Tammie Rogers
Inspired by Dogs & Nature
Gratitude
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in my country. It’s a time for reflection and focus upon everything for which I am grateful.
Gratitude. I am grateful, oh so grateful, that I am surrounded by Nature and all Her Brilliance, curious shapes, and interesting strategies to support life.
Even as the land succumbs to the onset of winter, birds have migrated to warmer climates and the flora has shed another season’s leaves, I am still soothed by this precious prairie that I call home.
A near perfectly camouflaged Savannah Sparrow.
In late summer Ironweed presents a plethora of deep purple wildflowers. Now, the spent flowers still bring a different sort of beauty to the meadow.
One of my favorite fall images; a Milkweed pod, now split open, offers its seeds to the breeze.
A Milkweed pod which has released it’s hope for a future generation of these amazing wildflowers.
An American Tree Sparrow which spent the summer breeding season in northern Canada and Alaska, calls our home it’s winter residence. This is a “Common Species in Steep Decline,” so whenever I spot one, I’m happy we are able to offer it the environment it requires to make it through another winter!
A double Milkweed pod that I just had to film because, well why not capture such a fine (pun intended) manifestation of Nature?
Eastern Red Cedar (A False Cedar Tree) which is actually in the Juniper family. I suspect, then, that these fruits are referred to as juniper berries.
The prairie grasses have all transformed in color to various shades of brown and rich gold.
I don’t know the name of this now-spent wildflower. I call it Christmas Tree weed! It’s filled with seeds that I’ve seen small birds harvest.
I’m not certain of the name of this tree. We actually have a few different trees which produce small, red fruits around the property. Birds like Northern Mockingbirds take advantage of them. I put this photo through a plant ID app and it only came back with a 17% assurance that this is a type of wild cherry.
This final image is a black/white rendition of a now abandoned bird’s nest. During summer it would have been protected by the tree’s leaves. The contrast of black and white reminds me of an x-ray which makes sense to me, since the nests are deeply hidden from sight.
For now, I will just be grateful that the birds were here and hopefully produced chicks that may return here next year.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I have two of those trees too. They are shrubby short little things but the berries have white dots. So I think they are buffaloberries. At first I through they were Russian olives and was going to chop them down but after I saw the berries (and tasted one) I think they are native and would provide food though I have not seen any birds eat them.
I love your photos and feel the same connection about being surrounded by nature. This time of year depresses me but a friend told me once that it is time to slow down and rest like the forest. The trees never really sleep but without leaves the wind cant damage them so much.
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