Cheyenne Bottoms, Great Bend Kansas

Hwy 4 is very scenic with farms dotting the horizon and some have seen better days... I think of a tornado when I see this type scene, wonder how this small structure is still standing, and the windmill is still in operation. 

If you stop at one of the information centers in Kansas you might learn about the Post Rocks.  There is actually a Post Rock Scenic Byway...but you can see post rock almost anywhere in Kansas...

...and it is exactly what you think it is, rock cut to become fence posts...they are not tall...

I think in the beginning it was just land boundary markers, then later wire was added...

Limestone post last for years...and faced with no trees to cut for wood post the rock served it's purpose..

I have driven on I-70 across Kansas SOOOO many times over the years on trips to visit my sis, so this time I did NOT want to see one single mile of Kansas via I-70.  So taking back roads across was my plan and never going near St Louis Missouri was another part of my plan.  So I studied the map to see what else I might find interesting on the back roads of Kansas.  I saw a little blurb called "Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area" right off hwy 4 just a little bit south...so made a bee line for that.  Awesome huge place!! Amazing amount of wading birds, some waterfowl, and white pelicans.   The dirt roads were very rough other than that it was a good auto tour of about 8 miles.  I drove slow and saw what I could from the van,  the reeds were tall and made it a little hard to view the birds...I entered via Great Bend side and exited the tour on the Education Center side...

Hundreds of Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, and some Little Blue Herons were spotted, as well as Great Blue Herons, Ibis Glossy and White Faced...

Glossy Ibis

Snowy Egrets 

the water level in the canals can be raised and lowered by a series of dykes...

wood duck 

Waterfowl I spotted included Cinnamon Teal, Wood Duck, Ruddy Duck, Mallard, Mottled Duck, Canada Goose, Pied Billed Grebe, American Coot., Double Crested Cormorant, to name a few..

Cinnamon Teal

 Ruddy Duck

...and way up high lots of white pelican coming in for landings...the shoreline of the lake was 50 ft deep with white pelicans..I estimated 2,000 but I think that is way short of the reality. 

white Pelicans line the shoreline Thousands of them,

sooo many, awesome to see... also in great numbers were tree swallows & mixed flocks of blackbirds...and lots of Franklin's Gulls. 

Imm Red winged Blackbird 

A flock of Brown Headed Cowbird, and I see at least one Yellow Headed Blackbird in the mix..

So pretty here!

Franklin's Gull

and I spotted this Peregrine who at first I thought was a Prairie Falcon, but the marks under the eye the dark lines going down are in the wrong place and too heavy for Prairie, so I think Immature Peregrine...with a kill, unfortunately a truck pulling a boat passed by so fast it scared the bird and he took off and dropped his kill...hope he was able to retrieve it..

If you happen to be in this area in April they have good Prairie Chicken Lek tours so says the website...

Reservations ONLY so plan early, you can get the info on that link. 

I wasn't as enthusiastic about taking photos on this day I had some problems with my camera, and the day was HOT cruising on those dirt roads with windows down was hard and the dogs were panting so I finally just gave up rolled up the windows put on the AC and left...this would be a great spot to hit about the 3rd week of October!    

I think the miles were catching up with me, so I  traveled only another 40 miles and stopped for the night...found a really great quiet spot...at the Kanopolis Lake Army COE Riverside Park campground a great deal with an electric site costing me only $4. I used the electric to run the fans Kansas was HOT!  The big lake was across the road with a a larger campground, but I just needed a quiet spot to spend the evening and walk the dogs,  a good trail took us down to the Smokey Hill  River, and it had a little waterfall...only about 3 ft high but still it was nice the sound of falling water...

Smokey Hill River

Another cool thing in this campground was all these trees had painted lady butterflies all over the trunks!  Thousands of them..in fact I moved to a site away a  bit to get away from them cause they were getting into the van and everything...

Never seen anything like this...and down along the river, I saw a lot of monarch butterflies fluttering by...Really awesome experience!

In the morning I drove over the dam to see the lake...and saw TONS more Franklin's Gulls...

chattering Franklin's Gulls

we don't see these back east..

Then continued  East to the Flint Hills Region of Kansas. 

More on that next post....

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Day Tripper...

Mar. 10 Bear Island WMA-

I meant to do a post on my most recent finished projects on the House Make Over, but I never got around to taking the photos! My head is just not in it right now as it is SPRING! I mean it came so fast, it is now each day hitting the 80's for us. I've been so buzzed about Birds lately..I do take it "by spells" as my Grandmother used to say....meaning it is my focus for a while then it wanes, never fades tho.  Anywho Like I said ITS Spring...I'm on a bender of a sort....soon I'll be hoping for Warblers and other migrants to stop over!!

some of the shrubs in the yard

...decided to take my itchy foot down to the Low Country and to Bear Island WMA, to check out the ponds before the changing of the guards and the migration is in full swing.  This area is located near the Ashepoo River not too far away from Charleston...its about a 2 - 1/2 hr ride for me..put my coffee in the cup holder and off I went...Casey came along but he was happy to nap in the back we had the windows down and air felt NICE!

Ashepoo River 

along the same road is the Airy Hall Plantation...C-1701

this plantation once consisted of 16,000 acres and rice was the main crop

The Wildlife Management Area means they cater to hunters...which I hate but as a birder you will hear the argument about the duck stamp yada yada yada, anywho its a great place when its NOT hunting season..

ebird showed a recent Ruff sighting, I don't have a scope...must check ebay for a bargain on one..... if I saw it I didn't recognize it...Shorebirds are a great mystery to me...they all look alike in the winter/fall plumage, I am trying very hard to improve and that's partly why I made this day trip...  So here's some of what I did see; lots of Northern Shovelers,



and quite a large number of Green Winged Teals

And quite a lot of shorebirds were present! I am still trying to figure out exactly who I saw....of course as is usually the way they were on the Far Side, and with the sun behind them...so good photos didn't really happen. I squinted till I was nearly blind!  Helped a Turtle across the road..

An awesome sunny day was had by me and quite a few other birders who car pooled in.... am I a bigot if I say they all looked alike too? Individuality is dying....
These Spanish moss covered trees make a natural bridge over the roadway...very dramatic...

Down at the Hog Island pond spotted lots of American Avocet,  and one Forster's Tern

Here's an Avocet resting they were so busy catching small crustaceans swishing their heads back  forth...

....kinda made me dizzy just watching...

Greater  & Lesser Yellow Legs were plentiful...

and am going with Dunlin on these and the smaller one a Western Sandpiper 

Pretty sure those legs are dark....but to me this is a Reddish Egret. 

and a Bald Eagle soared over me a few times...

tho this is not a good clear shot Im thinking this is a Least Sandpiper 

and several Glossy Ibis were around...

saw 2 alligators, it was warm so most were in the water cooling off...

I almost stepped on a snake! I scared it so bad it nearly jumped 3 ft..

and the A. White Pelican flew over looking like a crop duster---- he was so big! I swear the wing spread seemed to be 8 ft across...

so it was a fun Day Trip and I hummed Day Tripper by the Beatles of course all the way home, "it took me so long to find out... but I found out....lala''

back home: The Eastern Bluebirds in my yard have already starting nesting, and soon our hummingbirds will arrive for the season...Looking forward to seeing those guys!! 

Can't believe how fast the winter went this year, now we have to turn the clock forward, I protest!! 

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.