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 and The Community Mercantile in Lawrence.
Deer Mating Moon – October
The Osage called this time Deer Mating Moon to commemoratee the very noticeable ree-appearance of the bucks, who are beginning to “rut,” which they literally do with their hooves. They find a prominent place and scrape the groundcover clear of vegetation as part of their mating ritual.
Hackberry, ash, box elder and elm trees are the first to turn yellow this month, providing nice contrast to the reds of sumac, poison ivy and Virginia creeper as their green chlorophyll plays out leaving either the yellow or red chlorophylls to collect the shorter day’s sunlight. Mid-late month spells the end of the growing cycle for annuals with the first killing frosts coming then most years. Mid-month is a great time to find native prairie patches, looking for the coppery colored grasses that distinguish them from the greens of cool season grasses such as brome, fescue and, of course, wheat.
Bird migration is building all month, with seagulls that breed in Canada passing through the area, along with pelicans, geese, and various ducks. A trip to Clinton or any other area reservoir, or the Wakarusa Wetlands is almost always a rewarding outing, whether it be for the migrating fowl around sunrise or sunset, or the changing colors of fall. This is the favorite time of year for many folks who like to be outdoors–what are you waiting for?
Kaw Valley Almanac 
Do you know why wordpress is not allowing my comments (tried both Chrome and Firefox)? I had the same block on a different wordpress site. A quick search on Google shows others with problems but no solutions.
My comment: Do you know of a web site that translates bird counts into a graphical representation over some period of years. I – just for my self – have seen fewer eagles at the Kaw River Bridge this season – but I don’t record numbers. bert From: Kaw Valley Almanac To: berthens@yahoo.com Sent: Sunday, February 1, 2015 11:29 PM Subject: [New post] February 2 – 8, 2015 Kaw Valley Almanac #yiv4609905997 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv4609905997 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv4609905997 a.yiv4609905997primaryactionlink:link, #yiv4609905997 a.yiv4609905997primaryactionlink:visited {background-color:#2585B2;color:#fff;}#yiv4609905997 a.yiv4609905997primaryactionlink:hover, #yiv4609905997 a.yiv4609905997primaryactionlink:active {background-color:#11729E;color:#fff;}#yiv4609905997 WordPress.com | wilddouglascounty posted: “” | |
LikeLike