It was not a good time to go on a trip. I had published a book and needed to promote it. Also, I had already been out of town several days for extended volunteer work in another city. Neglected family duties called. I wanted a big cup of coffee and some quiet time to think and work.
However, I had enthusiastically agreed to go to Indiana with friends months before and was committed to go. Reservations were made and plans laid. Ready or not, I was going to Kankakee Sands to see the Regal Fritillaries.
About 8 hours up I-65 from Nashville and just south of Chicago is a 7,000-acre tallgrass prairie restoration project in Indiana called Kankakee Sands Efroymson Family Prairie Restoration. Regal Fritillaries live there amongst the native grasses, wild quinine, gray –headed coneflower, and the Henslow’s sparrow. Seeing a Regal Fritillary had been on my bucket list for a long, long time. According to NatureServe, this species has lost over 40% of its historic range since 1970. “There is no convincing evidence that the species is stable anywhere. ”[1]
I arrived at the Grace Teninga Discovery Trail about 9:30 a.m. The skies were cloudy and it was about 65 degrees F. Locals had told us that the Regal Fritillaries were known to nectar here on common milkweed and bergamot.
I had never visited an Indiana tallgrass prairie before, and before I knew it, I was walking the whole three miles of the trail being pulled in by the prairie mystique—wind whiffing through the grasses and wildflowers in swirls of movement, birds singing atop stout stems, and, with a lack of trees to obscure the horizon, the seeming endlessness of the land and sky itself.
The first Regal Fritillary I saw was flying swiftly and gracefully in the opposite direction since I had scared it up from its grassy bivouac. Another burnt orange blur was flushed later and also absconded. Once they dove into the grass, they were camouflaged by shadows. You could almost step on one before you knew it.
At last one Regal landed and basked in the morning sun not seeming to mind our presence. We got a breathtaking, 30 second look at this female with her wings spread wide. Her forewings were like the prairie itself—expansive, colorful, and dotted with flowers, butterflies, and birds—circling, hiding, bombing, and feeding.
I felt like I had been asleep heretofore and was waking and walking in a different world with the sweet vanilla scent of common milkweed attracting many Monarchs. Dragonflies showed up to eat butterflies and grasshoppers. A male Grasshopper sparrow sang from a prickly rattlesnake master. This scene was all that is good, earthy, real, present, sun-filled, and light. Clouds were towering white and dramatically fanning out to the four corners of the horizon. I love the way it made me feel so small. To lose one’s self in the moment is to experience a bit of heaven on earth.
Seeing Regal Fritillaries was more than photographing a rare butterfly, although there is a lot of gratification with that. It is also about where it lives, the story of its life, its uniqueness, what surrounds it, who is fighting for its voiceless self, and who cares about it. Sprung from its native land and belonging uniquely to North America, Native Americans no doubt saw it and wondered.
Though my lunch was eaten on a truck bed, I briefly lost both hat and camera, the weather was not ideal, the motel lost our reservation, and we were a bit late for peak Regal activity, I treasure this trip.
There will be time later to get caught up on work and duties must sometimes just be shushed. The important cannot be put off forever and the perceived urgent can wait. The spirit refreshed is an inspiration that lasts for a long time, maybe a lifetime.
[1] NatureServe, access date Sept. 4, 2014