Rockin' in the Red Hills

     Kids love lookin under rocks.  You never know what they might find.  Paxon was on a quest for scorpions and we found some.  We also found a couple of snakes on the road.  Adaira loves the creepy crawleys too! 

 A juvenile Eastern Racer (AKA Blue Racer and Yellow-bellied Racer)

      Paxon talks about the Racer.  He knows to look at the tail first to make sure it doesn't have any rattles on it before picking it up.   Its a young-of-the year but probably a few weeks old.  

Its a little windy but Adaira wanted to talk about the Racer too!

Paxon describes the scorpion he kept.  We have one species in Kansas and its a relatively small one and not very poisonous.  Won't kill ya!

Pollinator Party

    Ever seen a swarm of bees?  Its a pretty exciting natural phenomenon.  When a hive gets to a certain large population, the queen decides its time to split (literally) and take about half the worker bees (all female) with her to a new place.  So when you see a huge bunch of bees as shown in the first pic below, somewhere in the middle of all that buzzing is a queen bee who is intent on finding a new home with her "split" of bees.   

As is typical for swarms of honey bees, this mass of bees is only temporary, usually less than a day.

The bee keeper will climb the ladder and clip the limb with the swarm.  Then gently place the swarm with the queen in a hive body.  Hopefully, the queen will like the new surroundings and stay there.

Swarming bees are actually quite docile and take handling very well.  While their attending their queen, they don't get too upset being placed in a hive body with frames to make their new digs attractive.

When bees first swarm, thousands will be seen in a giant swirling mass.  This is just before they congregate where the queen landed as seen in the first picture.  If you ever have the opportunity to see this natural spectacle, watch and enjoy it.  See where the mass of bees end up.  Then call your area bee keeper as they will likely want to get the bees for a new hive.  Keeping bees is becoming even more important as pollinators such as honey bees are experiencing serious declines.

Fun Fungi

Its been a quite unusual August in the Kansas Outback for sure.  Record rainfall after over two years of sweltering drought has the prairie celebrating.  And some of the first to celebrate the welcome precipitation are the fungi.  All kinds of mushrooms are popping up in the grassland as well as woodland.  Most notable are the giant puffballs of the genus Calvatia.  Very noticeable by their large appearance, what you see is actually the fruiting body, the part that produces spores.  If you can find these fresh when they are pure white, they are very edible and quite good (an excellent recipe can be found below.)  

Clavatia species can be quite large, often appearing skull-like.  They are popping up all over with all the wet weather.

These giant puffballs can get even larger than this impressive one!

These giant puffballs prefer a shelterbelt to spew their spores.

Several species of mushrooms create "fairy rings."  These rings expand over years because of the underground parts of the mushroom moving from a central location to outward areas of new food sources.   Some can be quite large.  This is a fairly small one of only about 3 ft. diameter.

  The Meadow Mushroom, Agaricus campestris, is a very common "room" during this current wet late summer.  These are also very edible and quite good but one should be very careful on identification.  The very poisonous Amanitas (Destroying Angel) can destroy your liver.  They also have the evident collar on the stem but have some very evident differences in the cap and gills.  

A close-up of this handsome specimen of Meadow Mushroom.

So what to do when mushrooms attack?  You EAT THEM.  Well, once you are sure of what you have, wild mushrooms are quite tasty.  Below, cooked up with an accompanying dish of garden vegetables, the Giant Puffballs can be sliced and fried in olive oil with garlic, onions and tomatoes.  Ummmmmmmmm, its soooooo gooooood!

A Day in the Red Hills

     I call the Red Hills the "Kansas Outback" for a good reason.  Its features have that wildness factor which can be associated with such interesting natural areas as the very recognizable and known outback of Australia.  Of course, North America has all of its incredible natural areas, parks and badlands, many of which might be characterized as having an "outback" flavor.  But for here, the Red Hills region seems to lend itself to this special appropriate moniker.  Here's a sampling of the special features one can experience in this special Kansas landscape--a day's adventure a week ago.

The gypsum formation of the Red Hills is soluble and therefore allows for many caves to develop.  Fun to explore!

The Ground Snake is a very pretty resident.

A few hundred Cave Myotis bats welcomed the spelunkers.  Several Red Hills caves offer habitats for maternity colonies and roosting.  This is one reason The Nature Conservancy of Kansas has targeted the Red Hills for conservation efforts.

The Giant Desert Centepede was guarding the entrance to the cave.  It was 8 inches long!

Messin with Sasquatch

     Sasquatch is our resident Screech Owl.  While we hear him often at dusk and into the night, we also occasionally call him in up close with a Screech Owl call recording.  Here, he poses while we "mess" with him.  He's wondering:  "Where is that other owl anyway?"  

     I shoot a little video of Sasquatch as a friend uses his own whistling to keep his interest.  Listen closely as Mike's whistling stimulates the soft but audible response from Sasquatch.  The Screech Owl call is commonly used by birders to call in other, smaller birds which come to mob the potential predator similar to kingbirds and blackbirds who like to dive at hawks.  The call brings in many species of small birds but it also attracts Screech Owls--surprise surprise.  And it's so much fun to mess with Sasquatch!

A Brilliant Bunting

     Of all the birds found in the Red Hills, and in North America for that matter, none are as colorful as the Painted Bunting. While this species has been seen in many parts of the state this year, it has been a constant summer resident of the Red Hills.  Replete with nearly all the colors of nature's palette, this male's glamorous appearance is sure to attract a mate.  But wait.  There's competition with other males who are just as brilliant.  So it takes some serious singing to "get the girl."  (watch video below)

Seeing Painted Buntings - spectacular;
seeing Painted Buntings in the Red Hills -- priceless!

This Painted Bunting demonstrated wing fluttering hoping to attract a mate
--as if his incredible appearance wasn't enough!

This Painted Bunting male sings its heart out for a mate.

Ok, now its just showing off!

Happy Herpers

The Kansas Herpetological Society sponsored a summer field trip to the Red Hills recently.  Headquartered at Coldwater City Lake, the group collected and observed amphibians and reptiles in about a three county area over last weekend.  It's a funny thing about all these kids (and adults) involved in these activities; they are so enthralled with nature's wonders and being in the outdoors that video games, TV, and Iphones etc. are rarely seen.  I think there's an excellent solution to Nature Deficit Disorder and it starts with kids' fascinations with these animals!  Yay for herps.  Thanks to Travis Taggart and the Kansas Herpetological Society for leading this great event!

A Racer expresses his feelings about being the object of favor.

Adaira shows off her Texas Horned Lizard (Horny Toad).

Paxon shares his Prairie Kingsnake to new friends.