Morrison's Studio

08/29/2026

Beautiful sunset tonight out west of the north pasture! (iPhone photo ©️Bruce A. Morrison)

08/28/2026

Been seeing a lot of partial eclipse posts...ya I'm behind! Catching up here I thought I'd just post a short video instead...a quiet background of crickets and just the moon . It was an interesting night...really reminded me of the total eclipse here - last of the Tetrad back in September of 2015!

08/27/2026

Good Roost this morning here in SE O'Brien County, before and during sunrise...I counted 95 but there easily could have been more as I didn't check every last tree. One roost right by the house had 40 individuals...there were several other groups with a dozen or more in each...that NW wind yesterday was the perfect set up for Monarch movement south!

(Video and Photos ©Bruce A. Morrison)

08/27/2026

95 Monarchs in the morning Roost here...pics and vids later 😀🦋

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08/27/2026

We got our second Fall Monarch Roost tonight. Hard to count this one but I settled on 63 in about 6 roosting groups.

I had been pulling tall weeds in the south pasture winter planting this evening and decided to quit and go check to see if a roost was forming.

We had a good NW wind most of the day and things had calmed down - good Monarch Migration weather!

Just had my phone and it was getting dark faster than I liked, but did get some video and a shot or two…

Think I need to get up before the sun in the morning and take the “Big Guns” and a tripod out there and see if I can get some good photos and maybe video.

Hope they don’t leave before day light!!!

08/25/2026

Loads of Oriole travelers (and maybe still a few residents) this a.m.! Maybe over a dozen right now here in SE O'Brien County. Mostly Baltimores (males and females) and at least a couple Orchard females.

They are on the move and soon the grape jelly market will go into a recession!!! 😁

Photographs - ©Bruce A. Morrison

08/23/2026

Can’t believe the Monarch Migration Roosting has started already here!

Georgie and I were out for an evening run to the north pasture and they were everywhere in the grove.

I gave them some time to settle in and went back out with the iPhone and got some videos.

Counted four roosts and just shy of 50 Monarchs.

Here’s a video of the best group I found.

Where did this summer go!!!😳

08/20/2026

Pulled onto our road this evening, returning from out of town, and counted 32 Killdeers running and flying from in front of the car as we approached our lane here in SE O’Brien County.

Definitely seeing the fall migration starting…over 97,000 birds flew over the county last night according to BirdCast!

08/10/2026

We actually have 3 Liatris species firing blossoms at the moment here, and the first one - Prairie Blazing Star (Liatris pycnostachya) has been racing through it's blooming time for the past couple weeks...these very hot/humid days have been greasing the slide of time around here...I know I have missed things!

We saw our first Dotted Liatris (Liatris punctata) bloom last week and our first Rough Blazing Star (Liatris aspera) last evening, when it was finally bearable outside.

We were blessed by a large population of Dotted Liatris here in both pastures...some places are so thick you have to watch each step through the patches. Whereas the L. aspera is the next most common one here. L. pycnostachya is present in the lower areas, just not in the higher numbers like the others. I've always hesitated to say that one out loud because of the pronunciation - I feel like I'll embarrass myself! (Pea-no-stay-sha????) Ha!

You can visit these different Liatris here on our two native pastures in SE O'Brien County via my You Tube channel at the following links...each video is short and sweet (and magenta/pink!!!) 😉 -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJsi92gaHCo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU1C9qbqx44

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww7tUpoWg4U

Photographs - ©Bruce A. Morrison

08/04/2026

Every now and then we find Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) in the north pasture that presents itself as white. There's been some reported in the past couple weeks on different sites.

A few days back my wife was walking down to the mailbox and when she returned she mentioned "You've got some white Bergamot down along the south path."

The heat has been pushing things along quickly here and I thought I'd better get down there and check it out...well most blossoms had past their peak and were already browning out - except one. I ran up and got the camera to catch it before it too finished out!

Interestingly, this location is where we have seen the white presentation before, maybe the same plant is making itself known once more? I know they are perennial but just how long lived an individual plant may get to be I have no clue?

Wild Bergamot is a member of the mint family; the square stem is a give-away hint. The flowers are large and beautiful. The corollas of its flowers here are lavender, yet as I mentioned in the beginning, we seem to come up with a plant bearing completely white flowers in some years...I'm not sure what causes that, but it's cool to see!

I love peppermint - maybe that's my "draw" to mints?! This plant did have many uses by the original Americans and the mint family has contributed so many flavors and herbs throughout civilization's history.

I've heard Wild Bergamot referred to as "Bee Balm" and I completely get it...often early jaunts out into the pasture at dawn, has found many a Bumble Bee just awakening from a night on the flowers! And the long tongued moths and bees, and Hummingbirds, Love theses flowers!

It's a shame the plant doesn't last any longer than it does...the bloom time passes fairly quickly and the leaves often develop powdery mildew, especially in rainy or humid conditions. But its definitely a keeper!

If you'd like a short video of the Wild Bergamot here on the acreage's native pastures, check it out at this link here -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVW9LFQHL6g

"Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) - photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison