Posts by mbenage
Beyond Your Backyard: Prairies do that
I feel like I blinked and suddenly it’s November! I’m always impressed with how quickly time can move and how slow it can seem under other circumstances (ahem is it 4:30 yet on a work day?). I’ve spent the summer how I spend most summers—immersed in the prairies and fens of southern Minnesota. Now that…
Read MoreBeyond Your Backyard: Meet the camouflaged looper
I recently read a blog post by Chris Helzer about the camouflaged looper caterpillar (Synchlora aerata) and I am obsessed! I cannot believe that nature just got even cooler! Camouflaged loopers are caterpillars that decorate themselves with bits of flowers and pieces of plants to disguise themselves while they’re foraging on flowers in the prairie!…
Read MoreBeyond Your Backyard: the Barred Owl
Last night I was woken up by an owl hooting outside my window. Ok, let’s be real, I was actually woken up by my cat wiping her fluffy tail across my face (gross, I know). But after I awoke, I heard the hooting so it’s six in one, half dozen in another. I have to…
Read MoreBeyond Your Backyard: The First Signs of Spring
I always know it’s time for spring when the first fuzzy pasqueflowers emerge. For a wildflower—something we often think of as delicate—they are anything but. They continue to grow undeterred by wide weather fluctuations between 60 degrees and then 30. Their shoots and buds armored in a dense winter coat of fuzz. Doggedly determined to…
Read MoreBeyond Your Backyard: A time for reflection
We were driving home from Mankato the other day and a Christmas song came on the radio. As the music played, one key verse stuck out to me: “A weary world rejoices…” If I had to describe 2021 in one word, it would be “busy.” I felt pulled in a thousand different directions, disconnected, and…
Read MoreBeyond Your Backyard: Liking the Lichen
Wondering how you can possibly top last years costume of being one of the clam fam and dressing as a Minnesota mollusk? Well I’ve got just the thing for you this Halloween. But first, a persuasive introduction… I’ve been listening to Braiding Sweetgrass on the recommendation of your very own Katie Feterl. It’s been on…
Read MoreBeyond Your Backyard: Tiny green torpedoes
I recently crashed a motorized mini bike at my grandma’s farm and suffered a concussion. My cousin’s response was to congratulate me on passing the “test” and becoming a true Indiana redneck. I’m not sure about that, but it did make me chuckle. To pass the time in recovery, I’ve been observing three male hummingbirds…
Read MoreBeyond Your Backyard: The wildlands are waiting
It’s been a hard summer field season. My body is sore and tired. Most evenings I’m exhausted from the long drives and hikes into the wildlands. The temperatures have been unforgiving with highs in the 90’s reigning supreme. Smoke from Canadian wildfires lingers and my lungs burn when I return home—reminding me that there is…
Read MoreBeyond Your Backyard: We’re going deep–underground, that is
When you look at a prairie, most people are distracted by the majestic grasses and beautiful blooming wildflowers. You can spend hours watching bees busily collecting pollen and monarchs glide through the prairie. It’s mesmerizing and soothing watching all this wildlife work. And while all this work is going on aboveground, there’s an incredible amount…
Read MoreBeyond Your Backyard: A historic day on the prairie
I know I promised to uncover the amazing underground world of prairie soils for this next one, but I can’t help but share a historic moment from the prairie! In June, Federally threatened, Dakota skippers, a rare prairie butterfly were released back onto the Minnesota prairie as part of a huge partnership effort to make…
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