'll just keep working on it here in the studio...makes the time I can be outside all day come quicker! Hope yours is thawing and growing soon!

See ya on the Tallgrass!

Prairie on Paper

2011-01-05T15:53:00.000-08:00

"Yellow Coneflower"

(Ratibida pinnata)

Color Pencil - 5X7" © Bruce A. Morrison

I'm double posting from my art blog this time...I think it can relate to the tallgrass!

I've been delving in the prairie vicariously through my drawing lately. If you can't go to the prairie "physically", then why not mentally or on the tactile surface of the paper in front of you?!

My subject matter is likely one of the most common forbs (flowers) from the prairie, and can be found anywhere that allows it a seed bed. But I love this plant, no matter how common place it may be. And I look forward to gathering it's seed every fall...man what an amazing smell from a handful of seed! If you've never collected it, I'll not try and describe it - just try it for yourself some fall.

I called this plant "prairie coneflower" for years, until I was corrected one day, being told it was a "Gray-headed Coneflower" I had the scientific name correct - Ratibida pinnata, but was never keen on gray-headed...just doesn't sound appealing does it? Well several months ago I got my new edition of "Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie" by Runkel and Roosa and the name given it there is "Yellow Coneflower"...I can live with that! :) So I'm titling the drawing at the beginning of this blog Entry "Yellow Coneflowers" and I'll throw in the Ratibida pinnata to boot, making it official and correct.

I may do a drawing of "Prairie Coneflowers" one of these days...that's Ratibida columnifera to you sticklers out there! :) They grow in our pasture as well, occurring naturally in this SE corner of O'Brien County.

Been working on this piece and others off and on since Thanksgiving...may plant a few more forbs on paper...or a landscape to wander through. In the meantime I'm still finishing commissioned painting work...but a walk through the prairie in my mind is still a refreshing respite!

Hope you agree! See you on the Tallgrass!

Happy New Year on the Tallgrass!

2010-12-31T08:34:00.000-08:00

2010 is on it's last legs here. As I write this entry we're in a unusual weather event...instead of a blizzard, it's pouring rain and sleet; soon to be just snow. Weird stuff for the last day of the year to be sure!

I was out on the pasture this week with the snow shoes; it is very retrospective to view things now that they are under winter's blanket. Many vole holes appear here and there, as do tunnel ridges traveling to and from buried seed heads. I always shake my head in wonder at how nature copes in the extremes...the snow's crust is now hardened by the weather change and, for those left "on top", things are going to get difficult!!!

The video at the top of this blog is a scene taken out one of the studio windows...kind of a "snow globe" gift to you. If you are an email subscriber to this blog, the video won't show up...you can either go directly to the blog (http://tallgrassjournal.blogspot.com/) or visit this link on You Tube -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzukbeAnzXs

I want to take a moment to wish all of you out there a prosperous and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

See you on the Tallgrass in 2011!!!

Best Holiday Wishes!

2010-12-22T15:44:00.000-08:00

Winter on the Tallgrass

Well the solstice is past us now...the days will start to get longer! OK, not by much at first but it's the thought that counts! Hope you had a chance to view the total lunar eclipse on the solstice! That will never happen again in our life time. I had all my camera gear set and ready to go but when I got up at 1:30 a.m. to check it out here, the sky was still overcast and not any sign of even where the moon was. Luck of the draw I guess.

The native pasture here is now pretty much buried in snow...we had a blizzard a week and a half ago and the 50+ mph winds and 6" of snow pretty much plastered everything down and buried the majority of it. I think the voles and mice will have a bountiful winter with all the seed heads buried beneath where they are now living!

We've had a pair of Great Horned Owls in the pasture and yard each night for the past 2-3 weeks. I think their efforts will be a little more hampered now, but even the rodents make a "snow top" run for it every now and then...and our bird feeders seem to suppy enough rodent fodder, so maybe the owls are just waiting for bird seed visitors?!

Been seeing a few deer around but the hunting season is on so they're a bit wary. Know they're traveling about because their tracks are up and down the driveway each night and through the yard each morning. Even the Coyotes are tracking through the yard, we had a fresh set of prints this morning outside the kitchen window.

Wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a great Christmas, holiday season, and a wonderful and prosperous New Year in 2011!

See you next year on the Tallgrass!

