Some pics

Summer is finally starting to begin its senescence.  Yikes.  Worked in a couple 75 hr weeks there.  Managing an old ag field into a prairie is crazy tough.  Just when you think you're ahead, somewhere you're probably not.  This field always leaves you wondering, how could it take us so long to complete a task I thought would only take half a day!  There's usually always some cleaning up to do.  

The drought that we've been having is tricky to deal with.  For the most part, plants have been doing alright.  Management techniques have been altered a little, but nothing too dramatic.  We've seen plants stagger a little, not knowing whether they should force seed, or save up until another rain comes.  Usually we saw them stagger and force seed.  

Recently we've had some rain come in, and we're seeing quite a response from the plants.  It's like the time you're in bed, slept until 11 (not knowing you did), realize how late it is, and then you give that biiiig stretch...and sigh.  

The woman and I haven't had internet, so it's tough to get out to a coffee shop and blog after work.  Getting internet in a couple days though, so should be able to get on here more!!

I was having a conversation with the director of the Audubon Society, Chicago region, and we were just talking about restoration in general.

An interesting note about my prairie restoration site is that audubon is quite involved.  In fact, our seed mix is geared towards grassland birds who don't like tall grasses.  That means we have no big bluestem out there!  It's not the end of the world, but I do miss the great qualities that come with big blue.  The matrix these grasses create out in the prairie helps suppress invasives.  The question then becomes, is this an artificial prairie (not self-sustaining)?

I tell the director that what we do as restorationalists is take what farmers want to do, and we do the opposite.  In case you didn't know, farming is a cash cow........Thus there is a ton of information on the subject.

Sometimes the info goes both ways.  Both the farmer and restorationalist want to combat invasive species to protect their crops/natives (teasel, thistle, purple loosestrife, garlic mustard).  Other times, farmers will want to plant an aggressive invasive for forage for their cattle to feed on (Birdsfoot trefoil, white sweet clover, fescue, brome).  Aaaand restorationalists what nothing to do with these forage crops.

Farmers like them so much because they're aggressive and self sustaining.  Once the forage seed is established, the rancher will only have to worry about over grazing and certain diseases.  The early years in a prairie, restoration managers even have to watch out for their own natives, goldenrod especially, to make sure they don't crowd out other higher quality plants.

That brings up another point.  Conservation value (C-value) determines how important (valuable) a plant is.  The highest a C-value can get is 10.  A C-10 plant will be very rare, and will only grow within a high quality, well established prairie.  This is how you determine how healthy a prairie is.  These C-value plants act as indicator species.

Although there isn't a lot of material on how to get rid of these money making aggressive invasives, there are tons of articles for how to manage them to thrive.  When an article says, "Do not mow at a certain time to allow the plant to restore its energy back to its roots for the winter," you bet your ass we're going to mow during that time!

Graze/Burn/Mow quick thoughts

I just finished reading a couple articles.  You ever get when you read these scientific articles that more often then not they’ll just contradict another article and leave you with no clear solution??  It’s like everyone’s always just thinking out loud.  

Obviously I kid, but it does get old.  How about instead of doing small sample sizes, you do large ones, and instead of short term studies, you make them all long term!!!  Go out and get that money!

Ok…

The first article was about installing prairie seed on an old grazing field that will continue to be grazed.  

Things I took away from this:

- When grazing is implemented, drill seeding came out better than broadcast seeding. 

- if the object of a land manager is truly to get the land back to what it used to be, grazing is one of the methods needed on a prairie restoration (Bison).  

The second article spoke about how there was little to no effect of mowing or burning on a prairie within the soil.  They did say that this may be due to a short sample size.

- Out of PH, water content and organic matter within the soil, moisture was the most significant change.  Reasoning behind this is a simple one.  With the litter burned off, sunlight directly hits the soil, which increases evaporation.  The top layer of the soil profile is less dry than the lower. 

Photos!

 Dickcissel

 King Bird and Mallards

 Bobolink

Plains Garter

A little more on cool season grasses!??

