Sunday Safari

October on the Tall Grass Prairie
is colorful.

The butterflies are still flying.

Prairie Asters provide nectar.

Orange Sulphurs dominated the Prairie today.

We did see one Buckeye.

The bees were out in abundance.

A few thistles still bloom.

Many Flower Beetles caught my eye.

Their black and orange dress is perfect for October.

Spiders are spinning and weaving.

Dragonflies still patrol.

It is cool in the mornings and warm in the afternoons.

Soon we will have frost.

The Mantis hunts for another couple of weeks.

Happy Sunday Safari.

ABC Wednesday

K is for Kite!

K is for Katydid.

K is for Kestrel.

K is for Knitting.

K is for kaleidoscope



and knots.





K is for kiss

and kill.

K is for kinetic energy

and knocks at the door.

K is for Kitty.

She was a kindred spirit.

Happy ABC Wednesday.

Sunday Safari

The Monarchs are migrating.
I watched them in my backyard this afternoon.

I stayed home today.
Once my land was part of the Tall grass Prairie.
Once my land was part of the Santa Fe Trail.

Long ago this land was plowed
and crops grew where my mums now grow.

As the city stretched out developers bought up the farms
and built neighborhoods.
This sedium was here when I moved in 33 years ago.


Part of the Live Forevers are in the sun and part in the shade.

The Katydid likes the sun!

The Bright-eye Cosmos are extra bright today.
I saved some seed for next year's garden.

The bees are still gathering pollen.
They seem tired.

A Bee Mimic was in the orange mums.

The gardens are winding down.

The leaves are beginning to fall.

The berries in the Dogwood are ripe.

Happy Sunday Safari.

ABC Wednesday

J is for Jasmine.


J is for Joe-Pye Weed.

J is for Jewel Wing.

J is for Jacks.

J is for juggling.

J is for Joker.

J is for Jayhawk.

J is for Javelina.

J is for Jellyfish.

Thank you Mrsnesbitt

for hostessing ABC Wednesday!


J is for JOY!

Happy ABC Wednesday!

Sunday Safari

In southwestern Missouri a herd of over 180 Bison graze peacefully.
Around 1540, millions of Bison roamed this area.
By 1889, fewer than 600 were left in all of North America.

In 1982, nine Bison were brought to Prairie State Park.
The Bison roam free on this native prairie habitat.

Since the soil in this area was too rocky to plow much of the land is virgin prairie.

Once tallgrass prairies covered over 13 million acres in Missouri alone.

I walked the prairie and felt the magic of the grasses.

I watched Spicebush Swallowtails nectar in the Bull Thistles and

Hummingbirds nectar in wild Cardinal flower.

When I return from the Prairie I surround myself with field guides.

I long to know the names of all the wild flowers and all the insects.

I recognized the Pearl Crescents

the female

and the male Eastern Tailed Blue when I saw them puddling together.

I knew the Orange Sulphur butterfly

but the wildflower White Heath Aster

and Purple Prairie Aster are new to me.

I have looked for this moth in my

"Butterflies and Moths of Missouri" filed guide

but I still do not know its name.

This is an Eastern Comma.

I know them from my backyard.
The wildflower appears to be White Snakeroot.

Katydids and grasshoppers jumped about as we hiked.

Prairie State Park is a collaboration of many different organizations.

After we left the Prairie I noticed many areas that once were plowed fields planted in native grasses and wild flowers.

More land stewards are going native.

The Viceroy Butterfly flew between the barb wires.

I shall continue to walk the prairie. It changes with the seasons.

Happy Autumn.

Happy Sunday Safari.