Kaw Valley Almanac

The large milkweed beetle is colorful for the same reason monarch butterflies are: to warn potential predators that their milkweed diet makes them poisonous and not worth eating.

Spiderwort is a perennial native wildflower that has started blooming in area prairies.

The incredible fuchsia pink of the prairie phlox wildflower is showing up in area prairies, joined by prairie violets, lingering creamy wild indigo, puccoons, verbena and many others on the verge of joining them.

The buckeye is found in native oak hickory woodlands in the eastern third of the state and is now blooming. These pretty flowers will eventually produce hard black buckeye seeds that some people keep in their pockets for good luck.

Beautiful luna moths, who in the caterpillar stage feed on but don’t harm walnuts and hickories, probably gain protection from toxic juglone present in the sap of the tree.

Five years ago, this redbud was in full bloom on March 31 in northeastern Kansas. This year, this tree will be looking the same at the beginning of next week. There is much yearly variability in our “continental” climate.

These Rue anemone flowers show the standard white flower next to a pink variant. Some genetic variations may just reflect random variation with no particular advantage or disadvantage.

Spring wildflowers have been slow to emerge in most of the state; however, it has begun, as evidenced by this false rue anemone in a native oak hickory woodland.

Sycamore trees are easy to spot this time of year due to their white bark and tendency to grow along creeks and wet areas.

Blue sky above, dormant land below: be sure to take in all of the changes that are going to take place in the coming weeks as the days lengthen and warm, triggering an ancient response of renewal.

After a grassland burn, rodent trails under the grasses become visible, such as these vole trails. It’s interesting to see where they go, including holes that go to burrows and nests.

The tallgrass prairie can be a great place to observe striking patterns in the dormant grasses and forbs, including the abstract swirls found in this patch of eastern gamagrass.

Deer have begun shedding their antlers. This might be a good week to walk the woods looking for them, before rodents start chewing on them for the calcium.