Barber County Bouquets

     Nearly 60 folks enjoyed a very pleasant day May 10 in the Red Hills of Barber County for the long-standing annual Barber County Wildflower Tour.  Sponsored by the Barber County Conservation District with help from long-time volunteers including Harold Cline and Courtney Pilkington, participants were first entertained by presentations about wildflowers in the region.  Then the group traveled to the Z-Bar Ranch in southwestern  Barber County to enjoy an up-close visit with the bison on the ranch.  Keith and Eva Yearout, ranch managers, told the group all about their bison herd and the interesting behavior and management needs of the prairie beasts.  After a fine lunch at the Eagle Township Park in the south part of the county, the group headed to Sam Beier's ranch where leaders took three different groups around a course marked with flags to identify wildflowers and a few grasses as well.  In spite of the on-going drought, about 40 plants were able to be marked with most of them in bloom.  Some of the plants are depicted in the images below.  I had the privilege of assisting Harold Cline and Carl Jarboe as group leaders for the tour.  Phyllis Scherich, co-author of the Red Hills Wildflower Pocket Guide was on hand to assist as well.  Special thanks to Cheryl Davis for a lot of background preparations and coordination!  All-in-all, it was a gorgeous day to be out in the Red Hills!

First stop--enjoying and learning about Bison on the Ted Turner Zbar Ranch

Keith Yearout tells of some of the special Bison biology on the Zbar.

I get to share some information about a wildflower with the young and the older.

Lambert's Crazyweed  

Penstamens were blooming.

Purple Ground Cherry

Scarlet-globe Mallow

Plains Hymenoxis

False (Wild) Dandelion

This wildflower guide is available through the Great Plains Nature Center, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism and offices of the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Barber, Kiowa and Clark counties as well as additional offices in the region.

Mischief on the Lek

     Over the years, I've had opportunity to observe a number of wildlife interactions while watching prairie chickens.  Included is a selection of some of the very interesting behaviors witnessed between prairie chickens and other critters.  I wish my video of a Peregrine Falcon swooping on some Greater Prairie Chickens was better as I would have shown it.  I've also witnessed a Prairie Falcon doing the same thing on a Lesser Prairie Chicken lek.  And then there are those numerous Northern Harrier fly by's and dives which usually disperse the birds briefly but not always.  In all these cases, the chickens are only temporarily dissuaded from their dancing and displaying.  So, here's a sampling of not-so-serious booming ground battles.

Friend Tom Hutton sent this picture of an American Crow which visited while he and his wife were watching the Lessers at a lek on which I've had a portable blind from the Ks. Dept. of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism set up each spring for many years.  Tom said this crow was trying to imitate some of the male chicken's behavior by bobbing its head and squatting.  Silly crows!

One of the funniest encounters I've witnessed is these two calves chasing some chickens.  They couldn't hold back their curiosity.  The chickens stayed put mostly, acting a bit disgusted at the silly youngsters!

Coyotes at the lek are always interesting.  Most of the time, they will walk through a lek fully realizing that they can't catch these birds.  And the birds know it as well.  Many times, some of the chickens don't even bother to flush; they just hunker down and wait till the coyote(s) leave.  At about 17 seconds, you'll see that one chicken does flush as one coyote gets just a little too close.

Sometimes a pheasant will come by.  While this footage shows one in the back of the lek trying to figure things out, I've heard of accounts where the rooster pheasant tries to interact and "fight" with a male chicken.

Hiking in the Hills

     In a collaboration with Backwoods of Wichita (see contact information at the bottom), The Nature Conservancy in Kansas sponsored a prairie walk in the beautiful Red Hills this past Saturday.  Hikers enjoyed a glorious spring day with the wildflowers, lizards, vultures and other wildlife that added to the walk.  The end point was the famous Natural Bridge south of Sun City.  This expanse of gypsum, collapsed in 1962, once spanned the Stewart's Creek canyon.  Even without the iconic archway, the site is quite unique and picturesque.  Rick Bodenhamer of Backwoods, organized the outing while yours truly led the adventure.  Thanks to the generosity of the landowners who gave permission to enjoy their property for the day.

     This prairie walk was one of several events planned this year as part of the Red Hills Initiative to help commemorate the 25th anniversary of TNC in Kansas.

Hikers cross a small stream on the way to Natural Bridge.

Blue Wildindigo was just one of the couple dozen wildflowers seen.

Jordon inspects a "horny toad" caught on the trip.

A Texas Horned Lizard is a fascinating member of the Red Hills fauna.

Christine exits a small arch/cave on the way.

The hiking group enjoyed a snack at Natural Bridge on a beautiful day.

www.backwoods.com

1900 N Rock Rd Ste 108, Wichita · (316) 267-0350

Native Dragon

This "Outback" features one of the most fascinating creatures from the Red Hills as well as other parts of Kansas--the Eastern Collared Lizard, Crotaphytus collaris. One of the largest lizards in Kansas, this beast can reach lengths of a foot and have very strong jaw muscles; so, don't try to get bitten as they can muster more foot pounds of pressure then you'd prefer to experience.  An amazing behavior of this animal is that it will get up and run on its hind legs to escape predators (see included videos.)  

