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On the way to South Dakota, we stopped at the Joseph Tauer SNA.  99% of the original natural prairies have been eliminated since the European arrival.  This is one of the few remaining virgin prairies in Minnesota.   I did this as a partial makeup for a field trip I missed for the Minnesota Master Naturalist Prairies & Potholes class, so these are intended for documentation vs art.   90+ and windy, so we didn’t stay very long.  All the photos I took are available here.  Some of the more notable ones are:

Prairie Rose (Rosa arkansana)

Oly e620, 14-42 lens @ 42 mm, ISO 100, f8, 1/250s

Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea)

Oly e620, 14-42 lens @ 17 mm, ISO 100, f8, 1/250s

Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum) – male  (I’ve never seen one before this)

Oly e620, 14-42 lens @ 42 mm, ISO 100, f8, 1/320s

Lead plant (Amorpha canescens)

Oly e620, 14-42 lens @ 14 mm, ISO 100, f8, 1/250s

Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium).  Native Americans used this to combat rattlesnake bites (!).

Oly e620, 14-42 lens @ 21 mm, ISO 100, f8, 1/200s

Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)

Oly e620, 14-42 lens @ 42 mm, ISO 100, f8, 1/250s

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

Oly e620, 14-42 lens @ 31 mm, ISO 100, f8, 1/200s

Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)

Oly e620, 14-42 lens @ 35 mm, ISO 100, f8, 1/200s

Kind of in a sunrise rut.  Unfortunately, I was unable to capture what I saw this morning.  This is the best of them:

Oly e620, tripod, stitched, 14-42 lens @ 14mm, ISO 100, f13, 1/40s

This was a new dragonfly, for me.  Found on the boardwalk at the St. John’s Arboretum.  It is a female Common Pondhawk.

Oly e620, 70-300 lens @300mm, ISO 200, f5.6, 1/320 sec

Hard to believe the male looks so much different:

Oly e620, 14-42 lens @ 42 mm, ISO 100, f5.6, 1/500s

Similarly, I couldn’t get a good capture the ominous mood of these clouds a couple of days later.  We saw the clouds as we were driving  home.  By the time I got back with the camera, not very impressive any more.

Oly e620, tripod, 14-42 lens @ 26mm, ISO 100, f5.6, 1/2000s

I confess I hurried this shot, since the clouds were changing so fast.  Should (obviously) have used a different f-stop (like f11, for example).  A better plan would have been to have the camera along!

Very pretty sky this morning.

Oly e620, tripod, 14-42 lens @ 14mm, ISO 100, f14, 1/100s

- and pretty sunset.

Oly e620, ISO 100, 14-42 lens@22mm, f14, 3.2 sec

If you’ve ever wondered what a training bike ride looks like, here’s an example of a short, 1 hour/15 mile ride (one of the flat ones).  I don’t normally take this route, because Co Rd 75 does not have a shoulder.  Not too busy just before noon though.

All photos taken with Blackberry 9530 (I was lazy).

The "Loop"

1 - Heading west on Co 39 - nice wide shoulder

2 - Wetlands on the road to Silver Creek

3 - Turn to Silver Creek coming up

4 - Corn & Beans

5 - Beans & Corn

6 - Lake Maria

7 - Great Blue over Lake Maria

8 - The thriving metropolis of Silver Creek

9 - "Up the Creek" Grill & Bar

10 - the other end of Silver Creek - heading for Co Rd 8

11 - heading north on Co Rd 8

12 - Township Hall (personally, I liked the old schoolhouse better)

14 - yep, I94

15 - Co Rd 75/Great River Road

16 - Xcel power plant

17 - I94 bridge at Co Rd 75

18 - Osowski's Orchard (and "fun" market)

- and home again!

Sun came out over the mist from yesterday’s rain.

Oly E620, 14-42 lens @ 14mm, ISO 100, f9, 1/400s

I went on another bike ride this afternoon (still in training).  I’m going to have to start bringing a “real” camera (vs cellphone).  I found these swans on a lake at the side of the road:

Blackberry

- and the geese were a little farther down:

Blackberry

- some roadside flowers:

Blackberry

- and a hawk on a post!

Blackberry

- and found a new moth, Confused Eusarca (Eusarca confusaria)

Oly E620, 70-300 lens @ 239mm, ISO 100, f13, 1/15s

Nice sunrise this morning.

