Earth Day...It "IS" Important!

Its entering spring-time on the Tallgrass Prairie - 

celebrate Earth Day with a sense of careful consideration

for the legacy of life you are leaving to your children's children! 

photo © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view)

Tomorrow is Earth Day...every year on April 22 since 1970.  The earth day web site - http://www.earthday.org gives a good overview of the history of this one day event each year.  It really started, not as a celebration, but as a cry for "consciousness" of what was amiss!  

I usually try to keep this blog on a high positive note - no one likes a downer.  But this day...this time in our planet's life, has entered a new phase environmentally and our collective interest in its well being (our well being!) is, in my opinion - muddied.  

Please use this day to reflect on how you see the bigger picture of our "Home's" health.  How can you better make wise decisions in your daily activities...how do your actions affect this Earth?  Do you read about environmental issues as they affect the Earth?  Do you read beyond issues in your own backyard?  Are you keeping in touch with those whom represent you in the local, state and national government?  Do you know how your political representatives are voting?  Please be aware. 

It isn't as easy as it should be to stay on top of what is happening with our "Home".  This requires a real effort on everyone's part.  Most really serious health issues for our planet are not in the quick 60 second spot on national television news.  If they are, they are usually simplified or glossed over, we are just not made truly "fully" aware.

I could go into many details of examples to illustrate what I mean but I don't want to tell people how to think - I would just ask that people really do think!  Read about the environmental issues, go to more than one news source, find out who is behind bad decisions that affect our planet's health; make them know how you feel about their decisions or bad behavior.  Take a real proactive position; write "letters", not just fast and easy e-mails, Likes or Tweets.  If you feel you can speak to an issue which is important to you - please do so!

Tomorrow is EARTH DAY.  Keep it (our Earth) and hold it tight as you would anyone you love.  It gives you life and will cradle your children's children, and theirs.  It is too important!

Please pay attention on this day and every day forward...to what is happening to your "Home", our Earth.

Spring Activity Begins

Spring has been slow in coming this year here; it was only a week ago when we still had plenty of snow patches left around the place. But things are slowly changing!  

The pasture bordering our north pasture was burned last Saturday - the first time in "memory" here.  It'll be very interesting to see what transpires there over the spring and summer!

These two fire department volunteers were on "our" side of the fence as they wet down and push the fire away from the fence line.

We'll now do some planning on our pasture.  We usually try and only burn "sections" of our prairie pasture.  Keeping more diversity in the invertebrate population is very important.  We were a little less worried about the invertebrates in the past because we had this "buffer" to our north and west - now about 65-70% of that "buffer" pasture has been burned.  We'll be leaving at least 50% of our bordering prairie intact this year and only burn along our driveway and ditches if weather permits.  

The neighboring pasture was dense with thatch; hard to even walk through.  The ground was still damp and the bottom of much of the thatched growth didn't burn completely to the soil, so there may still be invertebrate survival on some stages.

But I think leaving a buffer on our side is a good idea.  I feel better by erroring on the safe side of things.

Most invertebrates are out-of-sight and out-of-mind...either too small to see, or just blend in to well; like insects such as this Katydid.

(click on the image for a larger view)

I've been reading a good deal on practices in managing prairie...it is so much more complex that just burning, mowing or grazing.  What is in the thatch, the upper soil, deeper down...in the plant stems, etc.  There is no "one treatment cures all" management tool, so we are mixing it up as much as we can with our situation...now if I could only get my hands on a couple Bison to help out too!

Hope to see you on the tallgrass this spring!
 

Past Ground Hog's Day!

 Red-bellied Woodpecker (male)

I must be too busy these days to keep up with all the blogs...its already a couple days past Ground Hog's day!  I guess he didn't see his shadow this year so we're in for an early spring!  Ha!  All in good fun.  

 

This is adapted from the studio blog but thought would make a good entry for the Tallgrass Journal as well.

I've been busy painting commissions this winter so don't have much to share yet.  But one thing that keeps things moving around here in the winter are the birds on the feeders outside the studio window.  One that's really pretty up close are the Red-bellied Woodpeckers!  Although not what you'd even closely describe as a prairie or grassland obligate, the Red-bellied Woodpecker is none-the-less common to the Savanna and prairie along the woodland edges.

 

 Red-bellied Woodpecker (female)

 

 (Red-bellied male's head detail)

 

  (Red-bellied female's head detail)

The way to distinguish the males from the females is the nape on the female's head is all that's colored (red), while the nape and crown on the male are both colored.  You can also see a red flush around the bird's beak and cheeks...its more prevalent on the male's as well.

