Backlit Phragmites

Today was column day, and, with the weather quite cool and windy, it not going to be much of a trekking day. Still, after I wrote the latest entry of my ancient newspaper journal, I realized that I didn't have quite the right photos to accompany the text, which was about my teaching gig last week. So, to see what I might capture, I retraced my environmental education steps, sans students. The amazing wildlife we'd seen was not, alas, present—no sign of Red-tailed Hawks, Killdeer, Muskrat, Canada Geese, or yellowlegs. And certainly no view of that Mink. But, I did find some Phragmites, beautifully backlit. That invasive plant was big hit with the kids, who found it wonderfully soft and quite pretty. In late afternoon light, it's easy to see the attraction. In late afternoon light, with the bewildering number of seeds each plant produces completely obvious, it's also easy to see why Phragmites is so successful at overwhelming the competition.