Milkweed and Friends

One of my goals this summer was showing the interaction between insects and prairie flowers. Common milkweed is a perfect plant to show insect drama on the prairie. While it is not native it has been adopted by resident butterflies as a preferred food source. Slow motion recording is the perfect medium to show butterflies and bees around these flowers.

Technical: Insects are shown at 1/8 normal speed, recorded with SonyRX10ii.

Fireworks mimics Nature?

Am I the only one who thought of this while watching fireworks last night? Perhaps I'm anxious to get out in the prairie while July colors are still there, but then there are always the yellows and purples of August to look forward to.

Technical: iPhone6 capture, Lightroom to sharpen

Hanging On

A spring peeper on a milkweed leaf which gives some sense of its size. This was cropped to vertical to accentuate the feeling of instability. There were several color variations among the frogs, perhaps a reaction to the light. Another fascinating observation to Google check.

Ice Mantle

There was a brief coating of ice on plants yesterday afternoon.  The wind was blowing and tundra swans were flying overhead, a beautiful afternoon on the prairie. 

Prairie Transition

A quiet summer morning on the prairie, cool and little breeze, with a light dew.  The flowering blue stem and this open swamp milkweed pod are a reminder of the passing summer.

Swamp Milkweed

I am fascinated by the varieties of milkweed and the number of insects that can be seen feeding on it.  Photographed at Tauer Prairie SNA, Brown County, MN.