After the burn

The picture at the top is from yesterday, just one day after the burn. It actually looked like it was still smokey in places, although I’m pretty sure all the fires were out. Probably it was just ash blowing around.

It rained yesterday evening, a nice soaking rain that should have settled the ash—and did, at least visually—but it still smelled freshly burned when I walked through this morning.

The robins seemed very pleased to have the charred prairie to pick through, and I also saw a cowbird.

It will be very interesting to walk through the prairie this spring (although a little more fun once the smell dissipates a bit further). I know from experience that the plants recover very quickly, and that soon there will be no sign of the burn—except that the prairie plants will come to dominate the invasive species that had begun to encroach. I’m not so sure about the animal life. How many snakes and turtles were lost in the fire? Will there be as many fireflies this year as last?

I’ll keep you posted.