Waiting for the Meadowlark

The western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) is one of the most iconic birds of the prairies. They’re certainly hard to miss, easily identified by their distinctive yellow chest, their abundance, and their sweet, melodic song that echoes throughout the plains from sunrise to sundown. They seem to appear out of thin air as soon as the snow starts to melt and the days start to lengthen. Uplifting and cheerful, you can’t help but associate their song with warm sunbeams and grasses blowing in a gentle breeze. Thus, the meadowlark has come to symbolize the arrival of spring in the prairies, and I can’t think of a more appropriate icon of springtime. When I arrived in Montana at the beginning of March, I was already looking forward to hearing their buoyant tune.

March 3^rd – The first day of field work introduces us to a typical day of harsh prairie winter: -20^oF, cold biting wind, and a full blanket of snow on the ground. The only birds to be found are horned larks, rough-legged hawks, and the hardy grouse that persevere on the plains year-round. Warm days and meadowlarks seem a long way off…

March 10^th – One week water, temperatures hit the 60’s and we hike in t-shirts for the first time, excited about the unseasonably warm weather. It’s certainly starting to feel like spring, although noticeably lacking in birdsong.

March 11^th – The first three-flowered avens pokes its vibrant green leaves up through the thawing earth, welcoming the warm temperatures. The meadowlarks are really missing out on some prime springtime wildflower excitement here.

March 12^th – Migratory waterfowl start to settle in the ponds and marshes on APR. We observed northern pintails, blue teals, goldeneyes and tundra swans. Surely the meadowlarks can’t be too far behind?

March 13^th – The first butterfly floats through the gradually awakening landscape, searching for some flowers and nectar. They’re a pretty good sign of spring, but still can’t compare to the meadowlarks!

March 16^th (morning) – The first scarlet mallows and cinquefoils show their miniscule leaves on the plains, fighting their way through last year’s litter.  Many plants are sprouting up now for the growing season, but it’s just incomplete without the meadowlarks and their lively tunes.

March 16^th (afternoon) – Finally!! What a welcome sound! The first meadowlark breaks the silence of winter with the song of springtime. Perched on a fencepost across the road, its long-awaited voice rings throughout the plains and warms the heart of anyone who listens. At last, the most iconic bird of the prairies has come back to its home and brought with it the reassurance that springtime is indeed returning.

April 8^th – The meadowlarks are absolutely everywhere by now, and not a day goes by that I don’t pause and listen to their cheerful melodies. In both an ecological and cultural sense, they’re a ubiquitous and integral part of the prairie community – life on the plains just doesn’t seem right without them. I also realized this March while waiting for their return, that the meadowlark doesn’t only represent the arrival of springtime, but also the hope and optimism that’s associated with the changing of the seasons. Even during a token cold snap in April when you wake up to a world of snow, you’re still in high spirits because as long as there are meadowlarks singing, warmth and sunlight will assuredly return.

The herald of springtime and a symbol of hope, meadowlarks will always be one of the best-known and best-loved birds of the prairie. And every winter I will continue the patiently wait for the day when that familiar, cheerful song rings once again through the landscape, and then I’ll know that spring is just around the corner, the meadowlarks are here to welcome it, and I am here to welcome them.



Thanks for reading! Feel free to peruse more of my photography fun at www.elainekennedyphotography.com :)

Two weeks of adventure and science with Landmark in Montana!

So I’ve been living and volunteering for the Landmark project for two weeks now, run by Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation on the American Prairie Reserve. What have we been doing way out here in the middle of rural Montana? Monitoring all sorts of prairie wildlife with passion and gusto, that's what!

The two main monitoring methods we use right now are survey transects and trail cameras. Transects are about 10 miles long through rolling hills, flat plains, streams and occasionally flooded mud flats. Armed with binoculars, cameras and tablets, we try to identify and count all the wildlife in sight – from coyotes to deer to eagles to grouse, we want ‘em all!  Trail cameras need to be checked twice a month; we swap out memory cards and batteries and look over all the footage to see what unsuspecting critters they’ve picked up.  And next week we start counting sage grouse on their lekking grounds at sunrise – can’t wait!

