We visited our friends Shelley and David in September 2015.  They have about 120 acres of gorgeous sand prairie and black oak savanna in south central Wisconsin.   Here are photos from our visit, including some photos that Mike took with his drone.

House with handmade (by Shelley & David) wooden shingles

Dash the dog

Shelley’s hideout

Roofs – from Shelley’s hideout

Shed with green roof

Watching the first drone flight

Prairie, pond, and bog from the drone

A walk in the prairie – a very dry sand prairie.  Some of the plants are ones we see on our dry bluff prairies, but others we don’t have at all.

Evening Primrose

Golden Aster

A very sandy spot with lichens

Oaks and lichens

Prairie in the foreground, savanna on the hill on the left, and bog beyond the trees

Savanna

Savanna with the lake in the background

Oak wilt habitat – but also good for Red-headed Woodpeckers.  Two pairs, which fledged 3 young in 2015.

Shelley, Mike and David

Shelley and Marcie

David and Mike

The bog from the deck of the lake house

Deck of the lake house

Bog and pond

Boardwalk into the bog

The bog with savanna beyond

Pitcher plants

Baby pitcher plants

Sphagnum and bog cranberry

More Pitcher plants

Bog cranberry

Bog Cotton

Shelley and I put up lights and bait to attract moths.  These are most of the species we saw.

Common Idia

Sunflower Borer – I think

Sensitive Fern Borer

Maple Spanworm

Sloping Sallow

We painted the bait on leaves – mostly oak leaves, and nearly every leaf had a Sloping Sallow sucking up the bait.

Getting ready for one last drone flight

Savanna from the drone

Big kettles of Broad-winged Hawks were migrating overhead.  We had to watch to be sure there weren’t any nearby when we sent up the drone.

Broad-winged Hawks

Tesla in the prairie