Myself and one of our graduate students did a little birding while we were working on some water sampling in Cheyenne Bottoms. Pretty active day with a significant increase in open water this afternoon. In Pool 1 we saw 10 adult bald eagles and 2 juveniles, 50 or so ring-billed gulls with what appeared to be 2 herring gulls amidst them. Saw 75 or so geese, mostly cackling, 20 pintails, and 100′s of mallards, gadwall [...]
Bird Watch
Thanks to Dr. Witt for the daily snowy owl update: “Both owls still present at 8:30 this morning. Owl #1 has moved west in pool 2 about 150 yards to another similar concrete bunker. Owl #2 has moved further north and west to a similar perch. Both are far enough out in the marsh that they are difficult to see and require careful observation to find them. There are lots of different raptors in the [...]
Many thanks to Dan Witt for keeping us updated on the Snowy Owl at Cheyenne Bottoms. And more good news today, Dr. Witt reports, “I checked on the owl this morning. At 10:30 she was on another bunker– too far out for a decent photograph. About 150 yards past her perch, another owl lifted off from the refuge side of the road and went to the next bunker past the original owl. We now have [...]
I saw this owl about 10:00 in pool 2 at the Cheyenne Bottoms. Originally she was sitting on a walkway rail. I got 2 images before she flew. As she flew, a pair of Northern Harriers chased and swooped at her– almost putting her on the ground. She got to a concrete bunker and perched. At 5:00 yesterday afternoon she was in the same spot and apparently hadn’t moved all day. I hope she hunted [...]
One of the most common questions we get at the visitor’s center is, “When is the best time to visit the Bottoms?” This is an easy question to answer: there are interesting animals to be seen at Cheyenne Bottoms at every time of year! Winter is no exception. After the departure of most shorebird species, as well as the Sandhill and Whooping Cranes, birds of prey become the focus of many bird watchers visiting the [...]
It is that time of year again when trees, the few we have here in Kansas, begin losing their leaves, the temperature drops, and snow shovels and driveway salt become a hot commodity at local stores as we prepare for the upcoming winter months. It is also the time of year where bird enthusiasts prepare for one of the coolest citizen science opportunities available throughout the year. Citizen science is where volunteers, many of whom [...]
November 1, 2011 turned out to be quite a whooping crane day here at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center. There is a lot of hustle and bustle that comes when whooping cranes show up at the wetlands. Here is an account: 8:00am – There is a report on the KS Bird Listserve of 4 whooping cranes spotted at about 6:00pm on October 31 at Cheyenne Bottoms 8:15am – A new morning report comes in of 6 [...]
