Albatrossity has gifted us with another installment of Spring in Flyover Country. The third one will be next week. ~WaterGirl
Albatrossity
Here’s the next installment of images and information from the Flint Hills of Kansas, aka flyover country.
Spring is proceeding regardless, as avian migrants leave here, pass through, or return for the summer. The controlled burning season is mostly past us now, although there are still a few smoke columns on the horizon most days, and the Swainson’s Hawks, freshly back from the pampas, patrol the fire lines and pounce on any rodent or snake fleeing the flames. Trees are flowering, birds are singing, and all in all it can feel like a normal spring when you are out in the natural world. I recommend it, if it is possible in your part of the galaxy.
The last installment featured a vista of a lone bur oak in a Flint Hills pasture, entitled “Waiting for the fire”. The fire got here. So here’s the before-and-after. The after image shows you why these hills are still covered in tall grass prairie. The soil is very thin and full of sharp flinty rocks that dissuaded early settlers from plowing it up. The rich soils of Illinois, the erstwhile “Prairie State” had no such impediments to the plow, and that is why prairie disappeared from that state almost entirely. Tallgrass prairie is an endangered ecosystem; compared to the iconic endangered ecosystem, old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest, it has been reduced in size to a much greater extent. I feel fortunate to live here.
On The Road – Albatrossity – Spring in Flyover Country #2Post + Comments (38)