A Tallgrass Year

2010-12-04T18:19:00.000-08:00

Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea)

Photograph © Bruce A. Morrison

Thank you to those folks who came to the Prairie Heritage Center for the Prairie program Thursday evening...although my voice gave out early on, you hung in there!

If you weren't able to make it to the center, I'm going to post the first part of the program which was a media program, recorded with images and audio from our prairie here at Prairie Hill Farm. I should state "most" of the images were from here; they were all shot within a 35 mile radius of here but at least 90% were here on our property. The music soundtrack was licensed through CSS Music, Inc.

The web address for "A Tallgrass Year" is -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjlGSSd_0Uw

We're very busy here at the studio, with the Christmas season upon us, but if you're in the area and want to stop by, please feel free!

See you on the Tallgrass!

Tallgrass On My Mind

2010-11-29T06:55:00.000-08:00

Soldier Beetle ( family Cantharidae) on Heliopsis helianthoides

This entry is a reposting of my Prairie Hill Farm blog from yesterday...it is strictly prairie related so thought it'd be a good fit for the A Tallgrass Journal blog as well.

I've mentioned the Prairie Heritage Center before...it is a gem in the extreme SE corner of our county (O'Brien). There is an exhibit of the tallgrass prairie at the center, running now and through January 6, 2011. The exhibit is a state traveling exhibit entitled "Tallgrass Prairie - Past, Present, and Future", and is a great exhibit for all ages to see, enjoy and walk through!

With this exhibit, the host organization is responsible for putting on a program in conjunction with the exhibit theme. I was asked if I'd be willing to do so and agreed...prairie is near and very dear to my heart and I'm always happy to speak on this subject!

The Prairie Heritage Center is calling the program "Colors of the Prairie". I've put together a short media program which will be followed by "colors of the prairie" and a discussion of my experiences and personal viewpoint of the Tallgrass Prairie. The program will take place at the Prairie Heritage Center on December 2nd at 7 p.m - that's this coming Thursday night, so if you have an opportunity to get away for a short evening event - be sure and stop by!

For those of you who may not have been to the Prairie Heritage Center, directions are "east" of Sutherland, Iowa on HY 10, or "west" of Peterson, Iowa on Hwy 10...or 4931 Yellow Avenue, Peterson, Iowa. You can also call for more information at (712) 295-7200!

See You on the Tallgrass!

Musings

2010-11-14T15:21:00.000-08:00

Sharp-shinned Hawk (adult)

photograph © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view)

It's been quite a spell since my last posting here, and not from a lack of things to throw out there or events to share. No moss has been forming around here, and that's a good thing. But when that happens, it usually means there is less time for me to spend out on the prairie. The studio work has been keeping me busy.

Had our first winter storm yesterday...well it's not really winter yet, we've got a few weeks before the solstice arrives. Had high winds and around 4-5 inches of snow.

The neighborhood song birds really come in to the feeders at this time of the year, and become regular guests until spring. Other birds come "visiting" for the guests, which really can make for some shorts bursts of excitement. This morning a Sharp-shinned Hawk was chasing the Goldfinches and Juncos around the front yard. The bird landed in the Silver Maple out front and I grabbed the small camera and took a couple shots of it before it launched off into a chase after finches over and past the corn crib, the last we saw of it for now.

"Sharpies" are real cool little hawks, they're the smallest member of the accipiter family in North America. They are more commonly known as birds of woodlands but come through the prairie during migration...taking advantage of opportunities - like our bird feeders. I'm sure they have always made their way through the tallgrass region during fall and spring migrations...I surmise that they likely held to the river valleys for the timber and bird prey they are accustomed to, but who knows?! (Accipiters feed primarily on birds.) The tallgrass is a much different environment than woodland, but their edges harbor many of the same species.

This is the time of year we're usually getting ready for possible fall or spring burns, and collect seed. I have been able to do a minimal amount of preparations in the pasture, but it doesn't look like fall burning will be very likely now. Even though the soil was still fairly warm when the snow came yesterday, the snow did come heavily enough to cover the majority of the pasture. I don't typically go too much for fall burns, but did have some plans for a limited one. Our ditches could use one; having a lot of trash growing in them this summer has created some issues and keeping the ditches clear of vegetation does help the road out front here when the snow gets deep.