 

 

The name of this woodpecker seems to confuse a lot of people.  Its named for the "red belly" - a mere smudge of color hard to see as the bird crowds the tree trunks and branches as it moves about.

We did manage to actually do a little seed collection out on the prairie pasture here yesterday afternoon!  It was really pretty pleasant for a change and we enjoyed it!  We had new visitors to the studio that also happened to be prairie enthusiasts, and in talking, found they were short some seed for their own private prairie restoration project - so we took a walk down the hillside here and did some gathering.  Although the birds have pretty much gleaned things pretty well, we still found a lot of what we were looking for. 

 

I like looking at February as a sign of spring - it is, after all, the last full month of winter!  Hope that Ground Hog was right - see you on the Tallgrass!

 

 

 

Happy New Year 2013!!!

Winter in the prairie pasture here!

(photograph © Bruce A. Morrison)

 

2013!  Time flies when you're having fun!  Winter has finally arrived on the acreage here and it is beautiful and cold!  The photograph at the blog head is of our north pasture just 3 days ago.  Since it was a bit breezy, I took mostly video footage.  The video is embedded here so you can take a short walk, enjoy the sparkling frost and snow covering the prairie plants and grasses - and not even catch a chill! (I'd recommend enlarging the screen or going directly to the You Tube link for a great view!)

 

 

If you subscribe to this blog via e-mail, the embedded link may not show.  If that's the case just click on the following link - 

 

http://youtu.be/OPdT8r2aA70

Happy 2013 to you and your loved ones out there, all my best in this New Year - hope to see ya on the Tallgrass!!!

 

 

Merry Christmas!

"Winter along O'Brien No.1 (Waterman Prairie)"

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view)

 

Well, the year is winding down and winter "has" arrived!  We didn't get as much snow as most of the state, maybe just 2-3 inches, but the temps have dropped into low single digits at night.  I'm seeing more birds in the prairie pasture here...it could be just because they stand out better against a white backdrop, or are now feasting on plant-top seed heads.  And the bird feeders are now running full steam...that's fun.

This is a post from my studio blog, but fits the Tallgrass theme very well.  It was a dry year for the prairie here but I have high hopes for the new year. I personally try and throw out words of support for our area's natural resources each year. Many good organizations have thrown their support behind the Tallgrass Prairie in NW Iowa.   The Nature Conservancy, the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, and in our own county of O'Brien - the Prairie Heritage Center.

The Prairie Heritage Center is doing something new and fun this year and I urge you to consider participating!  The PHC is putting out an in-house calendar with a fundraising twist for our prairie heritage.  On the 15th of each month a name will be drawn for a special prize - the names are drawn from the pool of people that actually purchase the calendar.  As an example, the prize winner from the month of January will win $150.00 toward the purchase of any artwork or photography from the studio here!  Each month has other great $100-plus prizes as well, and the proceeds from the calendars go toward acquiring what precious little still exists of our prairies and the heritage it provides! 

  

Each calendar will sell for $50. On the 15th of each month you will have the opportunity to win a prize worth over $100! For each calendar, there are 12 chances to win. There are a limited number of calendars available.

These calendars are on sale now. and would make a very interesting Christmas gift that keeps on giving throughout the year for a special person! Or … you could show YOUR support for the Prairie Heritage Center by purchasing a calendar for yourself!

The calendar is currently available at the Prairie Heritage Center and in the next few days they will also be available at your local banks in O’Brien County. If you’re not able to get to any of those locations, one can be sent to you via USPS Mail for an additional $6.00 charge. The Prairie Heritage Center's address is: 4931 Yellow Ave - Peterson, IA  51047.  Phone - 712 295-7200. 

 

("Winter Stubble, Bales" - oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison) 

(click on image for a larger view) 

I want to sign off for the year by wishing you a wonderful Christmas and all my best in the New Year.  I'm looking forward to making new friends and photographing and painting more from the prairie here in the new year as well!  I hope you'll join me from time to time as I have a chance to write about it.

All my best.  Be good to one another, and find 2013 a year of promise!

Hope to see you on the Tallgrass!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Woodland Winter"

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

Its nearly Thanksgiving here!  Its definitely not winter but I posted the image above because it actually reminds me of years past in late November here in NW Iowa!  If you looked out the window or stepped out onto the studio's deck right now you'd either think it was early spring or early fall...it is so pleasant out!

