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.
Not able to copy the video link to chorus frogs on you tube…any way ya all can fix this?
LikeLike
Sorry, Galen; the .pdf format that I upload the almanac with doesn’t
allow me to embed hypertext, meaning that you can’t point and click on the
link and go to the website that way. In my spare time, I’m looking at doing
a different format for the almanac, but springtime is busy so no deadline
for that project. In the meantime, the best I can offer is for you to click on
the almanac image, which will enlarge it a little bit, then click on your browser’s
website address and manually type it in, using the almanac’s image to make sure
you transcribe it correctly.
Good luck!
LikeLike
No problemo Amigo…enjoy the new season percolating under your feet…
LikeLike
Hello admin, i must say you have very interesting articles here.
Your blog should go viral. You need initial traffic only.
How to get it? Search for: Mertiso’s tips go viral
LikeLike