Autumn Grass
The Prairies in the Fall
By Mark Leger
The Dismal River in Nebraska National Forest.
From a distance, the late summer tallgrass prairie looks magenta from all the blooming grasses, including Big bluestem, Indian grass, Prairie cord grass, and Canada wild rye. Starting in September, the grasses set seed and will turn a reddish rust color. Seed eating birds follow the ripening seed. At Walnut Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa, look for the yellow-bibbed Dickcissel around the third week of September. They'll be passing through on their way to Argentina for the winter. There's still time to catch the famous prairie wildflowers: Asters blooming from white to blue, and the Prairie gentian a growing blue reprise.
According to Charon Geigle at the National Grasslands Visitor Center at Buffalo Gap, the mid-grass prairie may be even more dazzling than the tallgrass. If you want to see it at its best, take a trip to the heart of Halsey in the Nebraska National Forest. You'll find warm season grasses that turn all the colors you associate with fall: orange, yellow, red, warm tan. Little bluestem and big bluestem turn a deep purpley red; Sideoats grama turn orange yellow. The fall bird migration is a big deal here. Try to catch the Sandhill crane as they migrate in squawking swarms. By the way, Charon says the Black-footed ferret colony at Buffalo Gap is doing great. Once believed to be extinct in the wild, the ferrets are producing an average of four kits per litter satisfyingly above average. Soon there will be close to 200 Black-footed ferrets living in the grassland.
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