Kaw Valley Almanac

This margined leatherwing beetle is a cousin of the lightning bug and is munching on the yellow pollen of a blooming leadplant.

Elderberry blossoms are opening. The flowers and fruits can be used to make elderberry pancakes, syrup, wine and pie, and the woody stems can be turned into flutes.

Milkweeds are currently blooming, but this means much more to species other than us, such as this monarch butterfly caterpillar.

The common milkweed is underrated as a spectacular wildflower, with its fireworks-like spray of fragrant flowers that attract bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Many milkweed species are blooming this week.

The humble roughleaf dogwood shrub has begun blooming, spectacular in its own right, often overlooked compared to the flowering dogwood. Its flowers certainly got the attention of this summer azure butterfly.

This giant swallowtail was busy checking each verbena blossom. There are increasing numbers of butterflies with more nectar to drink; you can either try to follow a pollinator or just watch a cluster of flowers and see who comes by.

This carpenter bee is enjoying the nectar from the spider milkweed in Lexington Park in Johnson County.

Spiderworts are heralding the beginning of the next stage of prairie wildflowers. This is when the small wildflowers finish up and are replaced by taller species that stay above the newly greening prairie grasses or are shaded out in the woods.

Prairies have spring ephemerals, as evidenced by this lovely wild hyacinth, which is in the lily family in the eastern quarter of the state.

Recent rains have triggered morels, so go check your favorite haunts. Several have been seen under cedar trees this spring, something that only happens when conditions are just right.

A sure sign of spring is when the delicately lobed dutchman’s breeches leaves are joined by those white, upside down row white pants/flowers, with yellow belts at the bottom signaling the queen bumblebee where to poke her long tongue for nectar.

Five-petaled false rue anemone is one of the first spring flowers to start blooming in native oak hickory woods. See if you’ve had enough rain for these to bloom!

The dust in the foreground is pollen coming off a male eastern red cedar tree last week. Expect the trees to replenish and send out enough pollen to make it miserable for allergy sufferers in coming days.

The dust in the foreground is pollen coming off a male eastern red cedar tree last week. Expect the trees to replenish and send out enough pollen to make it miserable for allergy sufferers in coming days.

Sandhill cranes have been heading north through Kansas. Here’s an outdoor checklist for this week: See if you can hear a frog, see a goose, see a maple tree blooming, taste a wild onion leaf and smell a crocus.