Photo of the Week – December 28, 2018

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Kim and I have an annual tradition of spending time at the Niobrara Valley Preserve during Christmas break. This year, we were particularly excited to see a forecast of 10-14 inches of snow during our visit and we made sure to arrive before the snow. We hoped to get pleasantly snowed in for a few days and then catch a little sunshine for some good hiking and photography before we came back home. The snow was a little disappointing – only 4-5 inches – but the trip has been fantastic.

Ponderosa pine trees, Niobrara River, and a bald eagle flying through a snow storm.

Yesterday, I took a walk out into the blowing snow to stretch my legs and take a few photos. This morning, the snow and sky had lightened up quite a bit and I took the truck out to look for bison while Kim slept in a little. As I write this, the sun is coming out and it looks like a great day for an afternoon hike. I hope the rest of you are having as much fun as we are this week… Here are a few photos from the last couple days.

Wild rye and snow.
A fence line in a snow storm.
The neighbor’s cows got out and no one is around to catch them, so they’ve been hanging around in our “front yard” for a few days. They’ve been pleasant neighbors.
The bison looked completely unfazed by subzero wind chills and light snow this morning.
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About Chris Helzer

Chris Helzer is the Director of Science for The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska. His main role is to evaluate and capture lessons from the Conservancy’s land management and restoration work and then share those lessons with other landowners – both private and public. In addition, Chris works to raise awareness about the importance of prairies and their conservation through his writing, photography, and presentations to various groups. Chris is also the author of "The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States", published by the University of Iowa Press. He lives in Aurora, Nebraska with his wife Kim and their children.

8 thoughts on “Photo of the Week – December 28, 2018”

  3. It is extremely tough to pic a fav…torn between the nice stormy fence line shot or gorgeous bison. But the Bison’s asymetrical (windblown) bangs and beard just pushes it over the top for me. #1

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  4. Thank you for a year full of images to savor and captions to match. You are a treasure! Happy New Year to you and to all the wild beings you bring to us.

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  5. The wild things that live outside are reluctant to tell us, in so many words, how much land they see and cover in their daily and nightly beat. We are curious about this, for it gives us the ratio between the size of their universe and the size of ours, and it conveniently begs the much more important question, who is the more thoroughly acquainted with the world in which we all live. Paraphrased – Aldo Leopold

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  6. This is my first email from you. What a delight! Such beautiful photos. Grateful for Cindy Crosby mentioning you in her blog.

    Reply ↓

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