Oly E620, 14-42 lens @ 14mm, ISO 100, f9, 1/125s

I went for an early bike ride, attempting to beat the heat.  Good plan, and it even clouded up for me!  Canadian spectators (Branta canadensis) on this morning’s “Tour de Silver Creek Township” (hand-held cellphone on a bicycle – no texting!).   Also no cheering – just hissing .

Blackberry

I did catch this damselfly in the afternoon (I was stalking a Monarch with no luck).  “Haning’ on”

Oly E620, 70-300 lens @ 300mm, ISO 100, f9, 1/125s

A new butterfly, butterfly behavior and new moth.

Finally figured out what this newly observed butterfly is – Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui).  As before after a rain, there were butterflies “sampling” the salts in the driveway today.

Oly E620, 70-300 lens @ 300mm, ISO 100, f5.6, 1/250s

And an Eastern Comma (also sampling salts):

Oly E620, 70-300 lens @ 300mm, ISO 100, f8, 1/60s

I had to get some help on this tiny moth (<1/2″) from Bugguide.net.  This is  a Celery Leaftier (Udea rubigalis).  Feeds on spinach, among other leafy crops – might explain the condition of our spinach. 

Oly E620, 70-300 lens @ 300mm, ISO 100, f10, 1/25s

This is an Orange Sulphur butterfly, apparently laying eggs on clover.

Oly E620, 70-300 lens @ 300mm, ISO 100, f5.6, 1/1000s

This Red Admiral was perched on the barn post for a while.

Oly E620, 70-300 lens @ 215mm, ISO 100, f5.6, 1/50s

Finally, it looks like the mushrooms were edible – at least by something!

Oly E620, 35 mm macro lens, ISO 100, f5.6, 1/200s

Windy all night, only dropped to 72F, and the humidity has come up drastically.  Forecast is for  for 90+ today and rain tonight.  I cut the last of the SE field hay Wednesday.  With this wind for 3 days, it surely must be dry!  I prepped all the equipment last night – hay wagon boards fixed, put the bale conveyor in the loft, hooked up the rake.

A nice start to the day.  I took this from the upstairs window (after I turned the AC back on – humid!).  Kind of odd, layered clouds.  1/2 hour later they were gone.

Oly E620, 70-300 lens @ 70mm, ISO 100, f8, 1/80s

I was on the tractor by 7:00, trying to conserve what little moisture there is this morning (no dew!).  Finished raking about an hour later:

Blackberry

(no, I didn’t take the E620 along).  I’ve tried to do this type of photo in the past.  I think the right sun angle is what’s needed to make it turn out right.

Blackberry

Raking’s done, need to go hook up the baler and wagons.  We were done baling by 11:00 AM – a personal first for me. The only other time we baled in the morning was due to threatening weather (still didn’t finish before noon).

Oly E620, 14-42 lens @ 17mm, ISO 100, f8, 1/500s

Now it can rain!

Lots of wildlife available in the driveway today!  I was heading back to the house after cleaning stalls, and heard a big ruckus in the yard.  A Northern Flicker was perched on the very top of the power pole.  I sneaked back to the house and brought out the camera (should have brought the tripod!).

Oly E620, 70-300 lens @ 300mm, ISO 100, f6.3, 1/400s

I still didn’t know what was going on.  I turned around and there’s a chipmunk right in front of me!

Oly E620, 70-300 lens @ 300mm, ISO 100, f5.6, 1/60s

Another commotion started behind me.  I turned back to the power pole and saw a flurry of  (big) wings.  This guy seldom shows up on the farmstead, but I hear him frequently.  This is what a pileated woodpecker sounds like (jungle bird ).

http://www.pileatedwoodpeckercentral.com/audio/call.mp3

Oly E620, 70-300 lens @ 300mm, ISO 1000, f5.6, 1/800s

I think there was an argument between the Flicker and the Pileated.  Eventually, he flew into the windbreak.

I guess I need to add some water to the dog water “bowl”

Oly E620, 70-300 lens @ 149mm, ISO 1000, f5.6, 1/500s

The swallows  have left the nest, at least for a while.

Oly E620, 70-300 lens @ 149mm, ISO 1000, f5, 1/8s

Trochilidae kermiticus, v. narcissus   I’m sure there’s a story here (maybe ants?).

Oly E620, 35 mm macro lens, ISO 100, f6.3, 1/800s