Mid Summer and Gorgeous

 Prairie Hill Farm

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

The heat has just abated a little and the Black Flies (having undergone a second hatch) have finally calmed down a bit...now its the skeeters - but hey, the dragonflies, bats and swallows need to eat too!  The prairie pastures have continued to wow me...the insects, birds, grasses and forbs are giving cause to pause and watch.  Get out if you can...I know that life tends to get in the way, but a quiet walk is in order!

(Click on any image for a larger view)

 

 

 Monarch Butterfly (male) feeding on Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) 

in the pasture here at Prairie Hill Farm

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Mass of Cup Plants (Silphium perfoliatum) in bloom in the pasture

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardi) 

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta) 

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum)  

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Fairy Napkin! OK...just a dew covered spider web! 

The "little fairy" can be seen peeking out from it lair in the upper hole in the web 

(should have zoomed in on him). 

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) 

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium) 

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 My favorites in the low areas of the pasture and ditches - 

Swamp Milkweed! (Asclepias incarnata)  

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Mass of Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) - delicate little plants, balanced in the left foreground by spikes of Sideoats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) 

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Mass of Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata)

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) 

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

The prairie keeps changing - hopefully I can keep up and record it...if you get a chance - get out and enjoy it!!!