Category Archives: Prairie Photography

Meet Your Neighbors

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Thanks to Mark Godfrey (The Nature Conservancy) for alerting me to this project.

One of the things I try to do with my photography is show people creatures and plants that they might otherwise never notice.  I love hearing people say things like, “I had NO IDEA something like that lived near me!” when I’m giving presentations.  Of course, real success comes when I can inspire those same people to go out and make their own discoveries.  It’s hard to dismiss conservation as unimportant when you’ve actually met the species that hang in the balance. 

The “Meet Your Neighbors” project looks like a kindred spirit.  The project celebrates common species from around the world through portrait-style photographs.  They’re working with numerous photographers to capture images of these species in front of a plain white background that causes the viewer to really examine and appreciate the physical attributes of each species. 

Tree Hopper - Aurora, Nebraska. Although I normally like to photograph insects in their natural environment, I've played around with the kind of studio/white background format used by the "Meet Your Neighbors" project. The power of the format is that it forces the viewer to really pay attention to the creature itself - which is plenty beautiful.

You might wonder why the project doesn’t highlight rare species instead of common species.  There’s obvious value in showcasing rare species to get people tuned in to their plight.  But I also think it’s powerful to show people the species that are (literally) right in their backyard.  Those are the species most of us will actually be able to meet in person, and which can catalyze an interest in nature and conservation.  I think it’s a fantastic idea and a well-organized effort.  I wish them all success.

Please visit their website to learn more about the project.

http://www.meetyourneighbours.org/project.html

Larva of a Green June Beetle. This big white grub crawls around on its back with its legs sticking up in the air - which is not only very cool, but also the distinguishing characteristic that separates it from other beetle larvae. Thanks to Ted MacRae for identification and natural history information.

Photo of the Week – October 21, 2011

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Garden spiders, aka black and yellow argiopes, are one of the most recognizable spiders in many prairies (not to mention backyards).  In fact, my kids spent several weeks this August doing daily checks on one big spider in our yard, feeding it every kind of insect they could find.  They had a great time catching insects and figuring out the best way to toss them into the web so that the insect would get tangled up and the spider could rush over and finish it off.

A black and yellow argiope (Argiope aurantia) with its egg sac. Lincoln Creek Prairie - Aurora, Nebraska. (For context, the egg sac was about an inch wide.)

A couple weeks ago, I took the above photo of a black and yellow argiope and its egg sac in a local prairie.  Female argiope spiders typically lay several hundred or more eggs in the early fall, encase them in an egg sac, and die soon after.  (Remember Charlotte’s Web?)  In Nebraska, the eggs hatch in the fall, but the spiderlings remain in the egg sac over the winter before emerging the next spring.  The tough egg sac protects them from winter weather and helps protect the eggs and spiderlings from many predators.

I’ve spent this week at a big conference for scientists of The Nature Conservancy.  One of the themes of our conference has been the need to do a better job of involving people – particularly kids – in conservation.  Clearly, one of the keys to getting kids into conservation is helping them to make personal connections with nature.  I’m convinced that intimate experiences like feeding a spider, holding a turtle, or watching a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis create long-lasting impressions that shape future convictions about the importance of nature.  When my kids are older, I hope that memories of watching and feeding that big spider in our yard will be influential and inspirational to them, regardless of where they go or what they do.  Now if we could just get a big spider in the backyard of every kid in the world…

Black and Yellow Argiopes – the new worldwide ambassador for conservation!