Tag Archives: prairie

Photo of the Week – March 4, 2016

Posted on by
3

Last summer in Minnesota, I saw my all-time favorite insect for only the third time ever.  The camouflaged looper is a tiny inchworm that disguises itself with bits of the flower it is feeding on.  It is a fairly widespread species, and probably pretty common, but it’s rarely seen because it’s so well camouflaged.  I’ve written in more detail about this species in a previous post if you’re interested.

While I was excited to see the inchworm, I have to admit I was also a little disappointed.  In the inchworm.  I mean, really.  This species is usually so well camouflaged that it blends almost perfectly with the flower it is feeding on.  This one stood out like a sore thumb.

The camourfl

A camouflaged looper on a purple coneflower at The Nature Conservancy’s Bluestem Prairie in western Minnesota.  The head is at the top left…  You can see bits of (I think) two different flowers stuck to its back in this picture.

I’m going to give my favorite insect the benefit of the doubt and assume it was in the middle of a costume change when I saw it.  It looked like it had just started to pick up pieces of the purple coneflower it was feeding on, and still had some pieces of some other flower stuck to its back.  I’m sure it was in the process of shedding those other flower pieces and replacing them with coneflower parts.  But still – it was pretty glaringly obvious as a light-colored critter sitting on top of a dark-colored flower head.  It was awfully lucky I was just a nerdy photographer and not a hungry bird

Hubbard Fellowship Blog – Spring’s Beginnings

Posted on by
2

This post was written by Evan Barrientos, one of our Hubbard Fellows.  Evan is a talented writer and photographer and I encourage you to check out his personal blog. If you would like to see more of his photographs, you can follow him on Facebook.

20160227_nebraska_2890

Although crane migration is just beginning, I couldn’t resist trying to photograph the early arrivals from one of our blinds along the Platte River last weekend. At 6am I parked 200 yards south of the blind. A full moon and the encouraging sound of cranes calling guided me through the dark. When I was 50 yards away from the blind I started crawling so the cranes wouldn’t spot me with their excellent night vision. I made it into the blind successfully and waited for the sun to rise. In the moonlight, I could see that there were only about a hundred cranes near me, but they were close enough to photograph. Instead of being quiet and sleepy as I had expected, they were quite vocal and active. Several small groups flew in and joined the assembly, loudly announcing their arrival. The group seemed eager to start a day of foraging for corn in 70 degree weather.

As soon as there was enough light I took a few test shots. I’m glad I did, not just because the scene was beautiful and the slow shutter speed gave a ghostly look to the cranes and water, but because about 30 minutes before sunrise a volley of shotguns nearby spooked the cranes and sent them flying away.

20160227_nebraska_2924

I left the blind with frozen feet and fewer photos than I had hoped for, but with lots of good experience for next time. Speaking of frozen things, I was exploring Martins Reach State Wildlife Management Area later that day and found half-dormant bullfrog. Although clearly alive, the frog’s body felt as cold as melting snow. Because he was cold-blooded and couldn’t move, I used the opportunity to take some very close photos of his beautiful, golden eyes. This was a special experience for me because one of my earliest memories in nature is of finding and poking another half-dormant bullfrog as I explored a pond with my dad. We still joke about that memory, never expecting one of us to re-live it.

20160227_nebraska_8523 narrow

Other signs of spring on this warm weekend included Red-winged Blackbirds establishing territories, several small spiders crawling in the grass, fish swimming in thawed ponds, and dozens of brown lacewings fluttering through the air.