The previous post I mentioned it's important to control cool season grasses on a prairie.  It made me think of an article I read previously called, “Field based effects of allelopathy in invaded tallgrass prairie.”  Allelopathic phytochemicals are released by a plant to halt other plants from growing within proximity of the plant.  This benefits the allelopathic plant by reducing its competition and ensuring the plant gets enough of the nutrients and water in the soil for itself.  This article I read studied fine fescue, and what it's effect could be within a tallgrass prairie.  Specifically looking at the phytochemical m-tyrosine which the fine fescue's roots puts out.

The authors use invigorating language when describing allelopathic ways by using such phrases as “Novel weapons,” or “Invasion front” as if these were the foot soldiers coming through before the cavalry.  When I fall asleep, I sincerely do not dream of plants air raiding other plants to gain a strategical position to eventually take over their space.  However I have seen Fantasia, soo….

Not to take anything away from the authors, these allelopathic advantages are huge.  These invasives come over from a foreign place, and the native plants have no understanding of how to co-exist with these invaders.  The natives have no evolutionary game plan to survive against them.  

A similar example of invasion, and perhaps easier understood, is with the alien lionfish to the Atlantic Ocean.  The lionfish preys on smaller fish.  These smaller fish have no idea the lionfish will eat them.  So the smaller fish hang out right beside their killer!!!  It really is bizarre when you think about it.  The learning curve is just too big/long for the preyed fish to learn to hide from the lionfish.  Consequently the lionfish are now thriving all too well within the Atlantic, and the smaller fish are being depleted.  

All the action with the phytochemicals happens within the soil.  So don’t forget to think about all the factors involving the soil.  Soil microbes may or may not hinder these these chemicals as their released.  Soil type and saturation conditions are important as well.  

The study concluded reinforcing what is known and somewhat inconclusive pertaining to whether or not fine fescue can take over a tallgrass prairie via phytochemicals.  M-tyrosine was not a stand alone determinant of invasion within the tallgrass prairie.  “Seed density, rapid and high seedling emergence and fast growth rates,” determined more of the invasion rather than m-tyrosine.  The study brought up the fact that once dominance is established, perhaps then m-tyrosine plays more of a role for keeping out other plants.  

Jess Harnden, Andrew S. MacDougall, Benjamin A. Sikes.  "Field Based Effects of Allelopathy in Invaded Tallgrass Prairie."  Botany 2011 89(4): 235-242, 10.1139/b11-010.

Spring comes to an end

The end for spring plants seems to be here.  Everything is flowering, and will soon set seed.  All plants seem to be around 2-3 weeks early due to a warmer than usual spring.

As a prairie manager I'm worried about specific invasive plants on site such as Reed Canary Grass, Pastinaca, and soon Birdsfoot trefoil.  

Below is an example of similar flowers between the native golden alexander, and the invasive pastinaca.  Look at the last photo and see how aggressive pastinaca can be!!  

Golden Alexander

Pastinaca sativa

A large patch of Pastinaca

Taking control of cool season grasses such as fescue and brome are important as well right now.  Although not considered invasive, they are still aggressive, and have the ability to choke out the native plants trying to become established.  Mowing at a height of 6-8 inches is a technique used on a 2nd year prairie.  This avoids clipping the natives, and takes out the higher grasses.  Give the natives a chance, and let them breath!!  

Monarch with nothing else but this red clover around.... 

Moved in to a new place a month ago, and still don't have internet.  Not sure how much longer I can go, but it certainly affects my blogging!  I have plenty of pics to put up.  I'll have to find time after work to use the internet connection out there. 

Stay tuned!!

Grasslands Steward Presentation

I was asked to give a small presentation last week to the community stewards that do volunteer work on the site.  They asked for an introduction to myself, as this was my first time with them, and a talk about upcoming goals.  I figured a 15 min. talk, with a 30 min Q & A would suffice.  It's always refreshing to see the passion these volunteers carry with them.

Prairie Chat:
Where does my interest in the prairie come from?