The spring planting I did for the ditches went surprisingly well, but the extremely wet summer still caused many erosion trouble spots. Maybe leaving the many troublesome weeds there during the winter will aid in abating some spring thaw run off.

The majority of our seed collection time was restricted to our own site. I wish we could have gone out and done some area collecting...maybe next year? There's still plenty to work on here and I don't need to worry about being idle when the window of opportunity presents itself.

In the meantime, stay warm and enjoy the days on the tallgrass when you can!

Last Summer Posting??!!

2010-09-19T13:02:00.000-07:00

Great Golden Digger Wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus) on Stiff Goldenrod

(click on image for a larger view)

OK...where'd it go??? The summer I mean! Geeze I hate that...losing time so easily I mean. Although not gone, it is only days till the equinox, but that's not all bad either I guess. Soon the black flies and mosquitoes will get the axe from old Jack Frost and it'll be pleasant sailing on the tallgrass for a few more weeks! Except the Asian Lady Bird Beetles...have you noticed how impervious they seem to be to a hard frost? Must have anti freeze in their little cells!

This is the time of asters and goldenrod here on the tallgrass and there are a few invertebrates I enjoy this time of year. As I've said in past postings, invertebrates are such an important key in the entire web that holds a prairie environment together...it's not just plants...which of course are the most obvious to the observer's eye!

I see lots of different types of Wasps on the prairie once the goldenrods come on. Stiff Goldenrod (Solidago rigida) seems to be the most common and prolific here, although we do have quite of bit of the S. canadensis or Canada Goldenrod too. Earlier in the mid summer I can also find various wasps taking advantage of the Whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) here. Why I seem to find more activity on the A. verticillata, than the other milkweeds I'm note sure, but it's something I've observed here for several years and kind of think it's displaying a "preference".

The one wasp I look forward to watching each year is the Great Golden Digger. This is a curious and fairly friendly wasp with a neat habit of digging nests or burrows with the tenacity of a badger! I'm still awaiting my first photographic opportunity to photograph this wasp digging. I watched one in amazement once several years ago here and regretted not having my camera with me at the moment! I know most people aren't real keen on stinging insects...especially larger ones...any wasp will sting if bothered and some may not be as tolerant as others, but we're fortunate to not have that issue here...the wasps on our prairie remnant are actually amazingly tolerant...but I'll admit I'm very careful around them any way!

We've been enjoying the sounds of the season here very much. Each night has been bringing the late summer insect serenades, the neighborhood Great Horned Owl has been hooting from the yard by the house around 3-4 a.m. each morning and the Coyotes in the valley have "sung" numerous times for us this month!

I'm going to share our Great Horned Owl, serenading insects and one lone (distant) Coyote calling for it's friends, with you. I posted this audio snippet with friends on Face Book and my Prairie Hill Farm Studio Blog as well, and I'll share it here on the "A Tallgrass Journal" blog too.

"Night Noise" audio video © Bruce A. Morrison

Since Google's blogspot doesn't have a really easy way to post simple audio files, I'll share it as a video file. The image used on the video is a small "detail" of the image posted below...one I shared about 3 years back on this journal. It is of the pasture across the road from us, depicted at night in late summer - a moon lit landscape with a Great Horned Owl passing through in flight...maybe (?) on it's way up to Prairie Hill Farm to spook a rabbit or skunk out of cover for it's dinner!

"Night Pasture - Great Horned Owl"

8X24" color pencil rendering - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for larger view)

This artwork original sold at the Artisans Road Trip back in 2008 but I do have signed open edition prints of this work for sale at the 2010 A.R.T. event this year. I also have many new works (photographs, drawings and paintings) this year and would love to share them with you at the 2010 Artisans Road Trip coming up in just 2 weeks! We'll share a lot of mouth watering treats from Georgie's kitchen as well!

Why not go on a early autumn road trip the 1st, 2nd or 3rd of October and stop by the studio here at Prairie Hill Farm?!!! Even take a walk through the late Tallgrass Prairie here too and enjoy some of those invertebrates we've admired from short distances all summer!

Enjoy the "Night Sounds" audio video and stop in for some day time memories if you're in the neighborhood!!!

See you on the tallgrass!

Fall Migration!