I took the photograph above at Woodman Hollow, a state preserve south of Ft Dodge, Iowa, along the Des Moines River, many years back.  The shot was from what you'd call a small Goat Prairie along a ridge within view of the river below.  This same ridge in the summer had a nice small compliment of prairie flowers and grasses; its a wonder the timber hadn't yet taken it over.  Narrow-leaved Purple Coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia) was present in noticeable numbers in mid summer, as were the "usual grasses" like Big and Little bluestem, Sideoats grama and Porcupine grass.  I have not been back to this location for two decades now...its a place I spent many years exploring as a teenager and young adult...a magical place.  I would be very interested in seeing how this scant prairie site has changed or evolved in that time.

Looking through the branches and late hanging oak leaves, across the ravine toward the neighboring hillside of timber and sparse openings, creates a very satisfying, and almost "decorative" view of the winter season.

I want to take a moment to simply wish everyone out there a very Happy Thanksgiving!  Take care out there and be good to one another!  

See you on the Tallgrass!

Dusty But Colorful

The prairie here at Prairie Hill farm this fall

Long time - no post!  Also, long time - no rain!  Not a funny situation in the region...We did squeeze out about a full inch of rain the first week of September...but there was a gigantic pause before that...like June!  And not a drop here since.  

I remember many years visiting the northwoods of Minnesota or Canada and seeing all the fire warning signs everywhere...even drove past some forest fires; some major, some not.  But I have never, in my memory, seen our own area here in NW Iowa under mid summer fire warnings!  Just never!  But that's been the case here since late July...we are tinder dry now, you can see rural travel on the gravel roads from many miles away...the dust plumes behind vehicles is clearly visible and you don't want to follow anyone too closely because of the bad visibility.

I haven't posted much because much hasn't been happening.  But I must say I have been curious about seed viability on warm season grasses.  Late in July I noticed a lot of our familiar grasses (Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, Indian Grass, etc...) seemed to have their flowers drying up before they even managed to completely form.  But later in the season (early September) after a very brief rain respite (1") I noticed flowering again and pollination as well.  An area native plant grower and friend mentioned to me in late September that they were getting good ratings on their seed viability.  Just goes to show, as they always say, you just never know what's going to come of it all!?

The Monarchs were a concern here this spring, summer and fall
photograph © Bruce A. Morrison

My perennial friends and favorite invertebrates, the Monarch Butterflies, were a real concern here this year.  We had quite good numbers showing up in early spring - in fact the dates were record early arrivals for us.  And I witnessed egg laying in the pasture...even photographed eggs as they were so obvious.  But the thing that really puzzled and concerned me was we had no egg hatches and no caterpillars all summer!  I have never, in my life, "Not" seen a Caterpillar all spring, summer or fall!!!???!!!  Why after finding eggs, I could later not find larva?  

Then the summer was "scant" as far as Monarchs were concerned.  Nearly none, just a handful all summer.  This should not have been the case here, we had the largest crop of Asclepias (milkweeds) that I've ever seen here...we had A. tuberosa (Butterfly Milkweed) in record numbers...they were stunning all over the county...even the area farmers were asking me what that "orange plant" is showing up everywhere!  We had way more A. syriaca (Common Milkweed) than I care to see here  - the neighborhood is coated with seed parachutes from our pasture...not a real "good neighbor" relations maker with the local farmers.  We also had a good share (but down slightly from past years) of A. verticillata (Whorled Milkweed) and a small compliment of A. incarnata (Swamp Milkweed) in the ditches out front.

I witnessed a lone Monarch laying eggs on some Common Milkweed outside the studio windows in late August and tried keeping an eye on them - they were gone after just 3 days!?  I don't know of "egg" eaters in the insect world but maybe something is going on?  I know of parasitic wasps in caterpillars - but saw NO CATERPILLARS all summer (as I said before).  I haven't the foggiest idea what is going on?

This fall we had virtually no Monarch roosts here - we usually have 150-500 individuals roost here each fall.  13 was our high number in a roost this fall..."6" was the other high day..."high" used very sarcastically...

The folks following this have raised issue with the drought hurting the mid section of the continent's Monarch survival...I'm sure that has some bearing.  They also have raised issue with GMO crops, in fact Iowa State University, and I believe Minnesota, have been looking at this aspect.  But it does nothing to explain a local phenomenon like we've been experiencing here...eggs laid but no hatching, no larva...with an abundance of food source for larva and adult stages.  We do not spray insecticides here on the acreage, but I have no knowledge of GMO crops or spraying issues in the surrounding area, so I can't speak to that.

The bright spot for Monarchs has been the east coast migration, it is the highest in "recent" memory.  I certainly hope it helps the wintering population make a come back. 

I hope that summer was good to you and that autumn will be even better - take care out there and be good to one another!