I am not sure what KABT’s goal for the field trip were but for me they were two-fold.  I wanted to provide an inspirational outdoor experience for four of my senior students, and two of my children, who eagerly participated in the trip, while learning myself about the wonderful short-grass prairie from our very own sage, the Yoda-like natural history master, Stan Roth. 

In both regards the trip was a resounding success, even though I failed to continue to follow Noah’s driving lead into better pastures where he was finally able to witness the character of our pursuit, the endangered a recently re-established Black-Footed Ferret (see Noah’s posts). 

If you are sad that you missed the trip, continue on since I did my best to record it all for you…

More specifically, follow along to see what I saw, learn what I learned, listen while I contemplate what KABT may have learned, and educate yourself on the prairie dog wars of Logan County, Kansas in hopes of a return trip to this wonderful county… 

I apologize up front for the lack of quality audio in some of the following videos…  I was just using a flip mino, and as you will see, it can get quite windy out west. 

Also, two the videos I am sharing are too large for YouTube standards (more than 10 minutes), so I have provided a link to the files being stored elsewhere.  They should open and play in windows media player but if not (which has happened to me already), just right-click, save to your local machine, and view using Quick Time.  I will continue to work on having them display in a more user friendly manner…

What did I see?

I know I won’t be all inclusive since I didn’t record all the plants and birds that we observed, but here goes…

yucca, indian blanket, prince’s plume, little bluestem, buffalo grass, western salsify, prickey pear and button cactus, sage, larkspur, stinkhorn mushroom, green sunfish (in the Smoky Valley River that had flowing water), great plains toad, woodhouse’s toad, plains spadefooted toad, ornate box turtle, prairie lizard, six-linned racerunner, earless lizard, coachwhip, plains garter snake, common kingsnake, bullsnake, prairie rattlesnake, racer, western hognose snake, eastern and western kingbirds, mocking bird, blue jay (two words), orchard oriole, barn owl, red-headed woodpecker, grasshopper sparrow, horned lark, barn swallow, cliff swallow, night hawk, turkey vulture, red-tailed hawk, burrowing owl, ferruginous hawk, unidentified rodents, kangaroo rat, cotton tail rabbit, black-tailed jack rabbit, raccoon, white-tailed deer, mule deer, pronghorn, and swift fox. 

It sounds like a short-grass prairie doesn’t it?

Well, we also saw humans, yellow sweat clover, corn, wheat, a dog, some cats, lambs, chickens, and quite a number of cows.  No herds of bison, at least out west…

• View my pdf slideshow of images from KABT Spring 2010 Field Trip to Logan County, Kansas

What did I learn?

1. From Stan, How to capture a Kangaroo Rat… at least theoretically…

and the empirical results…

more on Kangaroo Rats from David Attenbourgh at YouTube…

2. Stinkhorns really do attract flies! 

Maybe these videos (or pictures from the slide show) could be used in conjunction with Brad’s recent images of aphids to begin to produce a class set of such “interaction” images that students could use as a springboard for learning about interesting and complex ecological relationships…

3. about the Cretaceous Seas of Kansas from Chuck Bonner (~15 minute video).

4. Cochineal scale insects, found on prickly pear cacti, produce a cool pigment called Carmine!

more on Cochineal insects at wikipedia…

5. From rancher Larry Haverfield, How to manage your land for Prairie Dogs (~50 minutes video)

6. How to spotlight for Black-Footed Ferrets!

listen for  Owen’s prophetic response to my saying “but we haven’t seen a ferret yet”…

What may KABT have learned?

Well, I don’t want this to come across wrong but it turned out to be a blessing that so many KABTers were unable to make the field trip this spring.  In an effort to boost participant numbers, Brain Coon approached Stan to consider opening up the trip to a few of our students, and he agreed.  Thanks Stan!  Thus, six lucky high school students were able to be moved by the western scenery of our state.

The trip proved to be a mutualistic group learning experience where besides the tradiational teachers-learning-from-teachers situation, students learned from teachers, teachers learned from students, and students learn from each other. 

My experiences with taking students on the Kansas Herpetological Society spring and fall field trips for over 10 years has taught me that such outdoor opportunities can change the trajectory of a student.  I know that KABT has been open to the children of participants in the past, and I certainly wouldn’t want student particpation to keep a teacher from participating or from overshadow learning by the members themselves, but I think the society should consider killing two birds with one stone and continue to open up appropriate spring field trips to student participation. 

Prairie Dog Wars History & Noah’s Ferret Sighting from My Perspective.