Male collared lizards sport double black bands on the back of their neck and yellow-orange throats among many other beautiful colors--a handsome animal indeed!

Female collared lizards sport reddish-orange bands while pregnant and are just as handsome as the males although not quite as large.  They also bite!

Go ahead, stick that finger right here!

A running collared lizard on two wheels at normal speed.

A  running collared lizard in slow mo.

Happy Arbor Day with a Leopold Oak

The famous Leopold Shack near Baraboo, Wisconsin.

A thing is right only when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the community, and the community includes the soil, waters, fauna, and flora, as well as people. -- Aldo Leopold

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Ah yes, one of my favorite Leopold quotes.  The man who initiated the modern age of wildlife management and promoted the ever-so-appropriate land ethic spent many years restoring his piece of sand property on a bend of the Wisconsin River near Baraboo.  His hallmark work was "A Sand County Almanac."  It gives the most poetic blueprint for living in harmony with nature instead of trying to always simply dominating it.  

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Today is Arbor Day.  It's so appropriate to give homage to Leopold and his writings, philosophy and personal endeavors to conserve nature.  Much of his personal efforts involved restoring pine trees to a very abused landscape.  He also planted oaks.  One of these oaks was a Black Oak planted in front of the famous "shack" which was a chicken coup when Aldo first purchased the land. 

You can have a direct connection to Aldo Leopold and his legacy through my offering of a Black Oak seedling which I grew from acorns from the tree shown below.  If you simply tell me you'd like one and are willing to donate whatever you feel you can afford to either The Nature Conservancy in Kansas or the Leopold Foundation, I'll make arrangements somehow to get a seedling to you.  I'll include information about growing conditions and preferences for this species as well as some more information about the "shack" and Aldo Leopold.  See links below for both TNC in Kansas and the Leopold Foundation.  Just leave me a comment below and a way to contact you and we'll get you a Leopold Oak.

THE Black Oak in front of the "shack" from which  this seedling originated.

http://www.aldoleopold.org/home.shtml

http://www.nature.org/

Happy Herpers

     The Kansas Herpetological Society (KHS), in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy in Kansas, sponsored the regular spring field trip of KHS to the Red Hills.  Over a hundred kids of all ages enjoyed wonderful weather and an ample number of amphibians and reptiles to make the weekend very successful.

As part of the 25th Anniversary of The Nature Conservancy in Kansas, this event is just one of the several being planned around the state to help commemorate this milestone.  For more information about upcoming activities, google The Nature Conservancy (see site below) or check out the TNC in Kansas Facebook page.  For more information about this fabulous field trip last weekend, check out the Kansas Herpetological Society (see site below) or check out the facebook page (Kansas Herpetology) as well as Larry Miller's facebook site as well.  

The herp troops storm the Red Hills in search of all things creep and crawly.

A North American Racer (Blue Racer) inspects his holder by sensing with his tongue.
He's not too happy.

Landis shows off a Ground Snake.  This was the most common herp found on the trip.

Another Ground Snake.  Oh what fun!

Nothin is as fascinating to kids of all ages then a Texas Horned Lizard.  Awesome creatures.

KHS president Dan Fogell demonstrates proper rattlesnake handling.

Trip leader Travis Taggart records all observations.

The Nature Conservancy in Kansas:

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/kansas/

Kansas Herpetological Society

http://www.cnah.org/khs/

Stuttin their stuff

     It's springtime in the hills and time to strut your stuff.  Perhaps one of the most demonstrative displays of courtship, a Rio Grande gobbler spreads his tail, drags his wings, puffs up and engorges his waddle--all designed to attract the ladies.  The hens walk around, pecking at some food, mostly ignoring the pompous male.  There's nothing quite as beautiful as watching this natural exhibition on a bright, sunny morning.  This morning brought a meeting with some of the local deer who weren't quite keen on sharing their morning breakfast with this strutting stud.

This young doe seems mesmerized by this displaying tom.  "What do you think you are doing?  This is OUR feed field!"

The hen ignores the grandiose display of this blustery fella as he walks through a gauntlet of deer to keep up with her.

     The hen ambles along ahead of the lusty tom ignoring his amorous display.  She may have already bred and is headed to a well-hidden nest where she will lay another egg.  Once she has a dozen or so eggs, she will begin incubating.  After 26 days or so, the eggs hatch and another cycle of life begins for this fascinating species.
     The Red Hills was one of the first areas for re-introductions of wild turkeys in Kansas.  The Kansas Forestry, Fish and Game Commission brought birds in during the early 1960's.  Flocks in the Red Hills were favored for trap and transplant operations eventually leading to the first modern-day Kansas hunting season in 1974.  As we enjoy watching or hunting these beautiful birds, its good to remember the dedication of folks 50 years ago to make it all happen.