Happy Holidays, everyone! We got five or six inches of snow over the weekend, bringing in the winter with style. I’m hoping for a little sunshine later this week, but I couldn’t wait and decided to take an afternoon walk under overcast skies at Lincoln Creek Prairie. It was a really pleasant hour of exploration. Here are a few of my favorite photos from that walk.

I wasn’t the only one who’d been in the snow today. Apart from another human and their dog(s?), there were a lot of rabbit and bird tracks. The birds had been busily feeding on seeds of various plants, including grasses, ragweeds, and a little tall boneset. I didn’t take the time to follow the rabbit tracks to see what they’d had been up to.

I dropped down to the creek briefly and looked for interesting patterns in the ice that was partially covering the water. The mud was soft enough to make it hard to walk around easily, so I didn’t stay long. I didn’t see any activity around the beaver lodge(s) so I wondered if they’d moved on or just hadn’t been active since it snowed.

After I climbed back up the steep stream bank, I spotted a flash of orange in the snow. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a patch of red fox fur. I’d love to know what caused the small clump of fur to fall on top of the snow, but either way, it was worth stopping to photograph it.

The only other bright colors I saw were from the stems and fruits (hips) of prairie wild rose. Even those colors were muted by the overcast light, but they still stood out nicely against a bluish white background. Other than those reds, most of the color I saw was the subtle gold, gray, and brown of dried grasses and wildflowers. Fortunately, I’m a fan of subtle. I like prairies, after all.

I’d debated whether or not to venture out today. The light wasn’t ideal for photography and it was nice and cozy in our house. As I told Kim, though, I knew I’d be glad I went. After all, there’s always something interesting to find in a prairie. 

I was right. 

It’s always nice to be right.

If you’re getting some time off from work this week, enjoy it! Regardless, I hope you all enjoy the remaining days of 2023!

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)!