THE MOST COMMON, BUT IT’S ABOUT THE LIGHT…

Wild Geranium, Pohlman Prairie Preserve, Little Maquoketa Valley, eastern Iowa

A short hike through the woods up the slope in Pohlman Prairie Preserve resulted in a good number of wildflower encounters, some of them even not so common. Pohlman Prairie is a small piece of ”goat prairie”, a type of dry prairie that is found here in the Driftless area mostly along the valley of the Upper Mississippi River, but this one is only a mile away, here on the bluffs of the Little Maquoketa Valley.

It was the photo of probably one of the more abundant blossoms on the forest floor, the Wild Geranium, that intrigued me the most. Dappled light is not always a photographer’s best friend but here I really liked how it made the blossoms stand out from the green on the ground under the canopy of the trees.

Nikon Z6 III, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm,    @200 mm

ON THE GOAT PRAIRIE

At Pohlman’s Prairie, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

Only about a mile away from our home is a 23 acre site of ‘goat prairie’, a remnant and variant of tall grass prairie, mostly found in the Upper Mississippi Valley on south-southwest slopes. It is a preserve here on top of the limestone bluffs in our valley of the Little Maquoketa River, just north of Dubuque, Iowa. Only a few more miles down, the Little Maquoketa meets the mighty Mississippi.

Last week Joan celebrated her birthday and due to the circumstances we all know about, we didn’t go out for a fancy dinner but made a short hike up the slope to ‘Pohlman’s Prairie’. Too early for wildflowers on the goat prairie but the view across the valley compensates for the efforts to make this little hike. The small patch of dry grass prairie is surrounded by Eastern Red Cedars. Actually an invasive tree, but nevertheless very pretty and its berries are a great source of food during fall and winter for several species of birds.

I always loved this spot on top of the bluffs and have photographed it many times before. With nothing but overcast, I thought a black and white photo would tell the story about this day at the end of winter the best. The dark cedars in the foreground frame the river and bridge. It doesn’t matter that there are no leaves out yet, the trees on the other side of the valley are out of focus but give a sense of place. Not a photo for the next local touristic brochure but I have enjoyed making it and it pleases my sense for landscape photography.