Lark Sparrow

Photo Drive.



My first Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus).
I knew this one would be easy to identify. He's interesting to look at from different angles. Makes me think of candy cane stripes.

The Setting/View:


Horses grazing in the valley.



Groved flax blossoms below his feet and dotting the landscape.



New coneflowers bursting forth.


Lark Sparrow Links:

cornell
"With unusual courtship displays as well as plumage, it is like no other sparrow and is the sole member of its genus. "

"Song a melodius jumble of clear notes and trills, interspersed with harsh buzzes and churrs."

enature

Oregon Birds
Topography of Lark Sparrow
Nice diagram.



And more.
GOOD informative interesting bird info/diagrams here.

More Echinacea Info

Is this a Princess or a Prince or both?



From the Echinacea Project at University of Minnesota
(Page down to Heading: "Style Persistence")

In Echinacea, each morning a row of anthers (male reproductive parts) emerges, bearing pollen. This row of anthers will become a row of styles by the next morning and a new row of anthers will open, moving upwards from the base of the head. Styles persist until they receive compatible pollen, after which they shrivel up. Thus style persistence is used as a measure of pollen limitation and can provide information about patterns of reproduction and pollen movement within populations of Echinacea.

There's a few photos at the site to illustrate this point.
Can see this process on some of my coneflower pics here.

ndsu
Common Name: Black samson, Purple coneflower, Comb flower
Species: Echinacea angustifolia DC.
Synonym: Echinacea pallida Nutt. var. angustifolia (DC.) Cronq.
Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family
(I didn't know about the Black samson name.)

plants.usda.gov
Search for:
Echinacea pallida

Click on Classification:
Family Asteraceae – Aster family
Genus Echinacea Moench – purple coneflower P
Species Echinacea angustifolia DC. – blacksamson echinacea P
9 Species and 13 accepted taxa



So...I found out why the goldfinches are suddenly so active in the field:

gardenguides.com

Gophers and moles can be a problem eating the roots.
Goldfinches love the Echinacea seed crop and can clear out all the seed in a few days.

NOTE: This is word for word from a document at plants.usda.gov.
Direct link to the doc filetype here.

How to propagate:
plantandsoil
OR
plantandsoil
keyword: 1070307519

Coneflowers - Dedicated To The Bugs

This one's for the bugs.

Coneflower Smiles

I've been having trouble getting good exposures on the coneflowers (Echinacea angustifolia) since they blossomed.
The center part seems too dark/harsh and the petals seem too light/blowout.
So I haven't been getting that many that I like.

But here are some that put a smile on my face even though they may not be the best exposures.

Coneflower2

In bloom now.
Here are some favs so far, more to come probably, because blooming is just starting.
There is a lot of variation in the petal color and petal shape of coneflowers. Interesting.

(Field shot)


(These are roadside shots.)



NOTE: Alfalfa, Yellow Sweet Clover, Prairie Wild Rose, Coneflower, Milkweed: all very common roadside plants.

I'm taking my S3 Canon along next time to see if I can get sharper closeups. My XSi Canon seems consistently too soft, although the background bokeh has been wonderful. Creamy backgrounds are a whole lot tougher to do with the S3 Point and Shoot. Not impossible, just more work.

Walk In The Field Part 3 - Unknown Hairy

It stood out and was in its prime.



I loved the hairiness of it, which extended all the way down and into the leaves.



Best pic of the bud/blossom:



Closer:



UPDATE: Tue 30 JUN 09

Aha! "Hairy" is a coneflower.





It's gonna be coneflower heaven out there pretty soon. Stay tuned.

npwrc ref:
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia)
Purple Coneflower (ref2)

Coneflowers on the Prairie

From the field:













LINKS:

Native Wildflowers of the North Dakota Grasslands

Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida columnifera)

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia)

Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpureum)
(This was that little purple flower in the vase photo.)