On a mid-September fundraiser hayride, ostensibly to hear bugling elk (we didn't), I was struck by the vaguely colorful, bleak appearance of the prairie. This is a waterfowl refuge whose water has receded to well below decades-past creation levels; most water is now pumped from deep wells. This sounds like a losing venture to me. Still, I have witnessed the arrival here of many thousands of snow geese in March; it's a spectacle of breathtaking proportions.