When you immerse yourself in a prairie you can feel so consumed, and yet so relaxed.  That's what I love about it.  There are absolutely tons of interactions going on.  I find so much peace with that.  It's like clockwork.

Within the soil we've got billions and billions of microbes doing unseen work that nourishes and stabilizes the soil structure.  Above ground we've got everything photosynthesizing, crawling, hopping, flying, slithering, (plants, animals, arthropods, birds, reptiles).  That bright thing in the sky is pretty important too.

All of these work in a lock and key sort of way.  And I view us in the same way.  We have to fit.  We have to fit perfectly.

If we do nothing (and not restore what we've already turned into an ag field...), invasives would continue to thrive and block out our native prairie plants that gave us the best soil in the world (roots/climate).
Putting it another way, all species that were here living freely before we showed up, were already adapted to our specific biome.  Then we came and shook things up quite a bit.  That change we've created was/is very fast according to a plant species that's been around for centuries.  They are not allowed enough time to adapt to us.  Therefore, we need to embrace that, and be good stewards to the earth.


The other side of the spectrum is doing too much.  If we don't keep the integrity of the land, we falter.  If we're not precise with our invasive control treatments, we may harm everything we're trying to let thrive.  Creating disturbance of any sort will result in favorable conditions for invasives.

If we have the knowledge, patience, identification skills, and passion, then I believe we fit perfectly.

Then I went into our Invasive schedule for the year, and an interesting Q&A session of which I'll detail both later on.

Birdsfoot trefoil and why this deserves its own post

Birdsfoot is a legume, and mostly planted as a forage crop for cattle.  Used widely due to the plants ability not to bloat the animal.  Happy cow!!  This is labeled as an invasive plant:

http://www.invasive.org/weedcd/species/5949.htm

This plant doesn't die.
Why:
Germinates twice: 
- Once in the early spring, and another early fall.  Twice!!  How stubborn and resilient can you be!
Adventitious root system:
- Deep tap root good for storing energy, spreads through rhizomes and stolons
- This plant creates a matted structure that makes it difficult for chemical coverage (finding the source).

http://www.anbg.gov.au/glossary/webpubl/glossss.htm

Chemically tolerant:
- It can withstand 2,4-D, which is one of more, if not the most common broadleaf herbicide.
- Clopyralid is a chemical that specifically targets legumes.  However this has been researched that roots do not uptake clopyralid as well as other chemicals will.  Therefore you'll get a top kill (the leaves) and yet the plant will remain alive and continue to produce, because the roots were not affected.
This is what we've been seeing on our site.  With the birdsfoot elaborate root system, you can understand why.
See:  http://www.larimer.org/weeds/herbicide.pdf

Hard to find:
- Small leaves and grows/spreads close to the ground

Shade tolerant:
Although this plant prefers a lot of sunlight, it will still thrive if taller plants block it from sunlight.

Most effective mode of action?
Apply a pre-emergent herbicide that will sit in the soil for at least a year, and then seed with your plants the following growing season (even this has been proven difficult).  If you have good plants in the soil already, you cannot add a pre-emergent.  In which case you can have fun scratching your head at this AMAZING invasive plant.

Ethiopian Watershed Trip

I picked up an edition of the Ecological Restoration publication from back in March 2010.  There was an article that caught my eye:  Yitbarek T.W., Satishkumar Belliethathan, and Masresha Fetene:  "A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Watershed Rehabilitation:  A Case Study in Farta Woreda, South Gondar, Ethiopia."

The article is based in the northern region of Ethiopia.  The study (as noted in the title) wanted to look for the benefits and costs of a watershed rehabilitation.  Surrounding the study was the idea of ripping out grasses and trees to make way for agriculture, leads to all sorts of ecological (economic) impacts.  Some of these are as follows:  Increased of siltation of downstream rivers, carbon sequestration, water/soil conservation, biodiversity, aesthetics, and ecotourism.  It's a great article showing interest in land that may often be overlooked.