2010-09-08T15:13:00.000-07:00

Monarch Butterflies roosting in the west grove here just before sunset

I haven't meant to be delinquent with the blog! I've actually been snowed under in related endeavors here at Prairie Hill Farm. But sometimes things come up that require you to "sneak in" some time regardless.

It's the fall migration...or roosting that happens each year here at this time...not necessarily birds in this instance...although we've had many warblers passing through as well as Flycatchers and other songbirds the past 2-3 weeks. It's the Monarchs!

Monarchs settle in for the night here after sunset

Each year we've been here we've had some roosting in the fall. A couple years back was our largest roosting of upwards of a thousand butterflies...possibly slightly less, they're hard to count when they fill branches from 15-25 feet up! This year we're seeing around 300-400 "countable" butterflies. One thing I've found is when you go out in the morning to investigate - you often find more because they flutter their wings exposing the bright upper side when the sun begins to warm them. This morning was no exception, I found many more roost covered branches than the evening before!

I send reports of sightings and roosts each year to the Journey North site; they have a Monarch migration tracking project that is followed by school children all over the country. It may sound small or unimportant but I feel kids are no longer in touch with their "natural" world like they were decades back. Our natural heritage is more important than we can understand and to expose our kids of all ages to facets of this is extremely important!

The sun stirs the Monarchs to flutter as the sun warms them,

then they'll leave for the neighboring prairie pasture here to nectar through the day.

It was a bad winter for Monarchs this past year. Their mountain winter roosts have significantly decreased and what roosting areas they still cling to are in bad shape. This past winter in Mexico there were heavy rains which turned to freezing rain, causing high mortalities for the North American Monarch population.

The Monarchs we have here now are that one unique part of the puzzle - they will be the ones to make the journey back to Mexico, winter over, and start the journey back next March! Amazing! They are the last generation for this year!

Get out and watch this amazing event if you can!

Night Noise...A Bird of the Tallgrass

2010-08-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

Sedge Wren singing (during day time!)

from Maximilian Sunflower

(Helianthus maximlianii) perch

I've been recording the night's here...audio recording the night noise, it's mesmerizing. Painting and photographing the natural world is my avocation...appreciating it is my "hobby" I guess you could say. A personal interest only for the fun and enjoyment of it.

One thing I've not been totally successful in recording is the Sedge Wren here at Prairie Hill Farm. They've been elusive to photograph as well, but one special characteristic with the Sedge Wren is one of it's calling habits - it sings nearly all night long! Well, "singing" is a kind way to describe it.

Sedge Wrens do sing during daylight hours too, but I can't get over how they don't burn themselves out?! When do they ever sleep?! I "can" tell you when they don't! Wake up around here at 1, 2, or 3 a.m. and I'll almost guarantee a Sedge Wren down in the pasture or out back, singing away.

I've been trying to record the nights here this summer...I've done bits and pieces in past years too, but the Sedge Wren's voice doesn't carry loudly enough to record well from the house. I usually stick a microphone out the upstairs window and then go to bed! That's the lazy way of recording nature! I have given thought to taking the equipment out and recording outside...I've done it many times but found out the hard way...you don't let electronics run long outdoors here in the summer at night.

Our dewpoints have been tropical here this summer...in the 70's to around 80 degrees. I fried my parabolic microphone a few years back when I left it outside recording nature sounds. I got up and went out to turn the tape over in my deck (to record the other side), only to find out the entire set up was covered in a heavy dew...fried everything that was running...a sad state of affairs for a "hobbiest" audio guy, and it took only an hour to do it. :(

It's wet out there!!!

"Sedge Wren Sunrise"

(oil painting by Bruce A. Morrison)

Sedge Wrens are one of our grassland birds...they prefer tall grass and pasture or prairie or wetland edge...it's their cup of tea. I did a painting of one from a early sunrise encounter one year...the bird singing it's heart out like it was trying to get a few last notes in before the sun over took the landscape.

Sedge Wrens are great examples of what you can have with biological diversity in a landscape. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you have plant diversity and not a monoculture, you introduce living space for invertebrates. Not only do varieties of plant species create food for birds, but they also create food for insects - which again, creates food for more species of birds...this creates food for mammals...and reptiles, amphibians, and...well, you get the picture.

I'm going to double post this blog onto the "Prairie Hill Farm Studio" blog also...it's suitable for both purposes, I'll just tweak it a bit, so if you follow the "Prairie Hill Farm Studio" you'll see the little guy there as well.

