Ken Lassman has been keeping this almanac for over a decade, He invites you to share your observations and photos in the comments section. You can find his book Wild Douglas County at The Raven Bookstore in Lawrence.
July: Buffalo Mating Moon
The Osages commemorate the keystone species of the prairie, the bison, for its mating season, which used to be one of the greatest spectacles found in North America. The book The Osages has descriptions of the titanic battles between competing bulls and how they would plow up large areas of prairie sod as they pushed each other aroound. Read that and you’ll understand why the Osage called this the Bufffalo Mating Moon.
This month is a time when many songbirds molt, or lose their colorful feathers that helped attract a mate in the spring. It is a time when many gooseberries are ripe in the woods, when warm season grasses shoot up tall and wildflowers grow taller to compete for the sun. Cicadas sing during the day, with damelflies and dragonflies eating mosquitoes while dodging the watchful eye of the bullfrog. At night, katydids begin their song while lightning bugs stitch across yards, meadows and fields.
Thunderstorms seem to lose their way, appearing, moving and disappearing almost at random this time of year, causing flash flooding at one spot while leaving nearby areas dry. A wet road at night can host steamy fog and fast jumping frogs crossing the pavement, while moonlit nights can bring out many a nocturnal animal beating the heat of the day. If the moon isn’t bright, take a look at the milky way that the summer so nicely showcases, including the constellation Sagittarius in the south, which looks like a teapot outline in the sky but holds the center of our galaxy.
Kaw Valley Almanac 
I have seen a solitary cormorant standing on the same rock just below Bowersock Dam for nearly every day for I’d guess a month now. Passing through, you say?
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Could it overwinter here? Don’t really know–keep me posted. According to http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/double-crested_cormorant/lifehistory the double crested can stay year round, but only in coastal Mexico, coastal Pacific NW and Florida. If it is here for an extended time, my guess is that it breeds up north and has migrated this far south and will continue on if the weather turns nastier. The guy I took a picture of could be the same one you’re talking about since I’ve seen them before as well–2 or 3 at once sometimes. One November I saw a flock of cormorants flying high and using the Kaw as a guide, with the steady train of birds flying east going on for hours and hours.
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