Tag Archives: Milkweed

Montana Naturalist

I knew I’d been ignoring my blog – but I didn’t realize the last post was in January! I did take some winter pictures but nothing particularly interesting came of them.

The Montana Audubon Center here in Billings is offering a Montana Master Naturalist course. The stated purpose is “to develop the knowledge, skills, and habits to forge a closer relationship with the natural world.” Deciding it might be fun to meet others and to learn more about the geography, plants and creatures of the area, I signed up.

One of the requirements is to keep a naturalist journal with the recommendation to visit the same outdoor location repeatedly. Since Phipps Park is just up the road from my home, I scoped it out before the class started. All photos in this post were taken that afternoon in mid-April.

Fall Colors @ Riverfront Park

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A few autumn leaves and other fall color. These photos were all taken at Riverfront Park, Billings, Montana on Saturday, October 8, 2022.

Yellow becomes brown in a hurry!

Blue and white aren’t typically thought of as “fall” colors. But ripening berries and the seeds of milkweed are part of the landscape!

Posted as part of Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge. Although I certainly could have used it for her Midweek Madness Challenge yesterday!

CMMC: Milkweed Flowers

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Just a few weeks ago these milkweed plants at Riverfront Park in Billings, Montana were inundated by the Yellowstone River.

Today the milkweed flowers are opening and I’m hoping some monarch butterflies will soon come through. Did you know milkweed leaves are the sole source of food for monarch butterfly larvae?

In the meantime, I’m enjoying the shapes and textures of the flowers.

Posted in response to Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge July Close-up or Macro.

CMMC November Close Up: End of Summer

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With the first hard freeze of the season earlier this week, we have definitely said good-bye to summer here in central Iowa. The forecast calls for a few more warmish days but the nip in the air says it is definitely autumn.

The pictures are posted in response to Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge – November Close Up or Macro. The first photo in each row was taken in late September. The others were all taken in toward the end of October.

I think you should be able to click on one photo to see the full image and then scroll through all of them.

ADDED: So interesting that the images are square when post is read through the WordPress Reader. When read on the Another LQQK page, the photos are cropped round and can be pulled up one by one in their original rectangular shape. – Teressa

TreeSquare: At Big Creek State Park

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The primary requirement for Becky’s July #TreeSquare challenge is that the picture be square; a secondary rule is that the photo contains a tree or a part of a tree or the shadow of a tree or even the hint of fake tree. So today I’m sharing three pictures – two with trees in the background and one that is all about the trees. All were taken June 18, 2021 at Iowa’s Big Creek State Park.

I’m guessing – and I could be wrong – that the tree stumps in this third photograph are what remain of trees destroyed by the derecho that swept through the state a year ago.