Prairie Spring: A Journey into the Heart of a Season

by Pete Dunne, Linda Dunne (Photographer)

A portrait of spring in the heartland of North America In this first of four seasonal narratives, Pete Dunne sends a postcard from the prairie in his characteristically puckish style.The prairie is an exciting place to explore an unfolding drama—man versus the environment—and as Dunne and his wife travel through the heartland, the fleeting nature of the season comes to symbolize the precarious balance between the two. At the Sandhill Crane Festival in Nebraska,Dunne observes the struggle between maintaining the cranes’ habitat and meeting farmers’ needs for water. As in other habitats, human encroachment is only one of the challenges facing the preservation of the Pawnee National Grassland in Colorado.
Climate change, invasive plants and animals, and mineral exploitation are just a few of the others. Conflicts over the grassland habitat continue between ranchers and prairie dogs and between oil companies and prairie chickens. Yet Dunne finds affirmation on the people putting their lives back in place after a tornado; volunteers giving their time to conservation efforts; the drive of all species to move their genes to the next generation, which manifests itself so abundantly on the prairie in spring.

Genres: Nature, Birds, Gardening, Nonfiction, Travel

274 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

When you read this book's title you get a feeling that you are about to embark on a journey into what it will be like to experience Spring on the Great Plains with all the plants, the animals and the weather. Instead the reader is given various components of the prairie as it experiences this season as the author and his wife take a trip through various national grasslands.

Very early on the author does acknowledge that he isn't an expert on the biome or its upkeep so as a result of the book becomes more of a travelogue from the author's exploration of a few weeks - from February through June - thus pages are dedicated to his opinions on various subjects such as religion, parts of history, etc. Furthermore as an avid birder and a birding author most of the components that he focuses on within the pages of this book involves prairie birds, their conservation status, the human effects that are either helping or damaging them and how to distinguish them apart. Other animals mentioned in detail are the American bison and prairie dog while those like the pronghorn or swift fox are just mentioned briefly.

The main chapters have black-and-white pictures to headline the information that can be found within although due to the lack of color some of the pictures are very lacking in detail. Other illustrations also include a colored photographic spread from the author's wife showcasing some of the species met, some episodes in their travels and other odds like the headstones of a prairie cemetery or a small farming town before a gather spring storm.

The other problem I had with the book was the fact that the book didn't focus on many of the actual prairie states but just included Nebraska for the sandhill cranes, Colorado, New Mexico, South Dakota and Montana. There is no visiting Kansas or Oklahoma although he does mention them several times, which is a real shame....

Quirky at times, slightly spiritual, deeply thoughtful and interspersed with both scientific facts as well as historical tidbits this book will be an entertaining read for those who don't mind travelogue types or even birding books. Otherwise the personal viewpoint plus the ever-changing locations that are never stable in their seasonal responses does take away from the offered theme even as reader is encouraged to get out to explore this beautiful yet wide environment on their own.

[Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up Dunne's new book expecting an insightful discussion and appreciation of the ecology and natural history of one of the largest biomes in North America. So I was quite disappointed to find it is really just one man's experience driving, camping, birding, and touring a few sites in and around Colorado.

Dunne does have decent sections on the spring equinox, the sandhill cranes, meteorology, and our national grasslands. And the recalled dialogue with his traveling companion, his wife, is quite funny at times. But his writing is only serviceable - it does not reach the heights I've come to expect from top tier non-fiction authors.

[Marvin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started this nonfiction book (rare for me as leisure reading), but bailed out pretty quickly, first because I discovered that despite the title it's not really about the prairies but about the Plains--and mostly the High Plains at that--and second because in an attempt to be engaging, personal, and accessible, the author seemed to me to be only cloyingly patronizing.

[Tuck · Rating 1 out of 5]

pretty elementary and not that compelling writing about great plains. concentrates on sandhill cranes, lesser prairie chicken, buffs, etc. DOES have good leads to cool camping at crow valley in ne colo and picture canyon in se colo.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pete Dunne once again showed his talent as a great nature writer, but he never convinced me that he had much subject matter. Good chapters on sandhill cranes and bison, but overall the book was a real disappointment.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One measure of success in a book I've read is if it has left me inspired. Inspired to go places, or do things, or act, etc. Dunne's Prairie Spring does exactly that.
I am now ready to head off in a small RV (guess I'll have to buy one first) and spend 3 months in a part of the country I've never seen. Books should do this. They should leave us yearning for more or leave us wanting to relive what we've just read. And this book does exactly that.
I've read one other from Dunne's series (Bayshore Summer) so I knew what to expect. I appreciate a book or essay or blog post written in a conversational tone and Dunne is a master.
Nice and compact, this book is a nice easy read, perfect to carry along on your trip to the grasslands of North America.

[Woody · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining, informative read about a number of places we had visited. It was refreshing to read a book that sings the praises of our rare, much abused prairie landscape. It inspires others to visit and conserve the magnificent natural prairies that still remain.

[William Yates · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why the low rating? I enjoyed the adventure story of travels in the spring. However, I had to skim through much of the book which consisted of detours into history, geography, and the like.
All that I could read in an encyclopedia or on Wikipedia.

[The Dread Pirate Peg Leg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lost me at tristing places 😂

[Donna Jo Atwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dunne looks at the way Spring arrives on the Great Plains. (He calls it the Great Plains, but he spends his time in Colorado, Wyoming, etc, missinng the lower, flatter Plains that I'm familiar with.)
Far from being a great lump of featureless land to be flown over as quickly as possible, the Plains have a life and a rhythm the stretches back for eons. The scenery may not be as spectacular as the mountains or the ocean, but Nature compensates by the use of subtlety--until She hits you with a boom--as a late snow storm, tornado, grass fire.
His essays are wide-ranging from the weather, to the animals and birds, to the people who populate the area. He passes comments on what people have done to the prairie, what they are doing now, and his opinions on what they should be doing to insure that the prairie continues.

[Elly Sands · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful surprise. I love wide open landscapes so I bought this book just to peruse it and look at the photos. Little did I know that I would be reading every single word and truly savoring them. If you are interested in learning about the history, people, flora and fauna and most important the relevance of the prairie then this is the book for you. And may I emphasize that it is not boring! The author's witty remarks flow throughout the pages and keep the story moving. He and his wife (who shot the photos) traveled throughout the grasslands in the spring season. They share all their discoveries with the reader. A truly delightful and informative book that allows you to really feel the spirit of the prairie.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The author and his wife go on a two month RV trip through prairies and grasslands, most of which are in my backyard. I've already been to several of them, and now I'm eager to jump into our RV and head off to see the others. And revisit those I've already been to. The author captures the magnitude and the complexity of the geography so beautifully, as well as the season of Spring and what it means to nature and to us as humans. I'm looking forward to reading more of his books.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dunne is an elite birder and I’ve always enjoyed his articles and books. He is upbeat, full of knowledge and always willing to share. In this adventure he goes above and beyond birding and helps us to enjoy Spring in one of our least appreciated biomes, the Colorado Prairie – or in a larger sense any prairie.

[Clif Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have met and birded with Pete Dunne. While I don't, shall we say, "associate" well with him, he is a very good writer. He is able to transform an experience into words on a page and have the reader personalize that experience. This is a well written nature work.

[Bruce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Typical Dunne; breezy, quick read, good eye for location and, as always, birds.