Welcome to another edition of Marsh Musings. Thanks to all of you for the great feedback you have been sending us. We love hearing your thoughts about the articles and subjects you would like to see written about in the future. This week we are excited to write about perhaps one of our most memorable adventures yet; the finding of an injured snowy owl. The adventure began a few weeks ago when a Kansas Wetlands [...]
February. The time of the year when we romantically pour out our undying love and affection towards our significant other with flowers, chocolates, and other gifts on Valentine’s Day. Ironically, February seems like a complete contradiction to romanticism, sporting a barren landscape, dead flowers, leafless trees, and a temperature that is usually cold as the dickens. In fact, most animals have even bailed ship in hopes of finding a warmer locale or have buried themselves [...]
Welcome to another edition of Marsh Musings. It seems as though every media source in the United States is inundated with the upcoming election. All we hear is mud slinging, personal convictions, and often depressing news about our economy. We often lose sight of what America stands for: freedom, hard work, perseverance and never giving up just to name a few. Right now, we have a critter visiting the Bottoms that embodies all of these [...]
Welcome to another edition of Marsh Musings. I don’t think anyone who keeps up with the weather forecast for Barton County would have expected all of the snow we received at the Bottoms this past week. Snow this week in Barton County? Wondering if Doc and I have finally lost it? Sure, we did not get any snow in the form of precipitation, but we did get a lot of snow in the form of [...]
Welcome to a holiday edition of Marsh Musings. We hope you and yours have been enjoying the holidays as much as we have. The holiday season is surrounded by traditions, family gatherings, heaps of delicious, unhealthy food, and of course, the creation of new memories. The holidays are also the only time of the year when people, even biologists, are actually excited about and encourage deforestation of evergreen trees. One cannot help but smile as [...]
I will never forget my first experience with a pheasant in Kansas. I was nervous, my voice sounding like a pre-pubescent teenager as it cracked and cut out during conversation. I was already on edge riding back from my interview for the Educator position at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center with my future boss, Curtis Wolf. Was I doing ok? Did I seem like a good fit? Random thoughts were going through my head when [...]
Welcome to another edition of Marsh Musings. For most of the year, my red (more like orange) hair separates me from the general public. Sure it is easy to find me in a crowd, but sometimes it is nice to just go unnoticed. Right now, oodles of hunters are flocking from all over the United States to hunt pheasant and deer along the Wetlands and Wildlife Scenic Byway, and they come bringing blaze orange. That’s [...]
Welcome to another edition of Marsh Musings. We are nearing that time of year when we find ourselves thinking about all that we are thankful for. Dr. Witt and I are so grateful for the opportunity to write about our friendship and adventures at Cheyenne Bottoms and for those of you who read our column. Cheyenne Bottoms definitely holds a special place in our hearts and has fostered a friendship neither of us could have [...]