I was fortunate enough to travel to Ethiopia while in school.  We traveled there to study the watershed of Ethiopia, and understand the importance of water.  We visited different NGOs in the capital Addis to learn how they dealt with sanitation and running clean water.  We then traveled outside Addis around the southern territories and stayed with different tribes.  When you travel outside of the capital, communication gets very tricky.  Even with people from Ethiopia, because of all of the different tribes/languages, communicating gets lost in translation.  There's also a lot of old standards tribes believe in whole heartedly.  A simple act as washing your hands to fight off germs is very foreign to them.  We visited a school that received a well for the first time, and they very much appreciated this.

On a personal note, I absolutely love kids.  When I was a kid, I remember how much fun recess was.  When I was younger, I moved away to a new school.  The first question that was asked during recess was how far could I throw a football.  I don't know why this is the way it is, but I had friends on the spot after I threw the football a good distance down the field.  
This time I was throwing a ball as high as I could straight up in the air.  The kids would run around in circles with their heads jerked to the sky, and their arms straight out fending off anyone around them trying to catch the ball.  They were having a blast!
After a while, my arm was going to fall off, so I crouched down to the ground.  That's when I noticed there were probably 50 kids surrounding me very close.  An idea popped in my head.  I decided (I don't know why) to become a monster!  While the kids waited eagerly for me to get back up and throw the ball, I stood up and made a giant roar sound.  Then I began chasing them all around while they were screaming and laughing.  Honest to God, it was one of the most fun times I've ever had in my life.  My group was taking lunch at the time.  I thought there is no way I'm just going to sit here while these kids are having recess, and I'm so thankful I went out in the field with them.  

The trip was an absolute wonderful experience.  What made me even think of writing on the blog was a a man I met.  I don't have my notes with me now, but I'll add his name and organization once I get to them.  His organization takes kids off the street, and puts them in school.  They pay for everything, including books, clothes, and food.  His organization also has a "soup kitchen" in which my group worked at 3 days out of the 7 while we were in Addis.  He carried himself as just a regular man, even though he was the head of this successful organization; he was very humble.  Below I have a picture with him, and I try to live by his demeanor every day.

Nachusa Grasslands Visit

This is a prairie restoration at its finest.

There are test plots all over their almost 5,000 acres of land.  From annual burn sites, to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year seedings right next to each other!  You can literally see how long it takes native prairie plants to emerge.
*The first year you won't have that many natives coming up from your seeding.  In fact, you'll have aggressive weeds trying to make their way in.  No wonder you need patience when you plant a prairie!  Those prairie plants you haven't seen yet, have spent the last 2 years establishing their root systems.  Now in year 3, they'll be ready to flower!

It's a great place to have your many restoration questions answered:
Does a specific chemical work on a particular plant?
When is the correct time to treat this plant?
Should you seed the more conservative plants right away, or wait until the quicker sprouting plants establish the soil while you fight back the weeds with treatment control, and then do you interseed the conservatives?
When do you decide to burn?  Spring/late summer/fall??

These guys have been at it for 25 years.  A lot of the stewards have been with the site easily over a decade.  They contain a lot of knowledge on restorations.  Nachusa has grown slowly in acres throughout the years.  That's why it's great to see the 1st year seedings, all the way to the established prairies, and everything in-between.

If you'd ever like to feel consumed, yet strangely relaxed, and randomly think (or make up) a Ralph Waldo saying in your head, give them a visit!
Nachusa Grasslands

Pics:

Prickly Pear

Pussy Toes

Prairie Smoke

A nice oak savanna

Standing on a remnant with the green area in the background being burned last fall

Wood Betony

Silky Aster near the bottom

Swale Time

Here are some pics while working today through the Swale.  It's really a great area.  The swale meanders through the site.  It's in the middle of two hills where runoff can flow right into it.  Typically the spring rains will create heavy flowing.  It ponds up in the middle of the site in an area called Phlox Bottoms that contains a lot of great plants.  It flows east, ponds to the north, continues east, and then flows south along the eastern edge.

