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- Photo of the Week – June 23, 2017
- Register for the 2017 Grassland Restoration Network Now!
- Exotic Beauty
- Photo of the Week – June 15, 2017
- Events and Announcements
- Child Care Can Be a Burden
- Photo of the Week – June 8, 2017
- Surprising Little Gems
- Photo of the Week – June 2, 2017
- Vacation at Toadstool Geologic Park
- Photo of the Week – May 26, 2017
- Plant Game! (May 23, 2017)
- Photo of the Week – May 19, 2017
- The Joy, Angst, Excitement and Dread of Walking Through a Young Restored Prairie
- Photo of the Week – May 12, 2017
- 2017 Field Days! (And a Photo Question)
- Photo of the Week – May 5, 2017
- Frosty Monarchs
- Photo of the Week – April 28, 2017
- How Small Is Too Small?
Author Archives: Chris Helzer
Photo of the Week – June 23, 2017
This is a good year for sensitive briar (Mimosa quadrivalvus) in the Platte River Prairies. Sensitive briar is a spiny perennial legume that sprawls across the ground in dry prairies and has leaves that fold up when touched or blown … Continue reading
Posted in Prairie Natural History, Prairie Photography, Prairie Plants
Tagged mimosa, mimosa quadrivalvus, prairie, sensitive briar
5 Comments
Register for the 2017 Grassland Restoration Network Now!
This year’s Grassland Restoration Network meeting will be July 11 and 12 at Konza Prairie near Manhattan, Kansas. Some of you have attended these annual meetings in the past (we hosted last year’s meeting here at the Platte River Prairies … Continue reading
Exotic Beauty
Early in my career, I felt pretty strongly that only native plants should be in the prairies I managed. Pretty quickly, I realized I didn’t have enough time to eradicate the worst invasive plants from our sites, let alone worry … Continue reading
Posted in Prairie Management, Prairie Natural History, Prairie Photography, Prairie Plants
Tagged close up, goatsbeard, macro, photo, photography, salsify, tragopogon dubius
11 Comments
Photo of the Week – June 15, 2017
Earlier this week, I posted a photo of a female wolf spider carrying her brood on her back. We were collecting data at the Niobrara Valley Preserve this week, and it seemed there were babies all over the place. Young … Continue reading
Events and Announcements
Hi Everyone, Here are several opportunities I wanted to alert you to: First, we will be hosting a Plant Identification Field Day at our Platte River Prairies on Thursday July 6, 2017. The day will run from 9am to 2pm, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
1 Comment
Child Care Can Be a Burden
I’m up at the Niobrara Valley Preserve this week. While collecting data today, we spotted a brood of sharp-tailed grouse, a couple other baby birds, and a whole bunch of cute red bison calves. I got photos of all of … Continue reading
Posted in Prairie Insects, Prairie Natural History, Prairie Photography
Tagged brood, spiderlings, wolf spider
4 Comments
Photo of the Week – June 8, 2017
In several of our prairies right now, poppy mallows are among the most prolific flowers. Purple poppy mallow (Callirhoe involucrata) and pale pink poppy mallow (Callirhoe alcoides) are not only great tongue twisters, but also pretty flowers and important food … Continue reading
Posted in Prairie Insects, Prairie Natural History, Prairie Photography
Tagged callirhoe, crab spider, flower, poppy mallow, spider, yarrow
16 Comments
Photo of the Week – June 2, 2017
I’m just back home from a week of outdoor family vacation, so apologies for another brief post. Earlier this week, while I was crouched low to the ground photographing a flower, I noticed a little friend perched on a nearby … Continue reading
Vacation at Toadstool Geologic Park
One of the best tourist stops in Nebraska gets very few visitors (which doesn’t hurt its value as a site I like to visit). Toadstool Geologic Park is in the northern panhandle of Nebraska, north of the town of Crawford. … Continue reading
Posted in Prairie Natural History, Prairie Photography, Prairie Plants
Tagged geology, nebraska, panhandle, plants, toadstool park
9 Comments
