We had an opportunity to visit a local prairie, a special and vanishing ecosystem. They differ from meadows in that they don’t favor the growth of trees and have many more wildflowers and grasses.
We have see a few monarch butterflies making their migration toward Mexico, but it is late in the season given the lack of flowering plants—most have gone to seed. And of those, there are plenty to feed migrating and resident birds.
I spot many Connecticut friends such as golden rod , wild asters, and common milkweed. But there are many others such as saw-tooth sunflower that I rarely spot at home. And then there are the unique grasses to prairies such as big bluestem and prairie cord grass that are rare in the Northeast.
We walk the hilly trails taking in the view as the sun sets and the air begins to chill. A slight breeze moves the tall grasses back and forth and in the distance buffalo can be seen. The air has a slightly sweet and unfamiliar perfume that is intoxicating.
The prairie is a beautiful, multi-colored carpet of texture and movement. The white noise of insects and birds fill the air. Grasshoppers leap on and off the trail.
We drive to where the buffalo and elk herds reside and are not disappointed. Driving slowly down dirt roads, a few pheasants fly out of the tall grasses across the road in front of the car. A single male preens in front of us, daring us to continue forward.
Soon the large animals emerge. Stopping the car, a lone buffalo feeds moving ever so closely to us so we can hear it inhale and exhale. Further on, a male elk bugles, signaling for a female.
He appears out of luck as a large herd over the next ridge is protected by an even larger noisier male. Both the buffalo and elk are feeding on a hillside but are falling out of view as the sun sets and darkness surrounds us. Time to drive home.