Transect 12, 10 miles of muddy floodplain ;)

And I happened to grab the perfect Clif Bar for the day, "get muddy"

Then of course, there’s all the other fun stuff we do in our time off. We visit beautiful places like the stunning Larb Hills to the east, the gorgeous Charles M Russell wildlife refuge on the Missouri River to the south, and the humble Little Rockies to the west. We cook family dinners and make lots of music. We cuddle the farm cat and play many board games. All in all, it’s a great time of adventure, conservation and fun.  I’ve been spending lots of time photographing the plains wildlife and landscape, and scouting out subjects for future shoots (golden eagles and short-eared owls to come, if all goes well). 

Betty the farm cat. 

Ice patterns on the Missouri River at Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge. 

Let's have a little fun!

Relaxing with Yuccas in the Larb Hills. 

Burnt trees at Burnt Lodge, overlooking the Charles M. Russel Wildlife Refuge. 

Cool-looking burnt trees at Burnt Lodge.

View of the Bear Paw range from the Little Rockies.

The crew taking in the view atop the Little Rockies!

Until I get around to actually photographing them, I’ve been keeping track of all the fun new wildlife we’ve been seeing on the prairies:

• ·         Two short-eared owls
• ·         Three snowy owls
• ·         Three golden eagles
• ·         Three bald eagles
• ·         One prairie falcon
• ·         Two grey partridges
• ·         And lots and lots of sage grouse!

Everything is very exciting here, especially with spring just around the corner and new wildlife returning to the prairies… But I can’t help but miss my dear sweet home of Guelph and all my wonderful friends there. There is a big empty space in my heart that all the horned larks and sage grouse in Montana cannot fill!  

First butterfly of spring on the APR.

As usual, my bigger nicer photography website can be found at www.elainekennedyphotography.com.

On the road to Landmark: Theodore Roosevelt National Park

So I recently made the move from Guelph, ON to the American Prairie Reserve near Malta, Montana to volunteer for the Landmark Project. It's a volunteer-based wildlife monitoring project run by Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation, where volunteers get to live on a ranch in the prairies and hike transects to spot wildlife, maintain and analyse trap cameras, and count certain species of interest such as sage grouse and prairie dogs on APR land. But that isn't what this blog post is about. This post is about Theodore Roosevelt National Park! 

I drove from Guelph to Montana, driving by day and sleeping in my car in McDonald's and Wal-mart parking lots by night. Typical road trip lifestyle. On the third night I slept over at Theodore Roosevelt National Park on the western border of North Dakota. I arrived fairly late so I only saw the badlands in the dim evening light before I tucked in for the night. But I woke up bright and early to the prairie sunrise bursting in my car's frosted-up windows, casting a gorgeous glow on the fractal ice. Unfortunately my camera was too cold to function for a shot of this :( Oh well! I hit the road further into the park, only to stumble upon a herd of wild bison, which I eagerly photographed, a herd of wild pronghorn, which I eagerly photographed, and a small herd of wild horses, which I eagerly photographed. Here, of course, are the results of the sunrise safari:

The bison were still covered in frost from the night.

This one's probably my favourite bison shot of the day. Something about the frost on both the bison and the grass, and the way they're positioned so linearly, and the contrast of the dark fur and white frost...

I really loved the way the sun caught in her eye here.

The pronghorn did not stick around for long.

I'd never seen wild horses before so these were a great find!! There were only four altogether but they were very majestic. 

They actually seemed pretty accustomed to people; they allowed me to get very close :)

Sooo majestic. 

I definitely don't remember exactly where I found this great-looked abandoned farmhouse; somewhere along a highway in Montana. But I loved the combination of red roof, blue sky and golden grass.

And later that day I made it to the American Prairie Reserve, and the start of a whole new adventure in Great Plains of Montana!

And as always,  check out my photography web site at www.elainekennedyphotography.com :)

I am the worst at blogging!

Wow so it's actually been like 4 or 5 months since I last posted anything here. Ummm in that timespan I hitch-hiked around the states a bunch, backpacked around Mexico for a bit, spent Christmas with my family and got re-established in Guelph even though I'll probably only live here for a few months at most. It's been a crazy time of travelling and catching up with friends and family, but I've lately been starting to sort through photos and update the social media and website and junk, so blog is the next of the list.

To come: a brief outline and photos from around the states!

And hopefully I'll stop being a wimp about the cold and actually go out and shoot some stuff soon.

The lovely view from Highway 12 or 24 in Utah!