Recently, I’ve had a couple chances to take my camera on frosty morning walks. We’re staring at a forecast of heavy snow for this week, which should provide its own set of photo opportunities, but until now, frost has been the best the season has offered. I hope you’ve had a chance to enjoy some frosty mornings wherever you are as well.

This first set of images comes from Lincoln Creek Prairie, just across town from my house here in Aurora, Nebraska. After waking up and seeing the frost, I checked my calendar to see if I had enough time to for some photography before starting my work day. I did, but I almost didn’t go out anyway. Eventually, I talked myself into the short trip over to the prairie, and – as always – I was glad I did. Some people apparently feel similarly before and after working out at the gym. That must be nice for them. 

Last week, I left early to drive out to the Platte River Prairies for a morning meeting because the fog looked promising for photos. As I drove, the fog increased in density to the point where I left the interstate and drove the last 8 miles on back roads. Along the way, I stopped to photograph a picturesque windmill. Then, I headed to my favorite restored wetland to play explore opportunities there.

When I arrived at the wetland, the frost was heavier on the vegetation than I’d anticipated. Perfect! You’ll also notice the same cottonwood tree in the background of many of these photos. What can I say? It was there, and its partially obscured form was really helpful in breaking up the otherwise uniform gray sky in the background.

One of the challenges of walking around the wetland is that the the local beavers had successfully constructed a series of large and small dams and flooded most of the area. It was hard to find a route to walk through the wetland without stepping into water above the tops of my boots. There was a thin layer of ice across much of the wetland, but it wasn’t enough to support my weight. I would have liked to kneel or lie down for better angles on some shots but couldn’t do that without getting a lot wetter than I wanted prior to my upcoming meeting.

After wandering the wetland for a while, I followed a fenceline toward a couple more cottonwood trees that were aesthetically pleasing against the foggy sky. We cleared out most of the trees along the edge of this wetland during the restoration process (we converted it from a sandpit lake to a stream and shallow wetlands). The three shown in these photos were left behind. One survived because it had an old bald eagle nest in it. The other two were just really big and we figured it wasn’t worth the hassle to take them down. Plus, they were cool looking trees… 

The light was just getting really interesting when I finally ran out of time and had to head across the road to my meeting. I tried not to stare out the windows too obviously over the next hour as the sun periodically broke through the fog, but it was hard…

Have a great holiday season everyone! Stay safe and visit your local prairie(s)!

Here are more of my favorite photos from 2023. Today’s batch is all from The Nature Conservancy’s Platte River Prairies. Surprisingly, as I looked back through my 2023 photos, I didn’t have all that many from the Platte River Prairies. It’s the closest work site to my house and I spend a lot of time there, but I’m usually working, and photography is an opportunistic thing rather than the primary objective of a visit. However, I did manage some nice shots this year – many of them on days when I left the house early to catch the sunrise before the workday started.

We didn’t get much snow along the Platte last winter (as opposed to the Niobrara Valley Preserve, which got dumped on repeatedly). The site has been under drought conditions since the summer of 2021, so both winter and summer precipitation has been scarce. As a result, when we did get a decent snow in January, I made sure to take advantage of it.

I don’t do a lot of bird photography, but when one plops itself down nearby and makes it clear it’s not going anywhere, I’ll grab my longer lens out of the bag. Dickcissels tend to be a little bolder than many other grassland birds around humans, so I have quite a few photos of them. I can’t explain exactly why I like this particular photo (below) so much because I have others that most people would probably like better. There’s just something about the simplicity of the photo and the earnestness with which the bird is singing that struck me.

Prairie four o’clock is a wildflower that I feel is underappreciated. Sure, it’s an annual, and can grow through the cracks of a sidewalk just as easily as in a prairie, but shouldn’t count against it, should it? It’s able to fill open ground, but it’s not a strong competitor (at least around here) so it’s not problematic. I always like seeing it, either alone or in a big patch. 

Four o’clocks, of course, are named because they bloom late in the day and through the night. Their blossoms are very pretty, but I actually like them just as much after their done blooming and just the bracts and developing seeds are left. They look like a completely different flower, but have a subtle beauty I really appreciate. 

As you probably know if you’ve followed this blog for a while, the vast majority of our native bee species are solitary, meaning there’s a single mom that constructs a nest, lays eggs, and then provides food and protection for them. Most solitary bee species in the prairie live in underground burrows. However, we (science) know frustratingly little about where they like to put those burrows and why. 

We think most of those bees like bare ground for nesting, but is that because they really do or because that’s where it’s easiest for us to see the nests? Do they need an patch of ground with no plants growing on it or just a place where the soil isn’t covered by dense thatch that makes it hard to get to the ground? It’s a difficult question to answer because while it’s fairly easy to spot nests in bare soil patches, it’s hard to see them (if they’re there) in vegetated areas.

Now and then, I’ll be fortunate enough to spot a bee entering or leaving a nest. If I have time, I’ll lurk nearby to see if it reappears. When luck is on my side, I can get a photo of the bee itself, but often, they don’t pause as they enter and exit the burrow. This year, I had a couple encounters with bees that allowed me to capture a photo of them at their nest. I’m including one of those here.

We built some new trailhead facilities at the Platte River Prairies late this year, so if you’re in the area, or if you’re driving down Interstate 80 and need a prairie hike to break up your long trip, stop by! The address of the trailhead is 13650 S Platte River Dr, Wood River, NE 68883, which is just 2 miles south of the interstate. 

Currently, there are two trails available – one that travels through lowland tallgrass prairie and one that climbs up into some sandhills right on the edge of the Platte River Valley. Both trails are accessible from the same starting point. Most of the prairie you’ll see along the trails has been planted with high-diversity seed mixes, but there is some unplowed sand prairie up in the hills. If you’re there around sunrise, maybe I’ll run into you out there. I’ll be the one lying on my belly photographing a dew-covered bug of some kind.