I’ve had too many hours in front of the computer this week and my eyes were complaining this morning. I looked outside and saw that some high clouds were nicely-diffusing the sun and decided that was enough of an incentive to take a prairie break.

I scooted over to Lincoln Creek Prairie and spent about a half hour looking for milkweed seeds, milkweed bugs, and other treasures before heading back to the computer. It was just what I needed. Here are some of the things I found.

For some reason, I haven’t gotten very many milkweed seed photos yet this fall. It’s always a favorite autumn photo subject, but so far, most of the plants I’ve come across have either lost their seeds or haven’t yet released them. This morning, it was nice to find a few that were poised for photography.

One of my favorite insect trivia tidbits is that large milkweed bugs are migratory. Populations here in Nebraska (at least a big portion of them) apparently migrate south in the winter. I don’t know if they migrate in big “flocks” or not, but that’s how I like to imagine it happening.

“Hey honey, look at the big flock of milkeed bugs passing overhead!”

Can you imagine them in a starling or blackbird-like murmuration?

Have a great weekend!