The difficulty working in the swale is keeping an eye out for the good plants while spraying herbicide.  It requires a good eye and patience.  You can tell by the pictures why we need to use herbicide.  Cattails and reed canary grass choke out the good plants and are very aggressive when they seed out.

Amber waves of Reed Canary!! (BAAAAD)

Cattails (Bad)

Great Bulrush (Good)

Polygonum and Carix (Both Good)

River Bulrush (Good)

When Invasives are susceptible

Let's think about how plants grow in general terms:

While in the soil, the roots store energy and keep the plant alive through winter.  Then it starts off slowly, coming up from the soil when it warms.  Then it grows at a steady pace, assuming conditions are not extreme (drought/excessive rain, temps not dramatically cold/hot).
Then the plant begins to produce flowers, and eventually goes on to produce seeds.  This part of the plants life is pretty dramatic.  It takes a lot of energy to complete this.  The root system for this plant is also very structured and strong.

Before I ask the inevitable question of when is the correct time to apply herbicide, let me tell you this:  If the plant is close to seeding out (full mature plant/seeds are almost viable) some plants have the ability to force their seeds out under pressure.  So most of the time, the best time to apply herbicide is when the plant is young and beginning to develop.

Here's an example of the other side of the spectrum:

Specific biennial plants produce a base the first year of roots, stems, and leaves.  The second year this plant flowers and seeds out.  

The mechanical treatment approach to this gets down to the nitty gritty.  In order for a successful kill, you wait until the plant is just about to seed out before you mow/brushcut/weed-whack it down.  You want to take advantage of the expending energy of the plant.  But the timing of this is very crucial.  

If you cut too early, the plant will reemerge smaller, and still produce seeds only a week after you cut it!  This is especially true with white sweet clover.  One mature white sweet clover can produce up to 350,000 seeds!!  So you can imagine what even a tiny plant could still produce.  

Below is an example...

Randy Quaid - Independence Day

Let me explain:

If Randy Quaid flies up to the laser a little too early before the ship gathers up all of its energy to deliver the blow, there wouldn't be much of an explosion, and the ship threat is still there (cut too early, and the plant will reemerge).  

Likewise, and a little more obvious, had he been a little bit late, the laser would have been sent off (350,000 seeds are dropped) and the movie doesn't end on a good note. 

Good thing the timing was perfect!!!!!

Burn Completed!

I couldn't have asked for better weather conditions to burn today.  At 5:30 this morning, the weather bounced back to what was forecasted back on Monday!!  Why noaa kept the same forecast for 3 days, changed it 12 hrs prior, only to change it back today, I don't know.

But we achieved our goals.  I'm sure we knocked back the cool season grasses and other exotics not accustomed to fire.  We burned 85% of the site last year, so this was the rest of the 15%.  As you can see from the pictures, there's quite a bit of green around.  Keep in mind, this is also a prairie in its 3rd year.  The south half was seeded 2.5 yrs ago, and the north half 1.5 yrs ago.  It would be somewhat early to burn after a 1.5 yr seeding, but we had some wetlands and remnants that lit nicely.  

I look forward to posting more posts as the Prairie year rolls on.  Follow my twitter and tumblr for some outside the prairie thoughts!

Clouds start to roll in

A nice rainfall after our burn (the dark spot way off in the distance/middle is where we burned)

And just how low the humidity got the other day, the humidity will be on the other side of the spectrum tomorrow....

The humidity has gone to where I hoped for the entire week they weren't going to go; Above 60%.

*If you think of this as a visual:  When you see clouds, there's obviously moisture in the air.  This can affect quite a few variables on a burn.  Your fuels won't combust as easily, and you'll have a slower fire (due to moisture).  This also will keep prevent the fire from gaining enough heat to push the smoke up.  The atmosphere also tends to somewhat trap the smoke by not allowing the smoke to rise.  Mixing heights are associated with this.  

All week long the forecast was calling for lower to mid 50% (which is still high).  Even earlier today it remained.  Now it has changed : (  I have a feeling this trend as well as cloud cover will continue to rise throughout the night into morning :((

I realize that needing an easterly wind usually is more than likely always associated with precip.  I just figured I'd be lucky enough to get the SE wind, and no precip.

