A Late Arrival

Most bison calves arrive at Prairie State Park by late spring, but, occasionally, one comes along much later. 

This little one arrived just a few days ago in late August.

I don't know if it's a boy or girl, yet, but it sure is a cutie!

Bison calves weigh between 30 to 70 pounds at birth and are a pumpkin-orange in color for the first few months. 

Calves are protected, not only by the mother, but by the whole herd.

My co-workers and I call baby bison "pumpkins", but I recently heard another friend describe them as "pennies on the prairie." I kind of like that, too! 

I hope your September is off to a great start!

Until next time...

~Rebecca

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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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As the waning days of summer come near to a close, the promise of autumn looms large over the tallgrass prairie of southwest Missouri. The crickets have upped their chirping as cooler temperatures prevail and the prairie is awash with late-summer- and autumn-blooming wildflowers. After I got off work, yesterday, my husband and I decided to hike Drover's Trail at Prairie State Park. Here are a few of the things that we witnessed along the way:

Blue Sage

Native Thistle
(My favorite wildflower.💗)

A Bumble Bee Pollinating Native Thistle

Bur Marigold With Goldenrod Beyond

Of course, John and I had to pause
for a selfie along the way! 😆

Bur Marigold Along Trail's Edge

Prairie Aster

Showy Goldenrod

Tall Goldenrod

A Buffalo Wallow Full of Water

It had been a while since we had seen one of these with water in it. Watering-holes are few and far between on the prairie. When it's dry, smaller animals, such as coyote, fox, deer, and bobcat, as well as other animals (birds, reptiles, and, even, insects), sometimes, have to travel long distances to obtain water. These buffalo wallows can be found all over the prairie and, during rainy seasons, provide water sources to smaller wildlife without them having to travel long distances to find a creek, pond, or some other source.

Pollen-Producing Yellow Stamens On Indian Grass

Rough Blazing-Star Against a Backdrop of Sumac

Brown Mushrooms Growing Along The Edge
 of a Bison Chip in the Middle of the Trail

Goldenrod, Bur Marigold, and Tall Grasses

Can you spot the photo-bomber in this picture?

A Lone Bull Out On The Prairie


Shortly after I took this picture (which I didn't realize he was in, until after we got home), I told John that I saw one of these shaggy, brown-backed beasts up ahead moving east. It was a lone bull and I assumed that he was following the service road (and would follow it) to the fence where Drover's and Sandstone meet, then turn to join the rest of the herd which we had already spotted down that way, so I wasn't too concerned. 

Cropped From the Previous Photo

The next time I caught sight of the beast, I realized that he was coming down the same trail that we were on and that he was coming towards us. By that time, he was close...only a turn of the trail ahead of us. It was too late to retreat back down the trail, so I grabbed John by the hand and said, "Let's go this way!" Off-trail we went and, let me tell you, we did some high-stepping! We didn't run (NEVER RUN IF YOU ENCOUNTER A BISON ON THE TRAILS), but we did retreat as quickly as we could to put as much distance between us and the bull as we could before he acknowledged our presence. We were still only about 25 to 30 yards away from him, when he stopped and turned his massive head to stare at us. We briefly met his gaze, then continued our retreat. Every once in a while we would look back to see that he was still watching us. On the fourth turn of my head, I saw that he had turned off-trail in the opposite direction and was headed towards the rest of the herd. He stopped briefly, once more, to turn and look at us, then trotted off. At that point, John and I turned to head back to the trail. Hooking into a deer trail, we followed it until it eventually crossed the main trail, setting us back on course. We finished our hike without further incident and came home with only minor cuts and scratches from our encounter with blackberries off-trail and NO TICKS, for which we were very thankful! 😄 All in all it was a great hike with the beauty of God's magnificent creation all around us and even a little adventure thrown in!

The Road Home

Until next time...

~Rebecca

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Hiking Gayfeather Trail

What a beautiful morning this morning turned out to be! Cool and sunshiney with a cloudless blue sky! I started my morning off at work with a mile and half hike on Gayfeather Trail. Here are a few of the things I observed along the way...

The Gayfeather Trail-head and my beloved walking stick.

Bright yellow Ashy Sunflowers and several varieties of Goldenrod were the predominant wildflowers that dotted the prairie landscape this morning. 

A buffalo wallow.

I saw this one small sprig of azure Chicory growing along the trail. Growing up, Chicory was my favorite wildflower, but I don't see much of it here in southwest Missouri.

Prairie landscape stretches out to the treeline.

Prairie landscape stretches right out to the horizon.

Like I said...cloudless. What a beautiful, brilliant, blue sky!

Prairie grasses growing tall.

Another buffalo wallow. Can you see all the bison hoof prints?

Some of the last of this year's Gayfeather (a.k.a. Blazing Star)

Cord Grass (or Ripgut) swaying in the wind.

Clumps of Prairie Rose Gentian dotted the edges of the trail along the far side

Another view along the trail. 

I didn't get pictures of them, but I did see four White-tailed Deer on my outing and the bison herd was across the road from the trail-head.

Pollinators On Thistles

My favorite flower...the thistle!

A fat, little bumblebee atop a beautiful thistle. 

A black swallowtail atop a beautiful thistle.

A gorgeous tiger swallowtail atop a beautiful thistle.

Another shot of the tiger swallowtail atop the thistle.

Another black swallowtail atop a thistle.