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Dee Hudson Photography

Illinois Prairies All Galleries
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36 images Created 15 Jun 2014

Prairie Dwellers

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  • He sings, “chip, chip, chip, trill.” Speaking bird language, I interpret as, “Oh what a beautiful prairie, oh what a beautiful day!”<br />
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If you haven’t met this grassland bird, let me introduce you to the sedge wren. The male builds unique nests — they are round and have an entrance hole in the side. In fact, he may build several decoy nests and then the female chooses which one to lay the eggs. The sedge wren will be hard to spot while foraging, for it runs along the grassland ground in search of insects and spiders. Yum! However, listen for the male’s song and you may spot him.
    Sedge Wren Sings
  • The Sedge Wren nests in sedges and grasses, so prairies are great habitats for this small bird. Before this image was captured, I was making a “pishing” sound with my lips. The wren became very interested and moved in closer. He flew to a nearby clump of Big Bluestem grass and sang his song. Then, he dropped to the ground and walked towards me, hidden among the prairie plants. All of a sudden, he popped up from the ground onto the seed heads of this Cinquefoil, only to sing me a parting tune.
    8x10Sedgewren_MG_9630.psd
  • Juvenile Pheasant
  • After about 9 1/2 months gestation, the bison calf is born in April and May, weighing between 40 and 60 pounds. The calf is born with orange–red fur, which will change to dark brown in a few months. The mother is very protective of the calf and they stay together for about a year, or until the next calf is born.
    Bison Cow & Calf
  • Bison Calf
  • Bison Herd Grazing
  • Bison fur is very thick, with two layers. The inner layer is soft and wooly, and helps regulate their body temperature, providing great winter insulation so that snow can sit on their backs without melting. The outer layer of fur is the dark–chocolate brown color we see. This fur is coarser and provides the bison protection from the elements. They all have scraggly beards on their chins, some longer than others.
    Bison Close–up
  • Both male and female bison have horns. In general, the base of the horn will be larger on a male than on a female. The horn tips on the male bison will tend to point upwards, while the horn tips on the females will curve slightly inward, towards the head. The inside of the horn is made of bone, while the outside is covered in keratin (similar to our fingernails and hair). Horns are not shed like antlers, but will remain attached to the bison’s skulls for their entire life. If the horn is damaged during a fight or while digging, the outside keratin cap may fall off. It will not grow back, though the bony inside will harden and remain.
    Hello Ladies!
  • Bison are grazers, with grasses being their favorite food. In fact, their diet consists of ninety–nine percent grass! As residents in a prairie, the bison are quite an attraction, but they actually have an important job to do. As they continually graze on the grasses, they open up space for the forbs (the beautiful flowers) to compete and flourish, creating a lot of plant diversity in the prairie. During a typical day, an adult bison may consume about thirty pounds of grass.
    Bison Eating
  • This large bull moved toward the field where the stewards were weed managing, so a very quick retreat to the truck occurred. When a six foot tall, 1,000-2,000 pound animal chooses a site to graze, rest, or wallow, he always gets his choice! This particular bull appears to prefer this hill, perhaps because the soil is sandy. Notice the swarm of insects around this bull . . . no wonder he wallows so often! As one of the mature bulls in the herd, he will probably dominate and breed with a majority of the cows in the herd during the mating season, from July through September.
    Bison
  • Bison fur is very thick, with two layers. The inner layer is soft and wooly, and helps regulate their body temperature, providing great winter insulation so that snow can sit on their backs without melting. The outer layer of fur is the dark–chocolate brown color we see. This fur is coarser and provides the bison protection from the elements. They all have scraggly beards on their chins, some longer than others.
    Bison Close–up
  • I had the opportunity to follow U.S. Fish & Wildlife into a wetland habitat at Nachusa Grasslands to monitor the Blandings turtle. This is an endangered turtle in Illinois. They face many obstacles to reproduction — habitat loss, predation by man and other animals, and a slow maturation rate. Females mature around 18 years of age and males around 12 years. To help this turtle, support organizations that conserve their habitats! Blandings Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii)
    Blandings Turtle
  • Here a Mourning Cloak butterfly feeds on the nectar of the common milkweed flower. This awesome butterfly does not migrate, but instead has the amazing ability to hibernate and survive through the very cold winters on the prairie. To survive, they produce chemicals in their body that prevent them from freezing.<br />
