Kaw Valley Almanac
Note from the Times: The Kaw Valley Almanac is a contributed piece that runs each week. Find more information and older editions at kawvalleyalmanac.com, and follow @KVAlmanac on Twitter.
this week’s Almanac
Kaw Valley Almanac for Dec. 23-29, 2024
Here is a wide angle sunset photo taken on the winter solstice, when the sun is as far south on the horizon as it will get. The horizon point of sunset/sunrise will slowly start moving north.
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Kaw Valley Almanac for April 3-9, 2023
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.
Kaw Valley Almanac for March 27 – April 2, 2023
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.
Kaw Valley Almanac for March 20-26, 2023
Sycamore trees are easy to spot this time of year due to their white bark and tendency to grow along creeks and wet areas.
Kaw Valley Almanac for March 13-19, 2023
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.
Kaw Valley Almanac for March 6-12, 2023
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.
Kaw Valley Almanac for Feb. 27-March 5, 2023
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.
Kaw Valley Almanac for Feb. 20-26, 2023
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.
Kaw Valley Almanac for Feb. 13-19, 2023
Super Bowl sunset: The sky tipped us off who it was rooting for by flashing Kansas City’s colors right before the game began. Several flocks of geese honked in their support, too!
Kaw Valley Almanac for Feb. 6-12, 2023
You can identify many more prairie plants than you might suspect by their leaves. Wild indigo, featured in this photo, keeps its leaves on all winter long.
Kaw Valley Almanac for Jan. 30 – Feb. 5, 2023
This bald eagle was photographed hanging out in a cottonwood tree below the Bowersock Dam that is located on the Kaw River in Lawrence. Eagles overwinter up and down the Kaw and Missouri Rivers, and quite a few of them now make their nests in Kansas.
Kaw Valley Almanac for Jan. 23-29, 2023
Even though the snow was short-lived most places, it can record much animal activity that would otherwise go unseen. See if you can figure out which tracks were made by birds and which by mice.
Kaw Valley Almanac for Jan. 16-22, 2023
Even though the ground is damp on the surface in may areas, this swale at the Wakarusa wetlands shows shrunken pools with brown dirt shores, as drought conditions persist. This week’s rains, if you get some, will provide a chance to see fresh animal tracks along the receded muddy shoreline.
Kaw Valley Almanac for Jan. 9-15, 2023
Sycamores are white barked and easy to spot lining creeks, where this water-loving tree likes to grow. Another way to enjoy them is to see their smooth round seed balls that stay on the trees all winter long. They persist into the spring, when they can be pulled off and thrown at a wall, exploding into seeds.
Kaw Valley Almanac for Jan. 2-8, 2023
This milkweed pod had most of its seeds float away to points unknown, save 5 little seeds which, bereft of the fluff, or coma, will likely slip to the ground near this plant, perhaps to grow there.
Kaw Valley Almanac for Dec. 26, 2022 – Jan. 1, 2023
Look closely and see some of the thousands of snow geese who flew west along the Kaw River Valley west of Topeka last week ahead of the snows and wind. Geese can read the weather pretty darn well.