{"id":138531,"date":"2025-01-07T02:52:28","date_gmt":"2025-01-07T08:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=138531"},"modified":"2025-01-06T06:24:46","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T12:24:46","slug":"american-bison-on-the-tallgrass-prairie-of-oklahoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/07\/american-bison-on-the-tallgrass-prairie-of-oklahoma\/","title":{"rendered":"American Bison On The Tallgrass Prairie Of Oklahoma"},"content":{"rendered":"

The largest mammals I saw at the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Oklahoma were herds upon herds of American Bison. There were so many bison!<\/p>\n

The Tallgrass Prairie<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Since 1989, The Nature Conservancy in Oklahoma has been restoring this fully functional section of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem using 2,500 free-roaming bison and a “patch-burn” approach to prescribed fires.<\/p>\n

The Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, covering 39,650 acres, is the largest remaining protected stretch of tallgrass prairie on Earth<\/span><\/a>. Once stretching across 14 states from Texas to Minnesota, this vast landscape has been reduced to less than 4% of its original size due to urban sprawl and conversion to cropland.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Bison herd on a cloudy New Year’s Eve<\/span><\/p>\n

At the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, there are wide-open spaces perfect for spotting wildlife and soaking in views of natural habitats. With over 700 kinds of plants, 300 bird species, and 80 mammals calling it home, there\u2019s plenty to see. Whether driving the 15-mile bison loop, hiking one of the trails, or pausing at scenic turnouts, the prairie and Cross Timbers forest are wonderful to enjoy.<\/p>\n

Click on the first photo in the gallery below to view the images larger. You can also view them as a slide show.<\/p>\n

\"Herd<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Tallgrass<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"American<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Grazing<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Striking<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Joseph<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

American Bison of the Tallgrass
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I was used to seeing American Bison at Antelope Island State Park in Utah, but there were nowhere near as many bison there as can be seen at the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve.<\/p>\n

While waiting for daylight on my first morning at the preserve, I saw three bison bulls across the road, even in the dim light. Later, on the road to the visitor center and the Bison Loop, I had opportunities to photograph both large herds and individual bison up close. The light was poor the first day but clear and wonderful the second.<\/p>\n

The last two images in the gallery above show a bull that I thought was striking. With his very dark head and sun-bleached coat on his shoulders, he cut quite the figure out on the tallgrass prairie.<\/p>\n

I was delighted to see and photograph these large bison at the preserve. Calving season for the bison on the prairie must be exciting, too!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Bison photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The largest mammals I saw at the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Oklahoma were herds upon herds of American Bison. There were so many bison!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[443,16119,13973,16120],"tags":[4463,4663,745,4350,4314,4142,4828,4038,4352,887,4062,1632,16137,4046,4233,2051,16126,16125,7072,373],"class_list":["post-138531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bison","category-joseph-h-williams-tallgrass-prairie-preserve","category-oklahoma","category-osage-county","tag-american-bison","tag-bison","tag-bison-bison","tag-buffalo","tag-bull","tag-close-up","tag-cloudy","tag-grasslands","tag-grazing","tag-herd","tag-male","tag-mammals","tag-new-years-eve","tag-portrait","tag-prairie","tag-striking","tag-tallgrass","tag-tallgrass-prairie","tag-wandering","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/american-bison-tallgrass-prairie-mia-mcpherson-4241.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-A2n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":162561,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/11\/01\/in-celebration-of-national-bison-day-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":138531,"position":0},"title":"In Celebration Of National Bison Day 2025","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, in celebration of National Bison Day 2025, I thought I\u2019d share two photos of these amazing and powerful mammals, which we almost lost to extinction.","rel":"","context":"In "American Bison"","block_context":{"text":"American Bison","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/bison\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Bison bull and the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-bison-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-0685.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-bison-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-0685.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-bison-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-0685.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-bison-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-0685.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":141116,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/03\/american-bison-for-world-wildlife-day-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":138531,"position":1},"title":"American Bison For World Wildlife Day 2025","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"World Wildlife Day 2025 is a reminder that all wildlife matters. American Bison are a success story, but every species we save today will matter tomorrow.","rel":"","context":"In "American Bison"","block_context":{"text":"American Bison","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/bison\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Bison on the Tallgrass Prairie, Joseph H. 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This White-tailed Deer doe giving me the stink eye does just that.","rel":"","context":"In "Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve"","block_context":{"text":"Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/joseph-h-williams-tallgrass-prairie-preserve\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White-tailed Deer doe stink eye at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, Joseph H. 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Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It was our second day exploring the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve when I spotted a pair of ears in the grasses, they belonged to this Coyote.","rel":"","context":"In "Coyotes"","block_context":{"text":"Coyotes","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/coyotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Coyote licking their nose at Joseph H. 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