Waterman BCA Public Meeting!

The Waterman Prairie area of SE O'Brien County

is know for its diverse birds throughout the seasons,

like this Merlin (prairie form), a falcon that 

visits there during winter months.

There is always one area near us that Georgie and I go when looking for unusual, or not-so-common birds, and that is the Waterman Prairie complex south of the studio.

This is one place we can count on in the winter for Bald and (yes) Golden Eagles. And when we get stir crazy for our spring and summer bird friends in the dead of winter - Eastern Bluebirds, Cedar Waxwings and American Robins are found there... but these are just the tip of the iceberg.  This area is well know for its grassland "obligates" - birds that are grassland dependent for nesting and foraging, as well as birds frequenting a savanna habitat.

It has been long known that this is a special area for birds and a recognition process for important areas like this has been in the works for some time now - concerning the Waterman Prairie complex area, there will be a Bird Conservation Area public meeting this coming Thursday evening at the Prairie Heritage Center.

Major benefits of a BCA would be opening doors to grants and/or cost-share programs that are only available to designated Bird Conservation Areas.  The BCA program is a worldwide program, so could bring additional habitat restoration or preservation dollars.  A positive side benefit by having a designated conservation area is it may increase the likelihood of local landowners getting into Farm Bill wildlife programs.

Whether you're interested in birds or "birding", or also appreciate the natural heritage of this small prairie gem we have way out here in SE O'Brien County - you might be interested in attending this public meeting and learning more how it may potentially benefit the area's resources.

The November 13 (Thursday) meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the O'Brien County Prairie Heritage Center located about 4.5 miles southeast of Sutherland - from Hwy 10 go 1 mile north on Yellow Avenue.

If approved, this area will be the first Bird Conservation Area within O'Brien, Clay, Buena Vista, and Cherokee counties.

Be a part of something that supports your natural heritage!

Odonata Summer

Twelve Spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) - male

on Prairie Blazing Star (Liatris pycnostachya)

(click on image for a larger view)

Its dragonfly and damselfly time on the prairie...they've been around for a few weeks but "now" they're coming on in real abundance and variety.  And about time!  These guys are good "mosquito hawks" and really help in that regard!  Besides they are really cool to watch.  

I like to follow the bloom here on the prairie pasture for good examples of flowers to use in my work...if I get out early enough there is less of a breeze and the chances of getting good photographs of things like the dragonflies improves.  I can often find them covered with a coating of dew and they're more at the mercy of the camera because they can't fly.

The Twelve Spotted Skimmer, pictured above, is a fairly common one all over the region but is still a very showy insect, especially when hanging out on a tall liatris above its prairie surroundings!

The Twelve Spotted Skimmer was here out at our place, but I found the Widow Skimmer shown below at an area preserve that had been recently acquired through the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. I may blog separartely on that in the Tallgrass Journal blog if I get a chance.

Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa) - female

(click on image for a larger view)

 The Widow Skimmer was still covered with dew when I found her in a new addition to Waterman Prairie south of us.  One thing you'll find with odonates is the sexes are marked differently and often differing colors too...kinda like song birds often are.  Go ahead and click on each of these photos for a closeup of real cool insects!

For some reason my blogs blinked out "photo-wise" for 2-3 days or so but I have them back online again...blog gremlins!  :(  Sorry for the inconvenience if you happened to log on then, but we're up and running again!

Hope you're having a great summer!

Let the Games Begin!

Pasque Flowers (Pulsatilla patens) on Waterman Prairie

Photograph © Bruce A. Morrison

The Prairie has begun blooming!  The first flower of spring on the prairie finally began blooming up here in the NW corner of the state this past weekend.  This is always my "official" beginning of spring on the Tallgrass...look forward to it all winter long because it means the season has begun and better days..."great" days, are ahead!

Georgie and I went out on Sunday afternoon to check the prairies for pasques... a wind advisory with a real stiff blow out of the west/northwest was making photography almost untenable...a higher shutter speed was the only option!

Pasque Flowers (Pulsatilla patens) and dead Eastern Red Cedar - Waterman Prairie

Photograph © Bruce A. Morrison

Waterman Prairie, here in S.E. O'Brien County, is in the "neighborhood" and we checked out all the spots that we've found these forbs in past years.  Many slopes that had once been over run with Eastern Red Cedar trees here, have had their trees treated or cut to bring back the original prairie habitat.  This, coupled with controlled burns and/or grazing, has encouraged the tallgrass plants to return.  It's not uncommon to find Pasque Flowers growing at the base of the cedar stumps and trunks.  It's great to see the prairie recovering on the slopes of the hills in the valley!

Veering a little, I'd like to comment that our entire planet "is in the neighborhood".  Let's try to take this more to heart.  With sincerity, lets celebrate this place we all must live...and heed the needs that exist "in our neighborhood".   Give thought and action to the needs of our planet's peoples and our planet's habitats.  Please give to your organizations of choice for those in need!

Spring is on the Tallgrass - let the games begin!

Enjoy'n It!

"From Waterman South"
(color pencil on hot press paper - 5 1/2X8")

Forgive my "slang" spelling but I'm really enjoy'n it! The weather...you know - spring! And the birds...woke up to one of the yard robins singing it's dawn chorus piece yesterday morning, haven't heard that since maybe last July!

The Great Blue Herons are returning to the rookery across Waterman Creek, and the Song Sparrows have returned and are serenading in the south pasture.

The "glaciers" are rapidly melting away in the yard and pastures...there's still a couple 18-36" deep, but virtually the entire driveway and neighboring areas are free! Now the bees from the hives south of the barn are out searching high and low for pollen...poor guys...it'll be a while before we can help out there.

I just finished another small piece that's actually been on my back burner for several years. It was out on the south section of the Waterman Prairie complex south of here...actually a few years before we bought this property we now call Prairie Hill Farm.

Georgie and I visited the south section of Waterman Prairie the year that the ground was purchased for the state. It was an area I revisited many times in the first few years and I photographed the landscape around it whenever the light was good. This was a view I really took to; at first I wasn't sure what it was about it, but I believe the light and the graphic qualities in the image were the "hook" for me.

I'll readily admit I do many pieces for reasons that are my "weakness" per se. I cannot shake emotional attachments. Once I fall in love with a place...for a moment, or for whatever reason...it becomes a part of my being. I wonder what exactly goes on but suffice it to say - I have to revisit it, even if it has changed. Revisit just to regain that feeling or emotion I felt at the time there. This piece is no exception.

If I had taken a photograph that met my expectations, I would have very likely stopped right there. But I did not. It was good enough to serve as a springboard for this small rendering, but I didn't feel it was enough to stand alone. I find sometimes I can recreate the memory in the way "I want to remember it"...I think it worked for me in that way, and I'm happy with it.

I prefer color pencils be small, larger pieces and attempts in the past have met with mixed results, they are also extremely time consuming. My first college art professor once told me that you should charge the same for a painting or other artwork that a plumber charges for their services (by the hour). Ha! I'll never forget that! But...the plumber could have redone the entire house during the time spent on this piece (and most other small color pencils I've done). Guess we just have to live with our limitations don't we???

But I'll treat this piece as a study, possibly...maybe someday down the road it'll morph into a new life as a larger painting? One never knows...