Sunday, August 30, 2009

Sunday Safari

Wah Kon-Tah Prairie,
Great Spirit, Great Mystery, Sun, Moon and stars.
For the Osage Indians, Wah Kon-Tah describes
all that is sacred and unfathomable.
For me Wah Kon-Tah describes bliss.


The Regal Fritillary
have one brood in June and fly until frost.

They are common in prairie meadows
in Western Missouri.




I watched them feast in the Ironweed.


The Buckeyes

and the Hairstreaks
have a relationship with the flowers of the prairie.


Small tracts of native, virgin, prairie
are knitted together with degraded pastures.
Land stewards are working to protect and restore over 20 square miles.

I saw bright orange moths



and Lady Beetles.
I watched many different Skippers



and Pipevine Swallowtails.



Eastern Tailed-Blues were in abundance.


The butterflies and the grasses
are in relationship.

I was delighted to see a Black Swallowtail.
I have seen very few this summer.

On the way home we saw a river of wildflowers.
They glowed pink in the late afternoon light.
This is sacred land.
May we all be land stewards.
The butterflies are depending on us.







15 comments:

Anonymous said...

My love affair with beautiful flying creatures began at summer camp as a child. This reminded me of the wonder of long ago.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

What a wonderful place Sherry. I have a friend that is part Osage. Her Grandfather was an Osage. It is beautiful country out there. 20 Miles of prairie would be so healing for Mother Earth.

Randy Emmitt said...

Sherry
Lovely post and the Regals were such excitement! WE have regal sighting in the NC mtns about every 5-10 years very rare here. I got them in MO myself back in 2004

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

I love your safaris Sherry! I saw more butterflies when we lived in Missouri than now in the NW.

Rose said...

Beautiful, Sherry! I'm so happy to see the butterflies flying somewhere--there have been so few here this summer. But I've noticed a few more since the coneflowers bloomed and the thistle (not an intentional planting). If we were all better stewards of the land, the earth would be much better off than it is today.

ShySongbird said...

Another stunning safari Sherry, such lovely photos, the butterflies are so beautiful. I have also just caught up with your 'fs' post, fantastic :)

sweetbay said...

I am always in awe of your photos. The prairie looks like such a beautiful habitat. The Regal Fritillaries are amazing. Thank you for sharing part of your world!

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I always look forward to seeing your photos! Just amazing images...just as if we are seeing them for ourselves!

Dimple said...

Beautiful, as usual!You weave the photos and text together well, telling your story with beauty and simplicity.

Chrissie said...

The river of flowers if wonderful, Sherry. I agree, we should all be land stewards! Thank you for your great post.

Anonymous said...

Your photos certainly give me a sense of bliss. A very prodigious day if I say so myself.

Cheryl said...

Dear Sherry.....so very beautiful....I would be in awe to......so many butterflies, so many wildflowers. I bet in your heart you could have stayed until the sunset......

We all have a duty to take care of this precious planet of ours. If all the gardeners worldwide joined together and gave their gardens back to wildlife, can you imagine the difference it would make. It would be incredible. Gardeners in the UK are turning more to this view .......not spraying....leaving areas wild..... and creating habitats......and planting native.....

A beautiful post......

Lori ann said...

Such a lovely post, thank you for sharing so much beauty. I agree very much with your words too Sherry.

Jules and Ken said...

Your butterfly photos are beautiful as always. We have seen very few black swallowtails I thought it was just our garden. In fact, we have seen very few caterpillers in our garden this year, in the past couple of years we would have had a nursery full by this time.

marmee said...

sherry,
that glowing field is wonderful...i imagine it must have been a sight to behold. our lands, flowers, grasses, creatures...all things we should be good stewards over.
what a lovely outing in the prairie meadow.
lovely september.