As someone who loves nature, the Neal Smith wildlife area was a surprising favorite. This place is small enough that when I was looking for it I was nearly convinced I was lost as I could see nothing but farmland in all direction. The refuge is only about 8,000 acres and is surrounded by privately owned land on all sides. But despite its tiny presence in Iowa its full of wildlife. The larger animals that live here are bison, seen above and elk. On the upper right is a typical view within the prairie. This might not seem very interesting, but it’s the small things that are interesting.
The longest single loop in the Neal Smith wildlife refuge is only two miles. There is a self drive ‘auto tour’ but this is only a few miles long and takes you along the border of the refuge. I didn’t like this very much since you’re driving next to people’s farms and you don’t feel like you’re in any type of wilderness. As someone who enjoys macro photography though, the short hike gave me endless opportunities.
The Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge had too many species of plants to keep track of. I had spent a lot of time in the American north west earlier in the year where it seemed pine trees made up 90% of the vegetation. Here in the great plains there are a variety of flowers and unique plants. On the left is a more common plant across the country, a dandelion plant with a ripe collection of seeds. Even though this plant is very common I always found it interesting, how the seeds basically function as tiny parachutes and get carried by the wind to different locations. I was unable to identify the plant on the right but it certainly was pretty.
On the left are some gross milkweed beetles that have found their prized possession, a common milkweed plant. On the right is what’s known as a bean leaf beetle. I’ve never seen this type of beetle before, but between Iowa and Texas they were very common.
Above is a monarch butterfly caterpillar! To me this is one of the insect highlights of tall grass prairie. I’ve seen many photos of these guys in my life but this was the first time I had ever laid my own eyes on one. The butterflies are famous in America for their autumn like colors and their impressive migration from places like Iowa all the way to California and Mexico where they wait out the winter.
I’ve yet to find out the name of these flowers yet, but lots of pollen craving bugs seemed to like them. On the upper right is a species of soldier beetle. They live all over the world, but the ones in the UK are red and so they were named soldier beetles after the red coats. On top of their color, gardeners love them since they eat many pests garden pests. Of course the flowers and pollen attract numerous species of bees. Below and on the right are two different bumble bees.
