Blog 6. Kansas!

    male Yellow-headed Blackbird

I drive from Bartlesville, OK, through the Tallgrass Prairie Reserve to Kansas, and spend the night at the historic Wolf Hotel in downtown Ellinwood, KS. I am the only patron this evening and have the whole Victorian second floor to myself (I am sleeping in Room 1 and working in the upstairs dining room). It was there, among the ancient photographs and bricabrac that I composed the last blog I sent out.

   Hudsonian Godwits with artistic "backlighting"

The next morning I returned to the flooded field, 4 miles to the east, where I discovered a group of 30 Hudsonian Godwits the evening before when driving up from OK. This field was much like the field I watched Hudsonian’s in Oklahoma, an unplanted stubble field with standing water crossing much of it. The presence of Franklin’s Gulls in numbers alerted me to the possibility of shorebird associates. In the deepest water were flocks of Redheads and Blue-winged Teal.

    Cliff Swallows collecting mud for their globular clay nests

I had studied the godwits for about an hour the night before, which kept me from getting to my planned campsite at Cheyenne Bottoms (hence the surprise stay in the ancient hotel). The predicted arrival of the night’s rain also discouraged me from setting up camp that evening.

    Western Willet showing his stuff

The next morning I returned to observe and photograph the godwits at the field to the east. Conditions were poor (dark and gloomy, with wind). I wandered in tall boots trying to approach the birds, but without success…

    Eastern Kingbirds were abundant in the fields, recent arrivals from south

I retreated to Granny’s Kitchen in Great Bend, KS, for a palliative home-cooked breakfast featuring hand-made corned beef hash and sourdough bread. This was very fine. This tiny establishment on the edge of town is a favorite of those living in this farming community.

     flock of White Pelicans

I then visited the Kansas Wetland Education Center on the east side of Cheyenne Bottoms, and got some intel on possible shorebird sites (turned out not to be helpful). The high water has made shorebird habitat minimal in the Reserve.

     Black Tern

After an hour touring the dikes of the massive circular shallow lake, I made my way to the campground, which was little more than a grassy expanse under a line of ancient Cottonwoods next to a slim strip of woodland out in the open expanse of fields and prairie—with Cheyenne Bottoms lake just to the east. Here I had ready access to the Bottoms, but little else. Amazingly, I had good internet service and could send and receive emails (I was 3 miles south of Hoisington, KS).

     resting flock of Black Terns

The Bottoms at the time of my visit has no shorebird habitat. It is, instead, habitat for scores of friendly Black Terns, working their way back and forth along the channels by the dike.

Black Terns on the East Coast are uncommon and rarely seen in numbers. Here I could find 30 perched on a metal railing (below).

     line of Black Terns

White Pelicans also frequent the waterways. Soaring overhead, they are huge and graceful…

The next day I return to the godwit field to find no birds of any kind, and then after another obligatory visit to Granny’s Kitchen I traveled south to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, another reserve famed for its shorebirds. Not much, though, this AM.

A pair of Upland Sandpipers in a barren farm field was the highlight on the shorebird front (actually, on the “grasspiper” front).

     Female (back) and male (front) Wilson's Phalaropes  (Female is the bright one!)

The landbird highlight was 24 Red-headed Woodpeckers working the roadsides, flying gracefully with their marvelous white wing and back patches, shining in the sun.

     Red-headed Woodpecker, loving the telephone poles to death

The surprise bird of the day came from the verge of the campsite woods—several Harris’s Sparrows coming out of the thickets to feed on seeds along the edge of the dirt road of the campground.

    Harris's Sparrows

The next morning I set up my folding chair near the section of the camping area frequented by the Harris’s Sparrows and waited, not long, and out they came to forage. For East Coasters and West Coasters this is a special bird. They winter in the southern heartland and breed up in the far north of Canada.

    Harris's Sparrow

The next day (13 May) I depart for Nebraska. I say farewell to the shorebird-free Cheyenne Bottoms and head for parts north. Driving north on route 81 in north-central Kansas, zipping along at 75 mph, out of the corner of my eye is a flooded field and three large birds.

    Harris's Sparrow

I stop to photograph three Hudsonian Godwits, just south of Minneapolis, KS. I see one dip its beak deep into the water and draw out a 7-inch worm. It skitters away from the other two to avoid a theft of a tasty morsel.

    Hudsonian Godwits seen from highway 81 at 75 mph

I’ve been on the road for 23 days and now have tallied Hudsonian Godwits on 6 of the last 7 days, and have counted 248 bird species total. Twenty-three species of shorebirds (Scolopacidae), and 26 species of wood warblers. Next stop, Nebraska, the Corn Husker state.

    Snowy Plover