Hiking at the Nature Center

We took a hike at the nature center last week and upon entering the park spied this hawk sitting on top of the tree. We didn't want to scare it off before getting close enough to snap a picture. Right when I was focusing...he took off...I clicked...and this is what I got. We did not see it again the rest of the afternoon. We're having trouble identifying it. At first, we assumed it was a Red-tailed because they're plentiful around this part of Kansas. Upon closer study, the underpart of the wing made me change my mind. We are thinking Red-shouldered??? Please leave comments if you have a different idea.

Beautiful Fall leaves at the Nature Center.

Nuts and berrys for all the little forest creatures.

American Goldfinches eating thistle seeds. We watched about half a dozen chowing down. Now we know where our Goldfinches went.

A serene little glen that we like to visit.

Not snow but sand...we were right near the river.

It was windy and cool. We saw some sort of shorebirds flying high and fast and a pair of ducks. The shorebirds were white with black wing tips. We looked up and down the river for a few minutes, then our fingers began getting cold. We went back to the shelter of the trees and trail. We started back to our base. It wasn't long before we heard two Great-horned Owls calling back and forth. We crept along as quietly as we could. I was determined to get a shot of this one. There are a lot of mature Cottonwood trees...he took off right above us. He saw us first, but we didn't see him until he launched and flew off... (next time) huge wingspan on those things Lastly, we saw 3 White-tailed Deer...super cool to see as you are walking along.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

pictures by cindyzlogic

Red-tailed Hawk in flight. Notice the white underparts and black bar on the leading edge of the wings.

Red-tailed Hawks like to perch on top of electric poles. This affords them a great view of the open fields as they search for food. As you can see, this one is searching intently.

I know these aren't the best pics in the world...but this is as close and as good as I could get with my camera :( I like this one because it shows the red tail feathers. See how he's checking me out?? That's as close as he would let me get.

These Hawks are permanent members of the Kansas scene, they do not migrate. They are the most common species of hawk in Kansas. You can find one about every square mile out in the country side.

Cardinals and House Sparrows

We just had a great crop of House Sparrows this season. I don't know what we're going to do with all of them. We are still seeing several young male and female Cardinals, which add a lot of color to the backyard. I have not seen the Chickadees for about a week. I'm wondering what that means? Also, the Titmice have been absent before noticing the absence of the Chickadees. The Chickadees and Titmice visited the feeder all last Winter, so I know they don't migrate. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the arrival of the Fall/Winter migrates like White-crowned Sparrows, Juncos, and Harris's Sparrows.

My first capture of an Armadillo this weekend :)) Curious little dudes.

Waterfowl In the Park

Female Wood Duck

Canada Geese


Another female Wood Duck

In the foreground, I believe, a Greater White-fronted Goose. Canada Geese in the background.

It was almost dusk and the geese were preening quietly.

I finished my painting of the Semipalmated Sandpiper. I did it with watercolor pencils and watercolor paints.

Fall is Almost Here

Fledgling Cardinal

Black-capped Chickadee


Juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbird
I got a kick out of this pose...he was really checking us out. The adult RT Hummingbird that had dominated the feeder all Summer has gone South. I guess this little guy decided to stay and fattin' up a bit more.


Wild Sunflowers along the lane where we walk each evening.


I love this quaint log cabin style nestbox.

Milkweed Tussock Moth

This fast-moving guy had quite the plummage! I haven't figured out what species he is yet. You can research with me by clicking the the "butterfly and moth" link in my sidebar. I did some research and found out that this species of caterpillar is a Milkweed Tussock Moth.

Watercolor Pencil Lilies

This is my first try at painting with watercolor pencils. I did this rendering of one of our pink Lilies that I photographed this Summer. I liked the control of using a pencil, but could brush over it with water to get the painterly effect. The next subject I'm going to try is from a photo I took of a Semipalmated Sandpiper at the wildlife refuge.



Young Cardinals are visiting the feeder now. We still have Chickadees, House Sparrows, and the Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds.

Chaplin Nature Center

Migrating Monarch

Beautiful wild grasses.

The Arkansas River in the background.

I loved the purple color of these wild grasses.

State flower of Kansas, the Sunflower.

My husband and I decided we'd better check out another local place for some birding so we visited the Chaplin Nature Center. It has nice walking trails and we took the one that heads down to the river. It's about a mile hike. Well, we saw a Great-horned Owl flying away and a Great Blue Heron flying away down the river. It was almost dusk, so we couldn't stay long. We need to go again and allow ourselves more time. On the way back to the parking area we were rewarded with seeing a doe with her two fawns. The fawns still had their spots. She didn't see us right away...I tryed to get a picture...but all I managed to do was scare the "dickens " out of them.

End of Summer

Killdeer

Great Blue Heron

pictures by cindyzlogic

It's the end of Summer in Kansas. The Spring birds, like Robins, must have migrated South. My husband and I took one of our Grand-daughters to a local lake to enjoy the last day of Summer for her. She would be starting school on Monday. The lake is known as a good birding spot as well. I saw a couple of different Terns, I think one was a Least Tern. I saw it through small binoculars, it looked to have a black & white striped head. It was perched on a buoy. Another larger Tern flew at it and took the Least Tern's spot on the buoy. It looked to have an all black cap. I checked the field guide and can only deduce it was a Forster's Tern. We saw 3 Great Blue Heron's, several Canadian Geese, and lots of Killdeer. I love these little Plovers! An hour before sunset there were a dozen or so Killdeer together. They would stand in a certain way, then bob their heads like they were hiccupping. They seemed to be doing some sort of ritual of which I would have no clue.

Lastly, and the most exciting for us, was finding a Belted Kingfisher. I took some pictures, but he was too far away for a decent photo with my camera. We watched him for quite some time. When we first spotted him he had a fish in his beak. It took him awhile to work on swallowing it. Then he dived into the water about 4 more times, but came up empty. He then flew closer and perched on some power lines. He seemingly came closer to check us out. We also got a chance to hear his call...very different. We have never seen one of these birds before!

Quivira National Wildlife Refuge

Black-necked Stilt

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Snowy Egret

Western Great Egret

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Pied-billed Grebe

My favorite, Snowy Plover Fledgling

White-faced Ibis

White-faced Ibis

female, Yellow-headed Blackbird

American White Pelican

Lesser Yellowlegs

Eastern Kingbird

Dusk at the refuge

We had an exciting, adventurous day at the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. Our oldest son, Will, his wife Morgan, and their kids (6 of our grandchildren) traveled up there. We brought along binoculars, cameras, a picnic lunch, and a curiosity to learn, first hand, about the birds that migrate through Kansas. It has been a very wet summer, so the marshes were lush with plant life and aquatic life, I could see fish jumping out of the water, wildlife and bird life. There was also LOTS of water! When we first got there, we had to watch out not to run over a Red-eared Slider. The kids were thrilled with the turtle. Later my son spotted a huge bullfrog. We saw several White-tailed Deer and a Swift Fox. The refuge had many walking trails, interpretive trails, driving scenic by-ways, camera blinds, and a couple of spotting scopes set-up for people to use. We are looking forward to visiting again later this Fall when many more shorebirds, cranes, ducks, and geese migrate through the refuge.