Stay up late and give these little guys a listen...one of these days I'll possibly be able to post some audio of them for you...good night from the Studio!

Bio Blitz

2010-07-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

Prairie Larkspur

(Delphinium virescens)

Ever been to a Bio Blitz? I witnessed my first one last summer at the Lost Island Prairie Wetland Nature Center north of Ruthven, Iowa. It was a blast! Various professionals in different fields headed groups of volunteers out into the marshes, woodlands, and prairies in the Lost Island Lake area. Each group was focused on a specific plant, animal or invertebrate, and would explore the area's habitat for those species and tally what they found. I had volunteered last year to just float from group to group as they inventoried their finds and found it fascinating what everyone was finding.

Lost Island Naturalist Miriam Patton is carrying out another Bio Blitz this summer and asked me if I would help with the "prairie plant" part of this year's effort. If running around and identifying prairie plants interests you - why not come over and join us!? Besides - I "really" could use the help! More eyes and heads are often better than one. Any way, it'll be fun! If plants aren't your thing, you can also volunteer to assist in finding Butterflies and Moths, Birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, aquatic specific species, and so on! What could be more fun than that? :)

I'll paste an agenda here for more information -

Those interested in participating should make reservations by calling the Nature Center at 712-837-4866. Let us know which session(s) you will be attending. There is no charge for this event.

The schedule is as follows:

Saturday, August 7

12:00 -1:00 Registration at Nature Center

1:00 Welcome and logistics

1:30-5:00 Field Session

5:00-5:45 Sack Supper

5:45-7:45 Field Session

8:00 Lake Management Update

9:30 Moth Field Session

Sunday, August 8

6:00-8:00 Bird Field Session

9:00-12:00 Field Session

12:00 Sack Lunch

1:00 Final Report

Bring a sack lunch/supper, wear sturdy shoes that can get wet or muddy (no flip flops or open toed sandals), sunscreen, bug repellent, water bottle to re-fill, and binoculars.

Wood Lily

(Lilium philadelphicum)

One thing I find interesting about identifying forbs during mid to late summer is identifying the late spring and early summer plants with their seed capsules in place instead of their flowers. I often wish I'd find the time to photograph forbs in seed...would you recognize the Prairie Larkspur gone to seed? I think it's amazingly similar to the shape of columbine when it's gone to seed...except larger and paler, maybe even somewhat more "papery" (if that's really a word!?).

If you're familiar with lilies in your garden, then you'll likely recognize the Wood Lily gone to fruit...these are perhaps some forbs we'll be able to find at the "Bioblitz: A 24 Hour Nature Scavenger Hunt" at Lost Island on August 7th and 8th. If you're free, and game for a real "hunt", come on over and give me a hand! :)

Pondering Leafy Spurge

2010-07-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

July morning in the Waterman Prairie Complex
(click on image for a larger view)

Spent a morning recently on a photo field trip to a section of the Waterman Prairie complex just south of us. Was curious about the Leafy Spurge situation on a favorite gravel esker; I hadn't been there in "season" in some time.

I found some very nice stands of Echinacea (E. angustifolia), 4 species of Asclepias (milkweeds - Green, Sullivant's, Butterfly, and Common), Compass plants (Silphium lancinatum), Toothed Evening primrose (Calylophus serrulatus), amd many other forbs, with plenty of native grasses such as Hairy grama (Bouteloua hirsuta), Prairie muhly (Muhlenbergia ?), Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) and Side oats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) - all beginning to flower already. Things seem to be ahead of past years due to our region's record rainfall and warm weather.

Leafy Spurge

(Euphorbia esula)

The Leafy Spurge situation in this particular locale has not improved, it has nearly engulfed the disturbed slope leading up the esker and is now making some inroads onto the crest of the knob. A few years ago a grad student from Michigan University would show up for a few weeks and spend a great deal of time documenting the incursion and it's affects on the neighboring plant communities. I had some secret hope that he'd have some recommendations or an epiphany or something that'd help the situation! But that was a few years ago now and nothing has changed there.

I can't fault the county or DNR on this predicament...I see it all over. I do believe that if it were a legislated issue, we could get it under control. That's a real can of worms though and don't really care to get into where that conversation would lead! But if land owners over the county and state took this plant seriously, the rest of the areas still fighting it off would make real progress.

