Prairie: Sept. 20th

 

There is not as much bird activity in the evenings it seems.  There was one sparrow though who was out for a song.  This image was taken from about 40 feet out at 300mm with the D70.  The D70 paired with the 300mm works so well for most of the shots.  It's a 17 year old camera as of this photo with a shutter speed range of 30s-1/8000s (faster than many cameras today) which is very helpful to capture some of the fastest wings out there.  The prairie is just the perfect setting for bird photography.  


Singing Sparrow

A great time to capture a few photos of the flowers which you see at lot around the prairie.  The colors are always so vibrant.  There is an old saying that if you called someone a Daisy then in one context that could mean obviously that they were pleasing to the eyes but the other context meant since the Daisy lasted so long in flower vases after they had been cut that they were strong and withstanding.  Most of the flowers I've seen in the prairie remind me of this.  Their stems and foundations are tall and flexible and withstand storms and even high winds.  Some things which look fragile and elegant have a build in design which is flexible and can withstand harsh conditions while still being itself.

Every living thing seems to have some level of self-defense but what thing would ever want to grapple with one of  these?  The geometry and practicality is impressive.  When they flower they attract bees and butterflies and the heads produce thousands of seeds which goldfinches love.  Being dispersed among the flowers they protect themselves and produce food for the smaller inhabitants.  The larger inhabitants won't eat for obvious reasons.


Spiky Teasel:  A seed producer with self-defense

As a kid, I was fascinated by these.  We called them "milk weed" (below) which are actually the pods of the milkweed plant as I understand now.  They grew a lot in the lots which were unfinished in the sub-division we lived in.  The milky substance inside actually contains "cardiac glycoside compounds" which makes them toxic to most insects and animals.  But some insects store them in their tissue rendering them inedible or toxic to predators.  Monarch butterflies and caterpillars do this for self defense.


Milkweed Pod:  Small insects use the compounds for defense



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