Waschiska Audubon's Prairie Discovery Day

On September 24, I took part in Wachiska Audubon Society's Fifth Annual Prairie Discovery Day. We returned to where the event first began, five years ago.

I do not have pictures from this first event, but at this site on the blog, you will find information about Prairie Discovery Day and links to photographs from past celebrations at Fertig Prairie, Yutan Prairie, and Wildcat Creek Prairie. I help with the gathering of insects, take photographs, and conclude the afternoon of fun with creative writing exercises about insects and birds.

This year, fifteen bright and enthusiastic third and fourth graders took part in the event. They heard an excellent presentation about family life on the Nebraska prairie for a large family of Irish immigrants.

After this part of the program, the youngsters learned a bit about insects that live in the prairie grass and then grabbed nets and flooded into the field to capture with their nets as many critters as they could, which they then identified, from grasshoppers to impressive spiders.

We concluded the day with some creative writing. The youngsters wrote about flowers, insects, and birds and shared their work with everyone at the event.

I posted a number of photographs from Prairie Discovery Day; as usual, feel free to download any images that catch your eye. And as usual, everyone enjoyed a wonderful and sun-filled day on the prairie. We might just extend Prairie Discovery Day to twice a year to double the fun-filled education for one and all.


I also include below a brief (four minutes) video of the youngsters enjoying themselves and the speakers. The sound of the presentation about Irish Immigrants leaves something to be desired, but I hope you can see that the enthusiastic third and fourth graders from Unadilla Elementary School enjoyed their time at the Henry Dieken Tallgrass Prairie.

You can watch the film by clicking below or by going directly to You Tube by clicking here.