I don't know if Iowa has started a flea beetle program or not? Some neighboring and regional states have and give out the flea beetles to land owners to disperse and I'm reading some encouraging results. But it's a complicated situation and often requires several control approaches, not just one (flea beetles).

Apparently Leafy Spurge is toxic to cattle so any pasture ground effected by it becomes pasture lost for grazing. However, sheep and goats can and will graze on Leafy Spurge, and studies have been done the past several years on grazing sheep or goats as part of a multi control approach. Goats will apparently graze spurge completely down but it will return after they are rotated off a site. Some success has been found combining flea beetles with goats or sheep though. Maybe fencing small portions of an affected site and moving the enclosure periodically could be a helpful approach?

I was reading a paper from the Colorado State Extension, it mentioned that there are 4 types of flea beetles they use, as not all are suitable for "all" locations. Interesting - I thought a Leafy Spurge Flea Beetle was just one insect, but there are several types and that's been part of the studies done the past several years. Their habitat requirements vary, and although they don't entirely understand, they have identified which beetles prefer which type of habitat - you'd tailor your situation to suit a particular beetle for the best results.

For people that are unaware of invasive/exotic plants, none of this may seem the least bit important. But if you witness this phenomenon first hand in a habitat you personally care about, it is most disheartening. It is something like watching a loved one slowly succumb to a disease from which they apparently will never recover.

Our natural heritage is harder to secure as each year passes. It is not wise to squander what your grand children deserve to experience and enjoy! Look for answers and make inquiries...volunteer to help the environment in your area...do whatever you can, it's worth the effort.

July...A Window Into The Whole

2010-07-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

Canada Anemone

(Anemone canadensis)

click images for larger view

This amazes me to no end, always has, always will...how does time pass so quickly?! It's already July!

When I was young...very young, time was a chain that prevented the enjoyment of the natural world...glued to the window during class in school I griped about the day wasting away "out there", while trapped inside - not wanting to learn what I was told I must!

Now, it (time) is so fleeting and the natural world progresses, through the many processions of blooms and bust. Even with the native pasture here, it is difficult to not miss things, and when you miss something, you usually must wait till next year! (But at this rate - that doesn't seem to take very long anymore!)

I walked a favorite prairie close to home one evening this past week. The Porcupine grass was standing tall and mostly naked; nearly all their quills had been given up to the ground. The Canada anemone blooms, which were quite prevalent in this same space only 2 weeks ago, were becoming rare...their seed now forming.

The air was full of sounds of insects. This is a sweet sound to me now...may not have been in earlier naive years. I once found myself a quarter of a mile from the road in a boggy area of SE Iowa, photographing Bur Marigolds (Bidens aristosa) in a mass bloom I've not seen anything like since. I was photographing with my old Crown Graphic 4X5 camera and heavy old tripod. When I finally set up for a shot I realized a now nearly deafening drone of bees. I looked around and almost immediately had to suppress a feeling of panic. I had to have nearly a hundred solid acres of bees busily working all around me! I was an island in the middle of these insects. The slogging walk back to the car, in my chest high waders, was made much harder by now trying to avoid upsetting any of the "quadrillion" (my mentally disabled estimate!) bees in a feeding frenzy! I knew then, and know now, that I had nothing to worry about as long as I stayed upright - these insects had the same distraction I had (the flowers!) and were unconcerned or aware of my incidental presence!

I have always been interested in insects (invertebrates) and I suppose if I'd had my 35mm camera with me at the time I might have spent the next hour trying to get back to the car, photographing bees pollinating these forbs!

I've become more interested in invertebrates in recent years here at our acreage and native pasture. I've mentioned many times in past "A Tallgrass Journal" entries, about trying to balance the maintenance of the small remnant and the reconstructed areas with fire and mowing "and" leaving it alone...for the good of the insects. This subject has become, perhaps one of the most important and discussed parts of prairie biodiversity (health).

With prairie remnants so dissected, fragmented - and small, the total picture is seldom still intact. The prairie, as a real habitat, is in more danger of no longer existing as it once did than nearly any other type of habitat in our region of the country. It all works together, as so eloquently put in "The Emerald Horizon, the History of Nature in Iowa", by Connie Mutel (see "A TAllgrass Journal" Vol.7 No.1)

Invertebrates are so key to the tallgrass diversity, as are the plants...but the ecosystem will not hold together integrally without the invertebrates.