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Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)
    Mourning Cloak
  • A natural “tree hugger.” As a land steward, I was removing small cherry trees from the prairie when I discovered this tree frog grasping a branch targeted for destruction. He saved the cherry tree from total annihilation, since I could not possibly remove the perch (yet!).
    Cope's Gray Tree Frog
  • I love watching this bird's aerobatic flight as it catches its insect prey right out of the air.<br />
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Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
    Tree Swallow
  • A male Dickcissel patrols his territory. This grassland bird will actively defend good nesting and feeding sites from other males. <br />
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Dickcissel (Spiza americana)
    Dickcissel
  • Sphinx Moth Caterpillar
  • A Black Swallowtail butterfly sips nectar from a liatris.<br />
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Black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)
    Black Swallowtail
  • As I moved closer to photograph this insect I had never seen before, the wasp swiveled its head to look at me. I immediately stopped in my tracks. The females have the stingers and usually use them to inject venom into a cicada to paralyze it. However, they will sting if threatened, but are usually not aggressive, thank goodness. The female lays her eggs in the cicada and when they hatch, the larva will feed on the helpless cicada.
    Cicada Killer Wasp
  • Black Saddlebags Dragonfly
  • Sitting so still on a cool September morning, I could not resist the stunning beauty of this dragonfly covered in hundreds of tiny dew drops. Usually dragonflies are on the move, but at sunrise on a cool fall day, they are pretty immobile. Black Saddlebags Dragonfly (Tramea lacerata)
    Black Saddlebags Dragonfly
  • "My Prairie!"<br />
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A female Red–winged Blackbird protests my presence. I must be too close to her nest.<br />
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Red–winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
    Red–Winged Blackbird
  • The Ornate Box turtle has been on Illinois’s threatened species list since 2009. This box turtle is very fancy, or ‘ornate,’ with bright yellow stripes radiating across its shell. The turtle favors a prairie habitat that has open grasslands for hunting insects, spiders, worms and vegetation and also likes sandier soils suitable for digging burrows. This turtle species is unique, for it has a hinged plastron (the shell on the turtle’s underside), which allows the turtle to completely pull its head, tail and legs inside the shell for protection.
    Ornate Box Turtle
  • The Fox Snake prefers to live in open grasslands, so prairies are a perfect habitat for them. For food, the snake will feast on many small rodents, like mice & voles. Being a constrictor, the snake will coil its body around the prey to subdue it. Often Fox Snakes are mistaken for rattlesnakes, for when they are bothered, they vibrate their tails against dry grass or leaves, and it sounds like the rattle of a rattlesnake.
    Fox Snake
  • Opossumly adorable! I actually think they're pretty cute — look at that pink nose. I spotted her walking slowly and very gingerly through the snow, finally disappearing down a hole. I usually don't see possums during the daylight, but after the past two -25+ degree nights, she smartly came out to forage when it was warmer.
    Opossum
  • Badger
  • Badger Siblings
  • Badger
  • A female Red–winged Blackbird grasps the stems of the big bluestem grass, a native tall grass found in prairies.<br />
<br />
Red–winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
    Red–Winged Blackbird
  • Gray Tree Frog
  • It is amazing how well the White–tailed deer can camouflage in the prairie for such a large mammal.<br />
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White–tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
    Deer
  • "Clinging to Habitat." <br />
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A Dickcissel grasps the pale purple coneflower.<br />
<br />
Dickcissel (Spiza americana)
    Dickcissel
  • Propelled through the prairie's bounty, this seed–eater finds plenty to eat here!<br />
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American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)
    Goldfinch
  • The White–lined Sphinx moth sips from a thistle.<br />
<br />
White–lined Sphinx moth (Hyles lineata)
    White–lined Sphinx Moth
  • This ornate box turtle's shell is damaged above his head. Perhaps another animal tried to see what he tasted like. <br />
<br />
Prairie restoration demands hard, tedious and sweaty physical labor. The work is rewarding when the results create a habitat that allows this threatened Illinois turtle to flourish.<br />
<br />
Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata)
    Ornate Box Turtle
  • Adult bulls can weigh as much as a small car (like the Scion Smart car), approximately 1,800-2,000 pounds. At this weight, it is surprising how fast they can run (35-40 mph). Take a closer look though, and you will see that they are very lean and “all muscle.”
    Lone Bull