Early Morning on the Tallgrass Prairie

As summer fades into fall, there's nothing quite like an early morning excursion out on the tallgrass prairie. In fact, it's a completely different world.

As warm days give way to cool nights a misty veil of morning fog hangs over the whole of the prairie landscape.

As morning sunlight spills over the tall grasses they sparkle and shine as though some overly-industrious fairy had come in the night, sprinkling the whole of the prairie with glittering diamond dust... 

...and every cobweb looks as though it has been strung, laced, and outlined with beautiful, glittering diamonds.

When visiting the tallgrass prairie early in the morning...especially at this time of year...it's easy to see just how many spiders there really are living in North America's tall grasses (an estimated 2 1/2 million individuals per acre) and their glistening gossamer webs are spectacular! 🕸

As the sun rises a little higher in the morning sky, the fog quickly fades and the dewy cobwebs begin to dry.

Soon the late-summer sun is out in full force. The temperature rises and the morning magic is over. The wildflowers, who just moments ago were taking a backseat to the sparkle and shine of diamond dust, are left standing, straight and tall, to endure another happy day on a sun-soaked tallgrass prairie landscape.

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Nature At The Center

Nature At The Center

After leading a hike out on the the prairie, I often tell visitors that, before we end our hike, I have just a couple of more things that I'd like to share with them. 

I explain that, while it's easy to see the big things out on the prairie...the grasses, the flowers, the bison...there is a lot of nature taking place right there at the nature center that people often miss. 

Then I proceed to take them on a little tour of some of my favorite things...

It might be a garden spider, like this one. I discovered this garden spider under the eaves of the back porch on the north side of the building. A couple of years ago we had a garden spider that had made its web under the eaves of the front porch, and we watched that spider all summer long and into the fall. She didn't survive the first cold spell, but she did leave gifts. Four of them, in fact! Our resident garden spider left four, big, round egg sacs to ensure that her beautiful black and yellow species would continue. Perhaps this spider is one of her grandchildren. 

This nest sits above the door on the north side of the building and it belongs to a phoebe. Every year mother phoebe returns to the same place to lay her eggs and raise her little brood.

This den belongs to our resident armadillo. It is well-concealed within our wildflower garden.

This nest belongs to a swallow. Every year the swallows return and reuse (or rebuild) the
four nests that are found, one on each of the outside walls, of the nature center. This one is on the front side of the nature center facing west.

And this one is on the south side. This is the deepest swallow nest I've ever seen.

This nest belongs to a paper wasp. Several of these nests can be found up under the eaves on the east side of the nature center.

I found this spider web on the ceiling of the front porch of the nature center. I'm not sure what kind of spider made it, but it sure has an interesting shape! 

This nest was built by robins in the spring. We watched the mother robin sit on her three, tiny, blue eggs until they hatched. Then we observed the parent robins feed and take care of their three robin babies, until they were old enough to fly away and be on their own.

These are just a few signs of the many kinds of wildlife that live life on, or very near, the nature center at Prairie State Park and it just proves that wildlife is everywhere!

What about you? What kind of wild life lives on the edges of your home or place of business?

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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A Foggy, Spidery-Webby Morning On The Prairie

The fog was hanging thick over the prairie this morning when I arrived at work.

Strands of gossamer threads were strung from one plant to another, each shining like silk, outlined in dew.

Thousands of spider webs...some big, some small...could be spotted among the grasses and prairie forbs.

Big Bluestem stands tall and proud supporting a network of delicatae spidery webworks.

The fog is lifting as a new day spreads across this tallgrass prairie scape.

A Foggy Morning At Prairie State Park

It was another gorgeous day out on the prairie today, but this morning was super foggy. I hiked the quarter-mile loop before the fog burned off and took several pictures. Thought I'd share a few here.

The sun trying to burn through the fog.

Spider webs strung through tall grass like lines on telephone poles.

Big bluestem and sumac.

A spiderweb delicately strung between tall grasses hangs heavy with morning dew.

A close-up view of the same spiderweb.

More spiderwebs low in the grasses.

Spiderweb among sumac.

Stems of big bluestem stand like sentinels on the prairie patiently awaiting to herald news of winter's first icy blast.

Spiderweb mid big blue and sumac.

Spiderwebs strung and looped through the grasses.

Tiny web of some ground dwelling spider.

This spider web is delicately woven in a half-circle on the lower part of a big blue.

A lone meadowlark flies low across the prairie as the fog retreats, rolls away, and evaporates.

The dried red head of sumac plants stand just above the grasses on this south-facing slope.

The reds and golds of tallgrass prairie in autumn.

Fiery red sumac against a backdrop of gold and bronze.

A close-up of fiery red sumac with asters and what's left of late summer's ashy sunflowers.

The last bit of summer's green against prairie gold.

Fog And Spider Webs

This morning was a beautiful foggy morning on the prairie. Everything was outlined in dew, including every lacy, little, spider web of which there were thousands. What a unique view of the tallgrass prairie! (I don't know if you can see all of them, but most every photograph features a beautiful spider web or two.)

Spider webs in Rosin Weed. 

Close-up of spider web in Rosin Weed.

Spider webs in the tall grass. 

Another view of spider webs in the tall grass. 

Close-up of spider web in the tall grass. Can you see the spider?

Fog and spider webs on the tallgrass prairie.

Spider webs among the grasses and flowers.

Spider web among the grasses. Can you see the spider?

Fog and spider webs on the prairie.

Spider webs along the road.