Peace on the Prairie

Walking through the tall grass, I stop in a large patch of blue sage to close my eyes and listen: Eastern Meadowlarks competing with the soft, yet constant din of grasshoppers, the cool breeze playing through the grass, and a House Wren scolding some distant annoyance. Against the afternoon sun I can picture myself sitting on a horse, one of the first settlers moving west through this wild country in awe of the rolling hills that are a patchwork of colors thanks to goldenrod, sage, and various grasses. That's the magic of the Flint Hills for you. I start again, flushing a Vesper Sparrow along a hillside, as a shrike watches from afar. At the top of the rise I stop to enjoy the purple brilliance of Eryngium leavenworthii…a personal favorite.

Leavenworth's Eryngo (Eryngium leavenworthii)

The Flint Hills were named for their rocky nature, actually limestone and chert, not flint. This particular weekend I was with other birders at the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve in Osage County, Oklahoma, at the south end of this region. The Flint Hills have been used by different people for what seems like forever, as evidenced by a near perfect arrowhead resting on the prairie surface…perfect grays blending in with the soil and other rocks…probably from the Caddo 2,000-3,000 years ago. When white settlers came, the name of the game was grazing land and eventually natural gas and oil; the boom continues today with the methodic thumping of oil wells that can still be heard in many areas on the 40,000 acre preserve. This first afternoon was just a prelude to the next day's main event: 10 hours of birding, photography, botany, and more on the pristine prairie. On my way out for the night, I passed a stand of sunflowers and noticed that each was adorned with its own Red-winged Blackbird. Here, a female caught my eye. Normally seen as dull, this one needed its photo taken.

Red-winged Blackbird

The next morning was cool, but just right for us gear-laden birders. By 8:00, we were at County Road 2809 which leads into the preserve. We stopped just off the highway where a fencerow stand of scrub and cottonwoods creates a mini-oasis for migrants. Down the line, the birds ranged from the yellow to the brown. Wilson's Warbler and Palm Warbler to assorted sparrows. The Palm Warbler (two for the day) is a rare occurrence considering we are at the EXTREME western end of their migration range, and maybe even a little west of that. Among them, the sparrows, many shades of brown: Clay-colored (12), Lincoln's (9), Savanna (1), and Vesper (1). For us western Arkansans, Clay-coloreds are a yearly occurrence, but it's always good to see such a large number.

Clay-colored Sparrow

Beneath two Clay-coloreds sits a Lincoln's. Equally as carefully colored. Sparrows are too overlooked and taken for granted, which is a shame. A closer look can prove them almost as good-looking as any super model bird.

Lincoln's Sparrow

Continuing on to the preserve, you pass through post oak cross timber habitat. The cross timbers, a perfect fading zone between the western prairies and eastern forests, gets its name from the tightly-packed trees, whose intertwined limbs make it impassible in many areas. The oaks were absolutely LOADED with acorns and full of Blue Jays, Red-headed Woodpeckers, and the likes. All acorn eaters, I had never seen so many in one place. Granted the preserve is 40,000 acres, but still! Both the jays and RHWOs were a constant racket in the oaks as they caching the nuts. Many of the jays just pass through on their mass migration out of the northern forests and this was clear from the 100s flying over in small, constant flocks all day. Northern Flickers joined in the movement, starting double takes from the birders as we looked for that flash of red instead of our usual eastern yellow. After two days of hoping, and all yellow-shafted flickers, we got it on the second day. A glimpse of red shot over our heads. I followed it into the trees where I was able to watch it as it flicked its tail…nothing but brilliant red. SCORE!

The Flint Hills at Sunrise

Late September is the perfect time for a trip to the TGPP. You can get the best of both worlds with migrants still moving through and winter residents starting to show up (Think Yellow-billed Cuckoo meets Sharp-shinned Hawk). This weekend, a light south wind had stopped migrants in their paths. Including the exceedingly rare Monarch butterfly. After being at the TGPP, I'm not so sure they're in as steep of a decline as what we thought. Late in the afternoon, we stopped at the top of a ridge that overlooked prairie and post oak barrens for as far as the eye could see. Walking away from the rest of the group, I was drawn ever further into goldenrods and blue sage, nearly every one covered in Monarchs. Eventually out of sight of the car, the ridge came to a point. I followed it back around and below the rim just a little bit, stopping all the way to take in the Monarch miracle. With each puff of wind, the monarchs would rise off the flowers creating clouds, yes, clouds. There were 100s of them in this few acre oasis.

Monarch Butterfly

Catching my breath, I couldn't help but stare. The good news: every patch of flowers on the preserve was a slightly lesser, but similar sight. The bad news: we are not professional mathematicians. Here's what we came up with. Consider that there were 5 monarchs per acre (which is grossly underestimated), then consider that 1/2 of the TGPP had flowers conducive to monarch nectaring (20,000 acres). That would mean that on Saturday, September 27, 2014 the preserve had 100,000 monarchs, and I suspect that number was much more. Blessed was the only word that could come to my mind as I walked away from the scene, still awestruck hours later.

When I'm out on excursions like this, I try to pay attention to everything. I think I do a pretty good job most of the time. As the heat of the day struck and we lunched under huge, ancient bur oaks, I decided to take a walk down the sunny road. Going, a flash across the ground caught my eye…a tiger beetle. These ferocious predators always warrant a photo shoot.

Hairy-necked Tiger Beetle (Cicindela hirticollis)

Clouded Crimson (Schinia gaurae)

On our last day at the prairie, we met up with a PRO botanist for some lessons. At a place like the TGPP, a lot of my mind is on the birds, but I tried to be a good student! During the "lesson" we came across a really cool caterpillar on velvety gaura. Jumping the gun, one might identify it as a Monarch caterpillar, but look closer. Another red flag was that it wasn't on milkweed.

Leaving this magical place was bittersweet, but life must go on. As much as I'd like to, I can't live in a prairie dream-state forever. Luckily, the grand scene of a Northern Harrier gliding silently over the landscape to see us out will tide me over until next time.

Another successful adventure! And I am happy to report that no one got charged by bison, which would be no bueno.

Northern Harrier

For more photos of this exciting trip, visit: http://www.pbase.com/mpruitt/tall_grass_prairie_2014