...I hope to be posting pics of the burn tomorrow!!

Red Flag Day

Red Flags are posted in an area when there is a high danger for fire.  High winds and low humidities had everything to do with this.  Our prairie sits within a highly residential area. If we were out in the middle of nowhere, I think we'd be rocking and rolling.  With the winds and humidities burns would more than likely get out of control.  They move very fast, and the possibility of spot fires elsewhere on site are great.

Forecast:
Backing winds are forecasted to lift northward Wednesday night into Thursday morning for our region.  The south winds will turn to southeast.  This is the wind direction we need.  However with these backing winds could be followed by precip, as any low pressure system is associated with.  This isn't a conventional low pressure system though.  We have a window in the morning to get the burn done.  Rh looks to be in the 50s by 9am with the right wind direction, and still awaiting the mixing height/ventilation forecast tomorrow for thurs.

NOAA quote from today:
"UNREAL. THAT IS ABOUT THE ONLY (AFD FRIENDLY) WORD THAT COMES TO MIND WHEN TRYING TO WRAP MY MIND AROUND THE CURRENT WARM SPELL. IT IS REMARKABLE ENOUGH TO WATCH LONG STANDING ALL TIME RECORD TEMPS BE THREATENED...BUT THE TOTAL SCOPE (DURATION AND INTENSITY) OF THIS WARM SPELL ISSOMETHING THAT HAS HISTORIC AND UNLIKELY TO BE MATCHED IN OUR LIFE TIME."

Everyone knows how warm its been.  Chicago has broken every temp record for 11 days straight!  This also leads into another variable with the burn.  With everything greening up, this creates more of a smoke issue.  A burn shouldn't hurt the natives too much due to an established root system they carry.  Cool season grasses do not carry this trait, and they will suffer which is good.  It all depends on your burn objectives.

What does a Project Manager do on a Prairie??

When I tell people what I do for a living, I get a variety of reactions.  One question usually always leads to another.  Here's an example:

Me:  I work on a prairie restoration.
Q:  What is that?
Me:  Mass agriculture and development have diminished our native prairies greatly.  We are now trying to restore these plots of land with what was once originally there.
Q:  Why would you do that?

------
Once they ask this, the person should:
A. Touch my left shoulder if you'd like to hear about Native Flora and Diversity
B. Touch my right shoulder if you'd like to hear about local/native Entymology (insects)/Fauna
C. Wiggle my right ear if you'd like to hear about Ornithology (birds)
D. Tap my forehead if you'd like to know how a prairie can bring communities together, get kids playing outside again(!!), and educate    
E. Spin around if you want to hear of Environmental advantages
F.  Give me a hug if you'd like to hear about the Aesthetic qualities of a prairie
G. Do a handstand (yep a handstand) if you'd like to know how it affects the aquifer we all get our drinking water below ground
H. Sit down if you'd like to hear about Below Ground Biomass/soil...cuz this is going to be long.

All of these together (with invasive plant control and fire management) would create a healthy landscape.  A very healthy landscape.  Imagine if we had healthy prairies all around us like we do crop fields.  Instead of deer getting in the road getting hit by cars, we'd have bison!!  So much diversity!!!!  A lot more fire as well.....!!
------

 Me:  Well, take a walk through a prairie some time, and notice what's going on around you.  You'll never be in a place that has so much activity/interactions going on.  And it's all for the better.

Lobelia cardinalis & Lobelia siphilitica

Papilio glaucus

NWS issued Weather Fire Watch

Earlier in the week, forecasts had favorable r.h.'s for the burn.  That's changed now with potential humidities below 30.  WATCH OUT!!

The preferred R.H.'s you want are between 40 and 60.  

*Think of it as how much water moisture is in the air.  If water moisture is up in the air while you're trying to burn, the fire reacts slower.  If water moisture is low, the fire has a tendency to "rip" through fuels.  The fire moves very fast.

