If you are, or know, a graduate student working on research related to the conservation of species or ecosystems in the Great Plains, click here to learn more about the J.E. Weaver small grant program. We give out up to five grants of $1000 to graduate students each year. Proposals are due February 26, 2021.
The first half of the week was foggy and frosty. Combining that fog and frost with deep snow gave prairies a very monochromatic feel. Most everything was either some shade of light gray or a contrasting dark color against that gray background.
Our new Hubbard Fellows started on Monday and after a morning hike with them, I found myself with a little time to myself. The sun looked like it just might poke through the fog (it never did) so I grabbed my camera and walked up into the hills. The sun didn’t ever burn off the fog that day, but it was barely bright enough to create a circular glow within the monotony of the gray skies.
Here are a few photos from that brief morning hike, followed by a drone photo from Wednesday when we had another big frost day followed by the long-awaited emergence of the sun.
The Prairie Ecologist 
The sun/fence photo’s my favorite, although the plant curled around the sun is nicely composed, too. If I’m going to see Sandhill cranes before they leave, I’d best get busy!
Will you please post when the sandhills return? Another couple weeks seems early to us, since we’re experiencing 10° weather for the next 10 days here in northern Illinois. Our sandhills won’t be back for quite a while. Thank you for your many wonderful photographs
This is that time of year when color has been almost totally drained from our wintry environs.
I saw a beautiful sunrise just a few days ago.
Beautiful photos of snow covered prairie. Really enjoyed your presentation for the San Antonio – NPAT Chapter. What was the name of the bee pollinating the Blue Sage?
Thanks Chuck. I’m glad you liked the presentation. The bee is Tetraloniella cressoniana, the blue sage bee.