The Prairie Ecologist

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

Photo of the Week – May 3, 2019

Posted on May 3, 2019 by Chris Helzer

Over the last few weeks, I’ve taken quite a few photos that haven’t really fit into blog posts, but are still worth sharing. Here are a few of those miscellaneous images.

This plains garter (*Thamnophis radix*) was cruising through our backyard on a warm spring day a couple weeks ago.

Prairie dandelion (*Nothocalais cuspidata*) is a native perennial wildflower, unlike the less popular (but still valuable) dandelion that was introduced from Europe. This plant was at Gjerloff prairie.

This little bug was apparently feeding on prairie dandelion, or at least crawling around enough to incidentally collect some pollen.

Like most spring wildflowers, scarcity makes each prairie dandelion blossom pretty popular to foraging pollinator insects, including this green sweat bee.

This handsome prairie violet (*Viola pedatifida*) was blooming at our family prairie last week.

1 thought on “Photo of the Week – May 3, 2019”

shoreacres on May 3, 2019 at 8:14 am said:

I’ve met more snakes this year than in my entire previous life, and I’m really coming to enjoy them. Your photo of the plains garter snake certainly is enjoyable.

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