Thanks to everyone who has filled out the reader survey so far. If you haven’t, please consider taking a few minutes to do it at this link. Based on data collected so far, most people are able to finish it in between 5 and 7 minutes.

In addition, the application period for our Hubbard Fellowship ends next Friday (October 1). If you know of any recent college graduates who would be interested in spending a year with The Nature Conservancy here in Nebraska, please forward this link to them. Thanks!

Now, to photos.

Yesterday, I had a relatively unscheduled day and figured I’d work on some computer-based projects I’ve been putting off. The weather has been good for seed harvesting, and this is the time of year when all the ‘big stuff’ is ready, so I’ve fallen behind on a few indoor projects. So, Thursday was for indoor projects.

Instead, I woke up early, looked outside, and decided to run across town to catch the sunrise at Lincoln Creek Prairie. A light breeze made things a little tricky, but I still managed to get enough photos to fill up much of the rest of the day working through them. I’ll catch up on that other work another day, I guess.

After a lot of hazy days this summer, yesterday’s sun came up startlingly bright and unfiltered. I appreciated how quickly it warmed me up (it was about 46 degrees F when I arrived) but I didn’t have much time between pre-sunrise dull light and WHOA THIS IS REALLY BRIGHT light. I’m not complaining – it was a really nice morning, and I feel like I need to take advantage of every opportunity I get between now and the hard freeze that will spell the end of the flower and insect season. (Not counting the few invertebrates that are always around during the winter.)

I spent quite a bit of time photographing milkweed seeds, which I feel obligated to do each fall. It’s pretty hard to pass them by when they’re hanging delicately and glowing in the morning light. I’m only including one image here, but I came home with lots of other good ones, which I’ll probably use in a future post.

I’ve been a little disappointed in the number of migratory dragonflies I’ve been able to see and photograph this fall, but I did see one green darner flying around today. It didn’t feel like sitting for me. I did, though, manage to spend a lot of time with the single damselfly I spotted. My last photo of the day was of a large milkweed bug, which – surprising as it seems – is a migratory species. I’m not sure if the one I saw had begun its migration or not. It didn’t care to expound upon that subject as I crowded close to it.

Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to fill out the survey. I appreciate all the kind words included in the responses that have come in so far. It means more than I can say. However, I hope you’ll also be honest in your critiques and suggestions so I can improve as needed. Have a great weekend!

Here’s the survey link one more time. Pretty please?