Wetland Explorer
The Wetland Explorer – Because No One Remembers Their Best Day of Television
Campers with the Great Bend Rec explore the marsh at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center at the recent Aquatic Camp. (Photo Credit: Students with Phil Heeke) This article appeared in the Great Bend Tribune on June 30, 2018 as part of the monthly KWEC column, The Wetland Explorer. In the Un...
The Wetland Explorer – What is H2O4?
KWEC will unveil new educational displays in the Koch Wetlands Exhibit Hall in early November, including this Augmented Reality Sandbox, which will teach visitors about watershed managment. This article appeared in the Great Bend Tribune on October 21, 2018 as part of the monthly KWEC colum...
Wetland Explorer: Powerhouse hunting
Intent on his prey, a black-tailed jack rabbit, the golden eagle glides over wheat stubble in pursuit. Golden eagle talons exert over 400 pounds per square inch of pressure, 15 times that of the human hand. The braided cord trailing from the eagle's legs are jesses, used by the falconer to hold the...
The Wetland Explorer-Wonders of Migration
A group of snowy egrets perch on a water control structure at Cheyenne Bottoms. Snowy egrets are a migratory species that spends its summers at Cheyenne Bottoms, but will migrate south for the winter. (Photo by Dan Witt) This article appeared in the Great Bend Tribune on Sunday, August 24...
The Wetland Explorer – Celebrate World Wetlands Day
This article appeared in the Great Bend Tribune on Sunday, January 27th as part of the monthly KWEC column, The Wetland Explorer. What will you be doing on February 2nd? Spending a quiet Saturday at home? Taking the family out for some winter fun? How about taking a moment to celebrate all the...
The Wetland Explorer – Flight of the dragonfly
By Pam Martin, KDWPT educator at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center This article was printed in the Sept. 15 issue of The Great Bend Tribune. Twisting and turning, hovering here for a few seconds then changing course and darting the opposite direction, watching dragonflies can be as entertaining...
The Wetland Explorer – 101 Ways to Help Birds
Red-winged blackbirds converge on bird feeders at the KWEC this winter. Blackbirds can be a nuisance. Removing your feeders for a few days when nuisance birds are overtaking them is one way you can help other bird species. This article appeared in the Great Bend Tribune on Sunday, May 19 as...
The Wetland Explorer – Fear the Fear
This article appeared in the Great Bend Tribune on Sunday, February 17 as part of the monthly KWEC column, The Wetland Explorer. What are you most afraid of? The dark? Spiders? Snakes? Things that go bump in the night? Many of the common fears expressed by humans relate back to animals. You a...
The Wetland Explorer - And then there was water
After a night of hard and steady rain, Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area has a little water once again. While most wetlands lack standing water for some parts of the year, Cheyenne Bottoms has gone through a long period of drought. This has left the area without water for many months, w...
Wetland Explorer: Squirrels offer winter entertainment
Date: 10/02/2013
Wed, 2 Oct 2013 |By Pam Martin Kansas Department Wildlife, Parks and Tourism educator people who feed birds often curse them, but for viewing fun, you can’t beat a fox squirrel. With tree branches stripped of leaves, these furry aerialists’ antics are easily viewed from the co...
The Wetland Explorer-Winter Visitors
Date: 02/16/2013
This article appeared in the Great Bend Tribune on Sunday, February 16 as part of the monthly KWEC column, The Wetland Explorer. Often, when people talk about big white birds being seen at Cheyenne Bottoms, the immediate thing that comes to mind is whooping cranes, the endangered birds that migrate...