After spending the night in search of Persied meteors blazing across the sky, I was awakened by a blast of wind on a calm summer’s night. This blast came from an approaching storm. Another hope for me while staying in Blue Mounds was to see a storm approach from the west over this mostly cultivated landscape. There was some excitement but the darkness would make it a challenge to get great pictures showcasing the prairie under a stormy sky. I got up and began to prepare for the sunrise which I was quite certain would not be visible due to the clouds from this storm. To my surprise the sun appeared at the horizon and lit up the sky creating a beautiful beginning to what would be a warm summers day on the Prairie. My goal for the day was to explore nearby Touch the Sky Prairie for Prairie Fringed orchids. They had been spotted a few weeks earlier and my hope was to see and photograph this orchid adding to new native orchids found this year.
The sun continued to move higher in the sky going in and out of clouds from the storm that continued on its trek towards the south. Most of the storm was a state away. It’s amazing how far you can see from a high point looking out over the prairie and farmlands. Taking a short break to enjoy a little nourishment and dry my feet from the heavy dew and quick shower from the mornings walk I headed to Touch the Sky parcel of the the Northern Tallgrass Prairie a few miles away. There are some nicely mowed trails through this prairieland allowing you to explore this preserved land without much difficulty. Beautiful liatris bloomed all over the prairie providing a great source of food for the many monarchs fluttering about but no orchids in sight. Throughout the day I continued to search different areas of the prairie for what promised to be a stunning orchid. By late afternoon it was time for a break, and maybe a nap.
Storms were predicted for late in the day. The sun had heated the air thoroughly during the afternoon and humidity added to the warm sun to create a bit of a stifling atmosphere almost sure to produce some nice thunderstorms. I had an area in mind to photograph these storms and thought it was probably time to get there. On the way, there were a couple of vultures sitting on rocks. I typically don’t want to photograph them but they were in such an easy spot and because of the heat had little interest in flying away. They are interesting birds up close with features that are often difficult to see from the air. Taking a trail to a better vantage point, a storm was out over the horizon approaching from the west as I was hoping for. Unfortunately the sun was getting close to setting so the pictures of prairieland underneath some interesting lightning would have to wait for another time. As it got closer, I moved towards my campsite for shelter and continued to take pictures. Most of the lightning was cloud to cloud reducing the chance for a nice photo. I did manage to get the one you see below which includes one of the teepee’s available for rent at Blue Mounds State Park. If you look closely there are a couple of lighting bugs flying around also creating the photo I call camping with lightning bugs. So while I didn’t find the orchid I was looking for, I did enjoy so much of what the prairie has to offer on a warm summer’s night.
