Photos from this morning's hike. #hiking #wisconsin #prairie #birds

So much bird activity lately! Lots of swamp sparrows and dark-eyed juncos seen during this morning's hike. #hiking #nature #wisconsin

Nice to see this wild ginger doing good in an undisclosed location. Who knows how it got here. Probably not me. Probably just the wind carried it here and shoved it in the ground. #nativeplants #guerrillagardening

🎶 This land is your land, this land is my land. 🎶

UPS Airlines' McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying over the prairie on its way into Milwaukee. #aircraft #planes #aviation

Some woodland sounds about 10 minutes after sunset.

These evening hikes are getting a whole lot harder to squeeze in before dark. #hiking #nature #birds #sunset #autumn #prairie #wisconsin

Microsoft Flight Simulator has fall colors in Wisconsin right now and it really makes me want to get out and see some colors in real life. Hoping to get some good hiking in later this month! Until then, I'll enjoy them in the game.

My New England asters are just about done blooming. Drummond's asters are still going, but it wont be long before they're done as well. #nativeplants #nativegarden

A row of silver maples in my yard. These maples appear on satellite imagery back to 1937, which is the oldest imagery I could find. I believe they're over 100 years old. Early in their life, they were surrounded by farmland. #trees #wisconsin #photography

Nice to see a silver-spotted skipper still hanging out here. Could be the last one I see this year. #butterfly #butterflies #nativeplants #nativegarden

A few more fun photos from the KBUU Fly-In. Is it sad that the first thing I think of whenever I see a large amount of farmland is that I wish I could buy it all and turn it into prairie? #Aircraft #aviation #planes #KBUUFlyIn #Wisconsin

Active taxiway at the KBUU Fly-in. #aircraft #planes #aviation #KBUUFlyin #Wisconsin

Air traffic at the KBUU Fly-in. #aircraft #planes #aviation #KBUUFlyin #Wisconsin

Some of the aircraft on display at yesterday's KBUU Fly-in. #aircraft #planes #aviation #KBUUFlyin #Wisconsin

Some cockpit views at the KBUU Fly-in. #aircraft #planes #aviation #KBUUFlyin #Wisconsin

T-6 Texan at the KBUU Fly-in. I don't always love blue on airplanes but this one does look amazing! #aircraft #planes #aviation #KBUUFlyIn

Today's KBUU Fly-in also included a German car show. More Porsches than I've seen in my entire life. #cars #carshow #porsche #KBUUFlyin

A pair of Sandhill cranes did a flyby at today's KBUU Fly-in! #birds #wildlife #aircraft #planes

Each of these aircraft fly over my house a few times a year. I love seeing them whenever I'm lucky enough to. Seeing them today make passes together at the KBUU Fly-in was a treat! PT-17's and T-6's also happen to be two of my favorite planes! #aircraft #airshow #flyin #wisconsin #planes

This morning was a lot of fun! A local airport held a fly-in and car show. Got to see some vintage aircraft and some fly-bys, including this Stearman! #aircraft #airshow #flyin #wisconsin #planes #stearman

One more set of photos from yesterday's hike at Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary. #Prairie #Nature #Wisconsin #hiking #nativeplants

My 11th year of native gardening will soon be coming to a close. Can't wait for year 12! #nativeplants #nativegarden

For 20 years The Nature Conservancy’s Zumwalt Prairie has been billed as a model for “sustainable grazing.” I walked in expecting a conservation success story. What I found looked a lot more like a feedlot in waiting. 🧵

Last fall I planted a row of first-year dogwoods. Not much to report on just yet, but the New England aster I also stuck in the row has me reconsidering what I want to do with this strip. Seems like a good place for more asters. A lot more asters. #nativeplants

Traffic jam 🦬 #nachusagrasslands #prairie #bison

Meanwhile, in my own micro nature sanctuary at home... #nativeplants #habitat #gardening #bloomscrolling #nativegarden

Remnant prairie at Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary. Separating the remnant prairie from the restored prairie are a few historic buildings. #prairie #nativeplants #bloomscrolling

A nice population of greater fringed gentian at Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary. My first time seeing this species. #nativeplants #bloomscolling.

It's 87°F outside right now. On October 3rd. And I have a bunch of dark-eyed juncos in the yard. I don't usually see them until later in the month. What season are we even in?!

I found a New England aster in my neighbor's woods. It 100% came from a seed that was produced in my yard and blew over there. 😁

Although for somebody who's not expanding their garden I'm collecting an awful lot of seed. I guess it's better to have it stocked up just in case!

The orbweaver came out of its cave to enjoy a meal. #spiders #orbweaver

Imagine my surprise as I'm walking around my gardens and all of a sudden a large katydid lands on my face. It then fell onto my shirt, and then after a few seconds flew up onto my neighbor's cottonwood tree.

A few more photos from today's hike. #autumn #nature #hiking #prairie

Just a bee hanging out on the asters. #nativegarden #nativeplants #aster #bee #pollinators

A banded tussock moth caterpillar crawling on my shed. #insects #moth #caterpillar

The first October hike of 2025 was a good one! #autumn #hiking #nature #prairie #wildlife #photography

A first for my native garden. I found a praying mantis egg case. Not sure whether it's a european mantis or chinese mantis, or if there's any way to tell their egg cases apart. #nativegarden #insects

It's October and we're still dealing with summertime weather. 🫠

Sandhill Cranes Buena Vista Wildlife Area #Birds #Wisconsin

Purple poppy mallow is still going!

The Norway, Michigan camera is what helped me determine that a substorm was happening and that it was time to go outside. Once the lights started dancing around I immediately went out. The location is about 200 miles north of me, but almost directly north.

The northern lights were faintly visible here last night just after midnight. I could barely see them but the camera helped pick up the color. #northernlights #auroraborealis #wisconsin

Such a fantastic moment in my yard. The turkeys were back, so I was out standing next to one of my native gardens watching them wander around. Then a monarch flies in and lands on New England aster right in front of me. It's nice having a partially-functioning habitat in my own backyard.

Another day, another aster post. #nativeplants #nativegarden #garden #bloomscrolling #autumn

Green stink bug. #insects #nativegarden

I keep finding more Virginian tiger moth caterpillars. Must be a good year for them! #nativegarden #nativeplants #caterpillar #insects

Bruner's Earth-boring Scarab Beetle. It's dead, but still cool! #insect #beetle #scarab 🪲