Our wee Spring moisture did not last nor did any rains follow it. The summer landscape is a blend of dying yellow grasses mixed with the darker greens of the clover, vetch and alfalfa. I saw the first grasshoppers back in early June. That hatch is now adults. When the kelpies and I walk the prairie waves of grasshoppers lift and leap around us. The click of their wings and the purr of their collective movement is a notable noise as we travel. The wee garden I managed to sow this year has already been significantly damaged by grasshoppers.
My latest fascination when visiting the ewes on pasture is the numerous small birds that have joined the flock and ride on the back of the sheep. The small birds are here in strong numbers again this year, perhaps on account of the incredible grasshopper population.
When I arrive in the vicinity of the flock numerous birds fly up from the grass where they were feeding right among the ewes. Several will fly off into the distance with the swooping grace only a collection of birds can pull off, while several individuals will land on the back of nearby ewes. I have my camera at hand and ready and still it is hard to capture these feathered characters. While I am sure the ewes are aware of the birds on their back they do not show any sign of being bothered by them. Occasionally a cagey bird will land on a ewes head and then the ewe will toss her head in annoyance.
The dry land, the hoppers, the birds, they are an elementary sequence of events playing out among a myriad of natural occurrences we are far less aware of. I strive to be in cohesion with Mother Nature and yet when I pause to watch the birds and the sheep, and when a crowd of grasshoppers swarms the hood of the side by side with every trip back and forth, I can’t help but wonder if we have it all backwards. Humans tend to think we control the nature around us but I am less and less sure of that with the more time I spend on this interminable prairie land.