I've noticed the pollinators among them (invertebrates) over the years and find it fascinating. I never gave pollination much thought years back, until we became more familiar with some economic impacts of them...such as bees with world food crops. In our region, much of our most common grain crops (corn and soy beans) are wind pollinated so the importance of pollinator health is nearly unappreciated. This is unfortunate and many say "short sighted", as pollinator health is a key to world food production we should not disregard!

Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) with ant

(you'll have to click on the image to see the ant!)

One thing I've noticed out on our native pasture in recent days is the variety of pollinators one usually does not consider as such. I often see ants on various forbs...many time they'll be with aphids of course but often pollinating, gathering nectar and/or pollen and becoming important to specific plants. The asclepias (milkweed) is one forb I often see ants working.

Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) with Mosquitoes

(click on image for larger view)

One insect that I've seen participating in this process, that surprised me are mosquitoes (!). I remember hearing that mosquitoes also feed on nectar, but figured it must be the males, because we all know what the females feed on! (ouch!) But I've noticed many, many examples the past week of female mosquitoes inadvertently pollinating plants...especially the milkweeds. Do they feed on others? Well I'm guessing so, it's likely the opportunity that presents itself (?). Wouldn't it be nice if female mosquitoes would prefer nectar to us!!!

Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata)with Great Golden Digger Wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus)

Another insect I see feeding on nectar are wasps. Or perhaps it's the pollen they are after, or both? I'll have to study this more. But one wasp I really like here is the Great Golden Digger Wasp. They seem to feed on whatever is in bloom, which at the moment are the milkweeds. The Great Golden Digger Wasp seem to really be attracted to the Whorled Milkweeds here, and then when they're done - the Goldenrods.

Interesting what's out there and what niche they partake. Well, they not only make fine music but as a group (the invertebrates) are part of the glue that holds the tallgrass prairie together...some may be not so pretty to others, but the natural world is shaped by them and our food throughout the world hinges on their health.

Plant Dilemmas? Does It Matter?

2010-06-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

Narrow-leaved purple coneflower

(E. angustifolia)

Have you ever had some activity ultimately bringing a lot of unforeseen decisions and issues?

I'm in the middle of a labor intensive situation here at Prairie Hill Farm. Last year the county took 24-28" of soil out of our road's ditch and added it to the top of the road. The ditch sides are very steep now; the property side is something like a 70-75 degree slope and the road side is 55-60 degrees. They're now about 5 and a half feet deep if not more so!

The county gave me a couple small buckets of native seed late in the fall after accidentally planting the ditch in brome and other vulgarities(!). I'd requested a native seed mix that the county has from a statewide grant from the University of Northern Iowa., but they evidently didn't tell the guy that was doing the actual seeding! Well, I got to kill the ditch during a late November warm spell and started over again this spring.

It's been a ton of work, hand pulling and now cutting all the nasty things that plague these situations (Lambsquarter, Buffalo Bur, Nightshade, Canada Thistle, Sow's Ear, Ragweed, etc, etc...). The ditch sides are too steep to mow and the June precip is torture - 14.35" here just this month! If I could count on that every year I'd opt for wetlands plantings! In the meantime I'm wondering how much of the seeding that's coming up will drown out? (Its in standing water as I type this)

I think that's par for the course isn't it, also Murphy's Law usually comes into play as well. But something that I've thought about on more than one occasion has me wondering. I'm seeing some Pale purple coneflower coming from my ditch mix. What's the problem? Well, maybe none, but I'm leaning toward not being sure I like that!

I've always had a pet peeve about working on native plantings with things that aren't necessarily native to that location. I'm in O'Brien County; the only native echinacea I've been able to find in O'Brien County is E. angustifolia, not E. pallida. I've been hard pressed to find Pale Purple coneflower anywhere near here - except in plantings done by "People". But is having some Pale purple coneflower in the ditch going to cause issues with the Narrow-leafed Echinacea in the native pasture?

I have no idea. Does it matter? Again...no idea. But somehow it seems like I'm sleeping with the other side if I let it go...

It's just a ditch! Ya but...oh well...what do you think???!!

