function get_first_image() { global $post, $posts; $first_img = ''; ob_start(); ob_end_clean(); $output = preg_match_all('//i', $post->post_content, $matches); $first_img = $matches [1] [0]; if(empty($first_img)){ //Defines a default image $first_img ="http://yoursite.com/image.png"; } return $first_img; } http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu Gateway to Kansas's wetlands Mon, 20 May 2013 18:15:25 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.3 http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/the-wetland-explorer-101-ways-to-help-birds/ http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/the-wetland-explorer-101-ways-to-help-birds/#comments Mon, 20 May 2013 18:15:25 +0000 Curtis Wolf http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/?p=2967
This article appeared in the Great Bend Tribune on Sunday, May 19 as part of the monthly KWEC column, The Wetland Explorer. Saturday, April 27 was one of the bigger days of events for the Kansas Wetlands Education Center with three very different scheduled events taking place.  The morning had the first-ever Wild Goose Chase 5k and 1 mile Fun Run at Cheyenne Bottoms with 160 participants running or walking over the dike roads.   For [...]]]> http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/the-wetland-explorer-101-ways-to-help-birds/feed/ 0 http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/wild-goose-chase-results/ http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/wild-goose-chase-results/#comments Wed, 01 May 2013 21:53:57 +0000 admin http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/?p=2955
A cool, drizzly morning proved to be a great setting for the first ever Wild Goose Chase 5k/1Mi Fun Run through Cheyenne Bottoms. The Wild Goose Chase was hosted and sponsored by the Kansas Wetlands Education Center and Eagle Communications. Other sponsors of the event included:  Best Western Angus Inn, City of Great Bend, Clara Barton Hospital and Clinic, Doonan Peterbilt and GMC, Great Bend Farm Equipment, Grove Chiropractic, Harper Camperland, Identifications Co. Awards and [...]]]> http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/wild-goose-chase-results/feed/ 0 http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/spring-migrant-spotlight-wilsons-phalarope/ http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/spring-migrant-spotlight-wilsons-phalarope/#comments Tue, 16 Apr 2013 22:32:38 +0000 Jordan Hofmeier http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/?p=2947
A few Wilson’s Phalaropes have been spotted at Cheyenne Bottoms and they are right on schedule.  These shorebirds usually show up around April 12th during their  spring migration from their wintering range in the southern areas of South America.  As many as 87,000 have been estimated at one time in the Cheyenne Bottoms wetlands. The Wilson’s Pharalope breeds in the northern Midwest states.  Its breeding habitat has been reduced by up to 50% in some [...]]]> http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/spring-migrant-spotlight-wilsons-phalarope/feed/ 1 http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/wetland-explorer-celebrate-spring/ http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/wetland-explorer-celebrate-spring/#comments Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:35:39 +0000 admin http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/?p=2939
This article, by Pam Martin, KDWPT educator at KWEC, appeared in the March 24 edition of The Great Bend Tribune. The killdeer arrived last week, yarrow is starting to send out new leaves and the cranes, ducks and geese are flying north in great flocks – spring has arrived to our part of the world. Soon birds will be nesting, frogs and toads gathering at ponds and other wet areas, and baby animals venturing forth to [...]]]> http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/wetland-explorer-celebrate-spring/feed/ 0 http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/spring-migrant-spotlight-long-billed-dowitcher/ http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/spring-migrant-spotlight-long-billed-dowitcher/#comments Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:24:10 +0000 Jordan Hofmeier http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/?p=2921
Welcome to the first webpost of a new series from the Kansas Wetlands Education Center.  The Spring Migrant Spotlight will provide interesting information about species arriving to Cheyenne Bottoms during spring migration.  Visit the Bottoms to see these birds for yourself! The Long-billed Dowitcher spends its winters in the southern United States and Central America.  As temperatures rise and days get longer in the late winter months, these shorebirds head north.  Long-billed Dowitchers arrive at [...]]]> http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/spring-migrant-spotlight-long-billed-dowitcher/feed/ 0