Larry Haverfield, on June 5, 2o1o discussing his ranching approach with KABT Field Trip participants

December 5, 2006, Outlaw Prairie Dogs Find Refuge with Rancher - NPR’s All Things Considered by Jeff Brady

December 6, 2006, In Kansas, a Line Is Drawn Around a Prairie Dog Town- New York Times by Felicity Barringer

August 5, 2007, Landowners, commisioners split over prairie dog control-  The Topeka Capital Journal by Jan Biles

December 20, 2007, Black-Footed Ferret’s Return to Kansas- Audobon of Kansas Website

December, 2007, Black-Footed Ferret’s Return to Kansas! – Defenders of Wildlife website

January 21, 2008, Poison talk not kaput – The Hays Daily News by Mike Corn (here is a link to an entire series of articles on the “Prairie Dog Divide” by Mike Corn)

December 20, 2008 – New war being waged against prairie dogs in Logan County by Mike Corn

November/December 2009, Doggone!- Audubon Magazine by Ted Williams

November 8, 2009, Prairie Dog Wars images - Mat Slaby images for Audubon article

April 2, 2010, Palco students help survey ferrets – The Hays Daily News by Richard Robinson

June 5, 2010, Larry Haverfield in his own words - video taped by Eric Kessler on the KABT Field Trip (same as the 50 minute video above) 

June 21, 2010, When some ranchers use poison – just like the old days – High Country News by Ted Williams

Noah Busch overlooking the prairie dog hole where he last observed the ferret just before sunrise!

Noah Busch and Stan Roth talking to Larry Haverfield about the mornings observations,
and here is the actual conversation…

If this post made you jealous, please consider joining us next year!

Welcome to the 2010 KABT fieldtrip. This is open to all who enjoy biology, members and non-members, we have a very exciting trip planned to the Nature Conservancy and Haverfield Ranch.

The Smoky Valley Ranch (SVR) is located about 15 miles south of Monument, KS. Lodging for the trip is available at multiple locations. For the purposes of this trip KABT has been given permission to use the primitive bunkhouse located on the ranch. The bunkhouse has 8 beds and also has a bath; you are required to bring your own linens and bedroll. The bunkhouse space will be given on a first come first serve basis. We have been given the permission to camp at the ranch for the nights of June 4 and 5. Other nearby camping locations includes Scott State Lake, located south of the ranch. Hotel accommodations can be found an hour and a half away in Oakley, KS.

The association needs an idea of how many people to expect for the field trip we do ask that attendees RSVP with the number of people that they plan on bringing by emailing bcoon@usd352.k12.ks.us . Please put “KABT trip” in the subject line.

Directions to the SVR headquarters and bunkhouse: To access the Headquarters/bunkhouse: at the east intersection of US-40 & US-83 at the south edge of Oakley, go south on US-83 for 11 miles to Seneca Rd. There are a couple of communication towers there. Go west on Seneca 7 miles to the “T” intersection and turn south. Drive another 7 miles. The SVR Hq. “campus” will be in view and there will be a gate/lane on the left [east] and one ahead [south] that may be closed. Take the east lane and travel s.e. to the metal office/storage/maintenance building and turn right [west] and drive down the lane to the large, stone ranch house………the bunkhouse. The address is 1114 County Rd. 370, Oakley KS

What to bring:
First and foremost, it is highly suggested to have a full tank of gas. Other items to bring include cameras, binoculars, lawn chairs, hiking boots, a cooler of food for 3 meals, (Friday night, Saturday breakfast, and lunch), plenty of water, bug spray, and camping equipment.

Activities:
Friday evening: Meet at SVR for an evening of camaraderie with fellow KABT members.

Saturday: There are two hiking trails located on ranch, various groups will be formed based on biological interest and self-guided exploration of the area will take place. Near one of the hiking trails is a bison jump site. Also, the historic Butterfield Trail crosses the present ranch.

Possible sightings unique to western Kansas include: Prairie dogs, Prairie chickens, ferruginous hawks, Swift fox, Golden Eagles, Burrowing owls, Pronghorn, Prairie Rattlesnakes, short-grass prairie plant species, and at night the possibility of sighting black-footed ferrets on a nearby ranch (approximately 20 miles from Smoky Valley Ranch).

Saturday night: The plan is to meet at Mittens Truck Stop in Oakley, KS for a meal at 6:00, where we will eat (Dutch treat), and prepare for an evening of spotlighting the nocturnal black-footed ferret. Starting at 10-11:00 we will begin spotlighting at Haverfield Ranch.