Now, I have had some garden variety Purple coneflower escape into the pasture edge and promptly did away with it (E. purpurea), but I'm trying to keep the pasture on a course of it's original plant species and domestic plants are not helpful in any way (nor desirable).

Prairie spiderwort

(T. bracteata)

I try not to introduce things that would not have been here 2-300 years ago. Another plant I see show up in "conservation" plantings that is not native to this part of Iowa is the Ohio spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis). The spiderwort native to this region of the state is the Prairie spiderwort (T. bracteata) - a shorter plant happier in gravelly drier sites, has longer bracts than the Ohio.

Do you suppose I'll find T. ohiensis in the ditch in future years? Should I care???!! Does it really matter? Geeze, I haven't the foggiest! What do you think!?

On The Tallgrass with A Tallgrass Journal

2010-06-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

Prairie Coreopsis and Prairie Phlox

(Coreopsis palmata and Phlox pilosa)

(click on all images for a larger view)

If you have been a subscriber to "A Tallgrass Journal" you certainly noticed the past year's hiatus I've taken from the journal. After long deliberation I've decided I can no longer support the lengthy time spent making even a quarterly journal work. I carried it for 7 years but have made the decision to change it's format to a blog.

I hope you can still find some good reading, information or even a diversion following the occasional posts from the new "A Tallgrass Journal".

I'll still discuss a good "read" I come across; an informative and useful link or website that could be valuable to prairie enthusiasts or owners; and even interject the struggles here at Prairie Hill Farm's prairie.

There are no goals for set time frequency for the new "A Tallgrass Journal" blog. I hope to use it with regular frequency, but the postings will be typical blog length and likely limited to one or two issues/observations/etc at a time. I hope this will be more spontaneous and interesting for prairie folk and the uninitiated as well!

I hope you'll stay with A Tallgrass Journal and drop in from time to time - and even comment! Blogs are perfect for injecting a point of view or to correct me if I need to be! :)

When I think of the prairie I think of grasses, forbs (wildflowers), birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates (insects). As an artist, I work on what interests and inspires me...that's what anyone should do. The tallgrass prairie interests me.

In my 3 year old blog "Prairie Hill Farm Studio" you'll often see artwork...paintings, drawings, and photographs with the prairie as the subject matter...why wouldn't I be inspired by it?! :) I'll still illustrate this "A Tallgrass Journal" blog with photographs I take in the field or the remnant pasture here, and even occasionally with drawings or other artwork to illustrate a topic. And unlike the web based journal of past years, you'll be able to click on the images for a larger view. I'll make an effort to give a relatively good size image file to view, yet not so large as to make you have to scan back and forth too much on your screen.

Today I wanted to share a couple cool season natives we have here in our north pasture remnant...yesterday morning was my first opportunity in 2-3 weeks to get out and walk the prairie myself! The morning was perfect for the camera...barely a breath of wind makes photographing grasses and forbs simply a pleasure!

Porcupine grass (Stipa spartea)

A couple grasses in our remnant pasture are flowering and fruiting nearly the same time - one is Porcupine grass (Stipa spartea)...the other is Scribner's panic grass (Panicum oligosanthes).

Georgie and I started the Porcupine grass here ourselves and it couldn't have been easier. We simply walked the roadside ditch just south of us and picked the "awls" when they began to start releasing in late June. Planting this grass is as simple as sticking the needles into the ground...maybe a half inch or more...the awls will take care of the rest. They twist and turn the seed into the ground the rest of the way as they dry. Try putting some in an envelope right after you pick them and then look at them a few hours later...they will demonstrate their ability to twist them selves into the soil on their own!

Scribner's panic grass (Panicum oligosanthes)

The Scribner's panic grass is localized in a small area on our north pasture. We have another type of panic grass here too but the Scribner's seems to be more numerous at some higher quality prairies - which makes it more special to our site. I did not find this grass here until our 2nd or 3rd year here. I'm going to try and ensure it gets some space and do some manual seed spreading to see if it becomes more plentiful in future years.

On my "studio" blog I recommend people look closely at the grasses - I certainly find them inspiring! In the mean time I'd just suggest - stop and take a real close look, even touch or step back and admire as well...there's a lot to see on the prairie.

Hope to see you back again when you're out on the Tallgrass!