The Prairie Ecologist

I don’t know about you, but a nice quiet walk through the prairie can often help me deal with everything else going on around me. Last weekend, I spent parts of both Saturday and Sunday cutting trees and fixing fence at our family prairie. I also wandered around a fair amount and, as always, found things to stir my curiosity and wonder.

Many of us don’t need added incentives to draw us outside, but that doesn’t mean incentives can’t help. Or, maybe you have friends or relatives who aren’t sure what they’d even do or look for in a prairie, especially this time of year. After all, isn’t it all just a bunch of brown grass out there right now?

Goldenrod stem galls are just one of many little treasures you can find in the late winter prairie.

Well, if it’s at all helpful, I’ve created a prairie bingo card. If you just let out an exasperated sigh when you read that sentence, that’s fine. This isn’t for you. No offense taken.

If you are still reading this, maybe you’d find it fun to add a little extra twist to your next trip to a local prairie. Maybe you have some friends who would come play a game with you but wouldn’t otherwise consider going for a prairie hike. I don’t know your situation.

I tried to create a bingo card that would be accessible to just about anyone. Anything that might be unfamiliar should be easy to quickly find an explanation of online. Everything on the card is something I’ve seen in the last couple weeks during walks in prairies near here.

If this looks like fun, feel free to save or print the bingo card. Or just make your own, using this one as inspiration. If you plan to go out with friends and don’t want to all use the same card, I’ve made two more versions (below) with the same terms but in different arrangements.

If you decide to try this, I’d love to hear what you think. Whether you play prairie bingo or not, though, I hope you find some time to go exploring. Even in the late winter, there’s plenty to see out there!

We had a few days of real winter this last week, including a little snow and some freezing temperatures. As a result, I had a few chances to go out and photograph snow, ice, and frost. It was great! Now, the temperatures are back to a spring-like feel and it looks like it’ll be that way for a while.

Who do I complain to about the winter temperatures being too warm? I don’t feel like I’ll get a lot of empathy from most people around me.

Well, anyway, here are some photos of actual gosh-darned winter conditions, in case you’re interested.

Blue grama and snow. Gjerloff Prairie – Prairie Plains Resource Institute.

I had a nice morning at the little reservoir north of town. I didn’t come away with a ton of photos I liked, but I enjoyed being out. There was a trumpeter swan on the water, which isn’t something I see everyday, especially around here.

I also followed a little pack of tree sparrows around and managed to get a couple photos, though I had to significantly crop them to make them look ok. Tree sparrows don’t usually let me get very close. Apart from that, my photography was limited largely because the ice wasn’t thick enough to walk on so I could only work along the edges of the lake and stream.

A day after I was at the reservoir, I headed to my favorite frozen wetland at the Platte River Prairies. The ice was (mostly) thick enough to walk on, as long as I took it slowly and backed up when I heard cracking sounds. Then, of course, if there was something I really wanted to get close to, I’d approach again, but on my belly, with my weight spread out as much as possible. (As always, I’ll remind you that the water at my favorite frozen wetland is only a foot or so deep, so my life was not in serious danger.)

Accumulated snow and frost around the base of cattails

As you can see from the above three photos, the ice wasn’t clear enough to produce a lot of ice bubble photos, which was a disappointment, but there was some decent frost to photograph. There were also some fun mysteries to ponder, including where the bug (above) came from and why/how it ended up on the top of the ice. I don’t need to know the answer – it’s just fun to imagine scenarios.

Frost between the frozen wetland surface and a plant stem

I was about ready to leave when I came across the feathers. Some good-sized bird (duck?) had met its demise and had been picked apart by a predator, leaving feathers scattered all over the ice. The combination of feathers and frost is a good one for photography, so I stayed an extra half hour and had fun with various compositions. This was one of those places where the ice was a little iffy, so all these were photographed from the prone position.

A bunch of feathers strewn across the ice

A second perspective on the same frosty feather

Well, now it’s warm out again. Some people would call it pleasant, and I’d agree with that if it was April. For now, it makes me grumpy. A little precipitation would make me feel better, even if it’s rain instead of snow. At this point, I’d be glad for anything wet falling out of the sky.

Well, not ANYTHING. I wouldn’t want soggy socks, for example, dropping on my head. Or sodden rolls of toilet paper.

Anyway, I want winter. Please? Just for a few more weeks.

The Prairie Ecologist

Essays, photos, and discussion about prairie ecology, restoration, and management

Prairie Bingo (if you like that kind of thing)

Photos of the Week – February 25, 2026