Sunday Morning: disperse and head safely back to where you call home

For directions to the Smoky Valley Ranch see the nature conservancy website at

www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/kansas/preserves/art63.html

There is no charge for the day and non-members are welcome but we do encourage you to support KABT with your membership ($15/year, $5/year for students).

KABTers Birding

Getting the perfect picture!

The KABT annual spring fieldtrip is simply an opportunity to learn and interact with fellow biology teachers.  I have learned more biology than you can imagine from simply being around and listening to others!  I cannot overemphasize the importance of learning with others.  You build up your expertise, you build up your fellow biology teachers expertise and that is the kind of experience that will impact your teaching.  The field trip is NOT a test of what you do and don’t know in the outdoors, rather it is an opportunity to absorb the knowledge of those that can identify (with maybe 90% accuracy?).  I am the first to admit that I cannot name, identify, or give an natural history of quite few flora and fauna, but I attend these trips to learn (and also make fun of some of the older guys). Although as most of you know, its not necessarily what you learn but how you learn that builds your lifelong memories.  I simply wish every biology teacher could experience just one of these special trips.  You talk about school, kids, technology, and everything else, but you really get to absorb the thoughts and opinions of your peers.  I know that I will always value the thoughts and opinions of my fellow biology teachers.  This past Saturday, June 6, 2009, we met at the Wetlands Education building at Cheyenne  Bottoms.  After a great tour of the education center that included various displays, a teaching classroom, and an auditorium we carpooled over to the lookout tower in Cheyenne Bottoms.  After eating we took a driving tour that included numerous stops along the way.  Although I do not have a comprehensive list of species we encountered I do know that I saw birds much closer than I have in the past, but beyond that I had an opportunity to commune with nature with some other nature lovers. By the way, it appears that there is an inverse relationship between the quality of a biology teachers’ joke and their years of experience (personal observation during this trip).  I hope all KABTers and any biology teachers that wish to will try to attend at lease one of these awe inspiring journeys around Kansas!

A couple of picts from Charlotte:

Yellow Headed Blackbird

birdwatching

A view of Cheyenne Bottoms from Lookout Point

Observing Crayfish

From Fort Hays Univeristy Wetlands Education Center Website

We will be meeting at 10am at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center at the Bottoms.  We have reserved a classroom there, and are asking participants to bring any materials we can use to collaborate and create a lesson/lab or two that we can then take back and do with our classrooms next year.  That may mean bringing laptops, microscopes, slides, petri dishes, dropping pipettes, cameras, nets, buckets, binoculars, etc.  The classroom that is reserved has tables and chairs, and that is about it, so we need to bring all of our own lab equipment.

For those who want to arrive Friday and camp out, we will be at the Venango campground at Kanopolis State Park, about 45 minutes northeast of Cheyenne Bottoms.  Friday evening we will have fly fishing, bird watching, and other activities for those who are interested.  Please bring your own camping gear and food.   (Please see the Venango link for camping costs).

Friends and family are welcome!  Hope to see you there!

Johnson County Community College is offering teachers Introductory and Advanced biotechnology classes. There is no charge for the classes and a stipend is available for attendees. See attachment for details.  educator_information1

Teachers looking for paid summer internships should complete the attached application. biotech-summer-internship-application-2009 Placement can be arranged for 2-4 weeks at a biotechnology company.

Contact  Megan Gray for more details.

Several years ago as I was trying to impress on my students the predictive power of evolution I asked them to predict where in the state of KS would be the most likely area to find fossil dinosaur tracks. With a little bit of background info on the different rocks and their origins in the state the best prediction was the Dakota formation from the Cretaceous. Sure enough, I discovered at the museum that just over the KS line near Fairbury, NE dinosaur tracks have been documented from the Dakota—oooh, how I wish I still had that class.

After lunch in Lincoln we all motored up to Niobrara State Park at the confluence of the Niobrara river and the Missouri River. The park has spectacular views and has a very nice facilities–including a number of cabins for rent. Camping a great. We were able to find several adjacent tent sites. Harry and Charlotte parked their tent trailer nearby. Normally, at this time of year the park has a Friday night cookout that features bison burgers but not this year due to construction. Not to mess with tradition, I picked up some bison patties and KABT had our own bison cookout at Randy’s tent site. Good times.

The hills at Niobrara are covered in prairie grasses and dissected by ravines choked with junipers. The cedar waxwings were present in the hundreds or thousands, offering all of us lots of great looks at a really neat bird. Deer and turkey were not shy either–especially in the early hours of the next morning when several turkeys and deer were observed in close proximity to camp.