If the fire is below 40%:

This is always a risk.  The reason for the NWS to give out a fire watch is a warning for fire departments, land managers and communities.  Fire dept and land managers will be on alert.  Communities will need to be weary of things like throwing out cigarettes, lighting fireworks, or having a bon fire near an open grassland...

The burn boss on a prairie burn usually always takes the R.H. before the burn out in the middle of the prairie.  Then the crew will conduct a test burn to see how the fire will act.  As the fire continues, the B.B. will conduct a field test every 30 min for r.h. or as he/she sees fit according to the forecast.  R.H.'s tend to be high early and late.  Middle of the day has a tendency to have the lowest readings.

Communication is always key.  While an igniter is lighting, (or anyone on the burn) notices a shift in fire activity, the B.B. will be notified, and the B.B will assess the situation.  If everything needs to come to a halt, the easiest way to get the fire out, is to circle the fire around to burn itself out.  

*When rounding a fire out:  The crew will set a back fire (light against the wind while the fire creeps forward) with enough area burned off the 2 igniters will begin to circle around the fire, and start a head fire (lighting fire with the wind) for the fire to meet up with itself and extinguish itself out.

If the fire is above 60%:

The fire will be slow and potentially won't get hot enough (produce enough B.T.U.'s) the goal for your prairie burn.  

*This will be talked more about later in detail.  Goals may include stimulate native seed, stimulate invasive seed (to rid the seed bank), injure invasive plants, rid dead plant material/shading, adding nutrients to the soil, stimulate growth in spring.

Another issue with a slow fire and not producing enough heat, is smoke management.  If you don't get the fire hot enough, the smoke won't rise enough, and you'll create havoc amongst concerned citizens of your community with smoke everywhere.

Attached is a pic I took when we burned around a wetland with phragmites and cattails.  These get extremely hot.  Every now and then you'll catch a picture with the "fire monster" within the fire.  You'll see what I mean in this picture as you can see a head, arms, and legs...Fire Monster!!!

Precip Ponder

Welp startin' early.

Already need to begin banking off what the weather's going to do and it's early March!!  With the warm winter (might as well say spring has already begun) it'll be interesting to get our burn done.  Usually we get a typical cold hard winter (frozen soil below 4 inches), and then in the spring it takes a little while longer for the soil to warm, the plants to come up, and a larger window to burn.

This year plants will want to begin "greening" up soon.  The more green there is out in the field, the more you have to worry about smoke management.  Live tissues create a heavy black smoke that is a little trickier to deal with.  This is still a young prairie so there's not a lot of a live/dead ratio.  A live/dead ratio relates to plants that are green, but still have enough dead plant material on the ground to carry the fire.

*Note
In order to injure cool season grasses/forbs, you would want to play off the idea of the live/dead ratio.  Typically these cool season grasses are exotic (all exotics come up before natives, and stay up longer than natives during the growing season).  This is a HUGE advantage for restorationists.  Running a fire when the natives are down in the fall, and the grasses are still up, allows you to injure the grasses while the dead plant material from years past is able to carry the fire through.  Likewise if you burned before the natives come up, and the exotics have already sprouted.

A couple chances seem to be next week with R.H.'s (relative humidity) hovering around 60%.  Nothing better.  Depending on how much rain we'll get tonight will depict a lot with burning next week.  The cold front coming in from the northwest seems spotty now, but will probably all form together for a solid rain.  At least that's what the forecast is calling.  

Mary Oliver - "Sleeping in the Forest"

I thought the earth remembered me,

she took me back so tenderly,

arranging her dark skirts, her pockets

full of lichens and seeds.

I slept as never before, a stone on the river bed,

nothing between me and the white fire of the stars

but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths

among the branches of the perfect trees.

All night I heard the small kingdoms

breathing around me, the insects,

and the birds who do their work in the darkness.

All night I rose and fell, as if in water,

grappling with a luminous doom. By morning

I had vanished at least a dozen times

into something better.

