September 2022

Sage Creek Wilderness - Badlands National Park

Sage Creek Wilderness - Badlands National Park

Painted Lady Butterfly

Orange - harvest haze at sunset

Yellow - Aspen leaves

Blue - Downy gentian wildflower

White - Great Plains Ladies-tresses orchid

Red - Common serviceberry leaf

Northern Black Hills highlands in late September

Northern Black Hills highlands in late September

Vanocker's Canyon Road

Mirrored September sunset

 

July 2020

Dewdrops on a spiderweb

July of 2020 provided a unique opportunity in the night sky as comet NEOWISE appeared and was able to be seen with the naked eye. I spent a couple sleepless nights chasing the comet and the results of these trips and photo forays are seen in this month's favorite twelve images. From a lightning bug ball in rural Charles Mix county to the comet lined up over an abandoned church building, these comet hunts provided new inspiration as well as many opportunities for interesting photography in high summer. As always click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for checking in!

Lightning bug ball in rural Charles Mix County, SD

Comet NEOWISe above Ravinia, SD

NEOWISE and an abandoned house in rural McCook County, SD

Hoary vervain wildflowers in tall grass near Lake Badus, SD

Vivid rainbow in rural Lake County, SD

White-tail family in soybeans

Sunset painted clouds over Island Lake

Trumpeter swan and cygnets in rural Deuel County, SD

Comet NEOWISE over Concordia Pioneer Lutheran Church in Roberts County, SD

Ruby-throated hummingbird nectaring on a leopard lily in the flower gardens of the Dells of the Big Sioux Park near Dell Rapids, SD

Sideoats grama florets

August 2019

Sunset light beaming through a wild sunflower patch in Lake County, SD

This August a good chunk of my free time was spent walking through our Nature Conservancy Prairies in Eastern South Dakota... Usually with both my telephoto and macro lens at the ready. The summer of 2019 has been extremely wet and the prairie's responded with tall, thick grass growth, prairie flowers, butterflies and bugs galore. I tried my hand and finding and photographing flowering tall grasses as you'll see with the vibrant Sideoats Grama blossoms in the photo below.  While checking out these tall grass preserves I found plenty of other cool things to photograph too. You'll see these detail shots make up the majority of this month's favorite 12 photos. As the month waned, so did summer it seemed. It is a bittersweet time as we move into fall, but also filled with beauty. One of my favorite things to do in late August and early September is monitor the Monarch Butterfly migration as they gather then move south.  The last few photos show what I've seen so far... one evening's view on the prairie hills of Lake Vermillion Recreation Area even inspired a few words... It is the last image of the batch. Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for checking in!

Sideoats Grama grass flowers

Prairie onion blooms

Skipper on a thistle bloom

Melissa blue on white clover

Whitetail fawn on the edge of a cornfield

Late summer thunderstorm

Lightning of the Falls of the Big Sioux River

Dragonfly darter on Bottle Gentian flowers

Regal fritillary, skipper and stinkbug on a prairie blazing star 

Monarch roost

Monarch on a blazing star in the early evening light

Summer's End

July 2019

The setting sun painting storm clouds above Belleview Lutheran  northeast of Howard, SD

July of 2019 wasn't boring. Abundant rain, storms, heat, humidity all made for explosions of color and growth in this part of the world. I was fortunate enough to be able to chase a couple pretty amazing storms on two different weekends that provided amazing rainbows and sunset painted clouds.  My favorites from those trips are here for you plus a few more bits of July goodness. As usual, click on an image for a larger photo to view and thanks for checking in!

Close-up of Yellow Goatsbeard going to seed (we called them giant dandelions as kids)

Summer sun over Eminija Burial Mounds

Rainbow road north of Carthage, SD

Brilliant rainbow over cattle north of Carthage, SD

Double rainbow with abandoned house north of Carthage, SD

Belleview Lutheran with rainbow

Belleview panorama after the storm

Baby killdeer

Highland Lutheran with building thunderhead

Full rainbow over Immanual Lutheran west of Dimock, SD

Rainbow and lightning above Immanuel Lutheran

June 2019

Dames rocket delight

Another June has come and gone. It is easy to fall in love with June and I will miss her. Long days, new life, sunshine, thunderstorms, rainbows and road trips. This June was a little different than others with more rain than most liked or needed and a little cooler weather overall. Even so, June is June and I find it hard be angry with her.  Here are 12 photos from the month to express my affection. From wildflowers to fawns, storm clouds to snapper turtles, what more could you want in a month?  Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for checking in!

Prairiesmoke wildflower

American Avocet

White-tail fawn

Rain chasing the tractor

Memories of the past

8 miles of road

Sterling Methodist under a building storm

Codington county rainbow

A snapper's smile

Meadowhawk at rest

Country road double rainbow