The Prairie Ecologist

Here’s the final installment of my favorite photos from 2020. I decided to lump the last three months together – partly because I have fewer photos from these months and partly to get done with the voting so I can move on with putting together the final product.

As with the previous installments, please put the numbers of your favorite photos from this batch in the comments section below. In a couple days, I’ll tabulate the results and put the top vote getters from the whole year into the final collection. Thanks everyone.

1.) Wild lettuce seeds. Helzer Family Prairie. Nikon D7100 and Nikon 105mm macro lens. ISO 320, f/11, 1/200 sec.

2.) Bison at the Niobrara Valley Preserve. Nikon D7100 and Nikon 18-300mm lens @125mm. ISO 400, f/0, 1/1600 sec.

3.) Prairie violet seed pod and October snow. Nikon D7100 and Nikon 105mm macro lens. ISO 320, f/16, 1/500 sec.

4.) Orb weaver spider in burned area. Niobrara Valley Preserve. Nikon D7100 and Nikon 105mm macro lens. ISO 640, f/11, 1/200 sec.

5.) Prescribed fire in the woodlands at the Niobrara Valley Preserve. Nikon D7100 and Nikon 18-300mm lens @85mm. ISO 640, f/11, 1/500 sec.

6.) Bison at the Niobrara Valley Preserve. Nikon D7100 and Nikon 18-300mm lens @240mm. ISO 400, f/9, 1/1000 sec.

7.) Ice on Indiangrass. Lincoln Creek Prairie. Nikon D7100 and Nikon 105mm macro lens. ISO 320, f/10, 1/640 sec.

8.) Ice, sun, and prairie. Lincoln Creek Prairie. Nikon D7100 with Nikon 12-28mm lens @20mm. ISO 320, f/22, 1/500.

9.) Ironweed seedheads and ice. Helzer backyard. Nikon D7100 and Nikon 105mm macro lens. ISO 320, f/14, 1/60 sec.

10.) Black-eyed Susan and ice. Helzer backyard. Nikon D7100 and Nikon 105mm macro lens. ISO 320, f/13, 1/640 sec.

11.) Switchgrass and ice. Lincoln Creek Prairie. Nikon D7100 and Nikon 105mm macro lens. ISO 320, f/18, 1/320 sec.

12.) Little bluestem at sunrise. Helzer Family Prairie. Nikon D7100 and Nikon 105mm macro lens. ISO 250, f/10, 1/1000 sec.

13.) Ice, sun, and prairie. Lincoln Creek Prairie. Nikon D7100 with Nikon 12-28mm lens @20mm. ISO 320, f/22, 1/250.

14.) Sandhills and smoke at sunset. Niobrara Valley Preserve. Nikon D7100 and Nikon 18-300mm lens @160mm. ISO 500, f/11, 1/1250 sec.

15.) Grass leaf and snow. Gjerloff Prairie. Nikon D7100 with Nikon 105mm macro lens. ISO 320, f/16, 1/640.

16.) Sideoats grama seedhead. Helzer Family Prairie. Nikon D7100 with Nikon 105mm macro lens. ISO 320, f/14, 1/250.

We’ve got snow on the ground, which normally gets me out the door and excited about photography. I’ve tried four times. Each time, I just wasn’t able to get into a groove. My first two attempts were thwarted by the forecast, which kept calling for the sun to emerge through overcast skies. Both times, I drove out to a prairie hoping to be there right when the sun broke through and waited in vain. The second two attempts were after the sun finally did come out, but, for whatever reason, I just wasn’t feeling it.

On all four trips, the one subject that attracted my eye was sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula). That’s not a new phenomenon – sideoats has always been a minor obsession of mine, no matter what time of year it is. This time, I was hoping focusing on it would get my brain energized for other subject matter. That didn’t happen so much, but I did come away with a few interesting sideoats photos… So – here they are.

Frosty sideoats grama and snow at Gjerloff Prairie in foggy overcast conditions. Nikon D7100 with Nikon 105mm macro lens. ISO 320, f/16, 1/250 sec.

Sideoats and snow at Gjerloff Prairie in sunshine. Nikon D7100 with Nikon 105mm macro lens. ISO 320, f/11, 1/640 sec.

The last three photos here are all from the same single seedhead of sideoats grama at our family prairie. Surrounded by 100 acres of snowy prairie, all I felt like doing was making a close personal inspection of this one plant. I don’t know why.