Alice and the White Rabbit

I was out on the site last year (a 1000 acre prairie restoration),  driving my ATV up and down, through the prairie as grass hoppers fly in front by the hundreds.  I was out checking for certain flora exotics.  Passing the marshlands I always try and count the great egrets and blue herons before they fly away.  Usually the count is around 20+ great egrets and between 9-12 Blue Herons.

I stop at the top of the hill and glance around for the dickcissel whom I usually see on top of a metal post which is the only thing left of a house foundation.  I hear his mechanical sounding call, but don't see him.  Two golden warblers are chasing each other around...They're actually more likely to be finches, but I'll just say they're warblers.  Very flighty.

I start up again and head down the hill.   I look up to the sky and see 3 red tails looking for some something to eat.  One of them gets a heat vent, and shoots higher, higher into the air.  I take a sweeping right off the path into the flora where 30 or so barn and tree swallows eagerly begin their assault.  Sweeping in front of my atv as I stir up bountiful insects.  The robber fly attaches to my shirt...1. so he doesn't get run over.  2. he knows the swallows won't come near me.  3.  He'll jump off my shirt, grab an insect, and come right back for the meal...The limping coyote also makes an appearance far off to my right.  Shit.  I don't come over this way too often.  Hate to bother him.  He's been around since we've been here.

--Whoa--

At first I seriously wonder if there's really a person dragging what looked to be a wagon behind him.  They're about a hundred yards away.  I don't see too many people out on my site.  Especially out where I was.  It looked like someone was riding in the wagon.  How'd they get out here?  I mean, you have to go over the hill, down the hill, through the swale/mud, and that's only half way to get to where he is.  He waves largely at me.  I'm skeptical.

I speed off to meet them...

"Hi," I said as I largely walking towards them.

The man has a scraggly white/grayish beard w/a ponytail.  He's also wearing a hat you'd swear came from your neighbor Mrs. Klellen the gardener.  There is a little girl he's pulling along in an old red wagon.

"Perhaps you can answer me something," he said with a slight lisp and eagerness.  I continue walking towards them.  "Where are all the butterflies?"

I breathe deep as I need to spell onto him what I have to tell every curious soul that comes up to me wondering what we're up to.

"Well, this is a restoration.  It will take some time for our native plants to come up, and then the butterflies will thrive."

"Well I came here 3-4 weeks ago, and the plants were everywhere.  As were the butterflies.  Where are they?"

The sun was blaring, and it was hot.  I didn't know what he was talking about, and was trying to configure how much time/energy I would want to spend with my guests.  Everything out on a prairie is determined by energy efficiency.  Even us.

Pondering this, I looked at the wagon and the little girl.  I never really noticed particularly what she was doing.  She was sitting indian style with her head down, and her arms out in front of her in the wagon.

She shoots her head up smiling while the man is still looking at me, and raises a water bottle in the air with one motion.

"I can't open this."  The sun was in her eye as she cocked her head and squinted smiling.
The man who I now notice has pretty bad teeth, peered at me with his hand shielding his eyes waiting for an answer to his query.

I take the water bottle and open it, hand it back.

He spoke without waiting for me.
"I just don't understand how that's possible that there were butterflies, and now there are none."

I decide to tell him about our remnants where you can find some butterflys over on the other side.  They can go that way I suppose.

The little girl laughed as she twisted the cap back on.  She put her head back down.

"I can tell you where you can find some."

He looked at me with earnest.

"The place is back up and around.  Follow the tree line all the way back west.  You'll find what we call Prairie Pass, a place that looks over one of the marshes.  You'll be able to find them around there."

Without saying much of anything else, he mumbles under his breath and began turning the wagon around.

He left for the area with the wagon wheels rambling along.  I watched them for whatever reason for a while.  Looked around for the tree swallows which were hunting somewhere else.  I looked back as the girl pulled her head up and turned around.  Waved to me. I started to raise my hand but didn't.  Felt something tap my chest.  I looked down and the robber fly caught a leafhopper.  Nice I thought.  I watched them until they went out of view around and down the hill.