The park offers a new service, this year–a 2 hour boat ride on the Missouri. Eight Kansas campers took the tour led by one of the park’s superintendents. We learned about a unique collaboration between the local biology classes and Nebraska Game and Parks. Students help to grow and monitor biological controls for purple loosetrife (an invasive plant) and assist in monitoring least tern and piping plover nesting. We observed cliff swallows mudding their nests, nesting bald eagles, great scenery, debris evidence from the Mason, IA impact event in the Niobrara chalk bed and of course the river itself–well worth the fee.
After the boat ride we all packed up our gear and headed off to Ashfall State Park. Again, we were fortunate to have tour led by Michael Voorhies–the discoverer and dig director for the site. He is a great presenter as excited and enthusiastic as you imagine he must have been the day he found the baby rhino jaw sticking out of the ravine bank. He honors all questions with very clear explanations that are based on evidence. Never pedantic, every understanding that he shared from the Ashfall site he backed up with the evidence that led to the insight. For instance, he talked at length about the Crown cranes that were a surprise at the site and how they puzzled through the fossils, their structure and their link to modern African crown cranes. He shared their surprise and enlightenment when another specialist noticed the bone disease on the surface of the fossils that pointed to death by slow asphyxiation probably caused by the ash interfering with the respiratory system. He was eloquent as he described how they had pieced together the topography and climatology of the site–referring to the presence of large land tortoises as a sure sign that the temperature never dropped below freezing. Ashfall is expanding and they are building a new rhino barn and they will be excavating more of the site over the next few years–I’m going to have to go back and check out the new finds. Here’s some shots from Ashfall.

Outdoor experiences have and continue to inspire and enhance our interest in the biological sciences.  Unlike many of you I grew up in Kansas City without access to a diverse fauna and flora.  I do remember playing in a neighborhood creek and collecting crinoid fossils from behind what was Milgram’s Groceries at state line and 103rd.  My most memorable natural experiences derive from our annual family canoe trips in the pristine and protected waters of southern Missouri.  I would hound my father to canoe ahead of everyone else and steer me from one bank to the other so that I would have the best chance of observing and capturing the common map turtles that are frequently found basking on logs along the shore. 

If we want to inspire and motivate our students, we need to facilitate similar experiences (even James Watson began with an interest in ornithology).   Participation in the Kansas Herpetological Societies annual spring and fall field trips can provide an avenue for providing such experiences.

I became aware of the Kansas Herpetological Society in the mid-1990′s, after being told about the society by Dr. David Edds, an Emporia State ecology professor.  After spending a few years getting acquainted with the society, I began drumming up interest among my students, and by the end of the decade I was checking out one of our school’s nine passenger vans and taking students on the societies annual spring and fall herp trips.  For those less familiar with the activity of ‘herping’, the process is simple and requires two basic physical skills; walking and flipping rocks.

You can find out about the society at the KHS website.  The trips are held in one particular county each spring or fall, have historically ranged all over the state’s biogeographic regions, and are open to interested individuals (you don’t have to be a member of the society).  I have taken students as far as away as Morton County in the southwest and a nearby as Miami County directly to my south (I teach in JO).  You can view the pictoral history of my student’s experiences through pdf slideshows made with the free Adobe Photoshop Album Starter.  This year’s trip is to the lovely lands of Neosho County.

The typical trip proceeds something like the following:

1. Drive to an interesting county in Kansas on a Friday after school
2. Set up camp and meet the camping KHS membership
3. Meet KHS and local community members usually by 9 am Saturday morning for the Field Trip Coordinators briefing on the days plans
4. Herp on site or caravan to site(s) and Herp until lunchtime
5. Eat lunch at camp
6. Return to Herping at a new site until dinner time
7. Eat dinner at an interesting local establishment
8. Road cruise whether permitting
9. Hang out around a camp fire
10. Wake up and complete steps 3 and 4 again until noon on Sunday
11. Drive home

Well, I must stay that the experiences we have had on these trip is unforgetable, and students learn a great deal of authentic biology as well as general life skills.  Students may find and handle their first snake, become aware of the biological and geological diversity of this supposedly boring state, learn some basic camping skills, learn map orientation skills when we road cruise until the wee hours of the morning, and meet a group of other students and a society of people with similar interests.  They might even get lucky enough to practice extracting keys from inside a locked van, listen to and discuss the variety of opinions on whether or not turtles should be classified in their own order, and observe me trying to capture an armadillo by hand.  I still haven’t been successful but its fun when they jump up and race away.  If only I had more time in the field with one of our most distinguished and knowledgeable members (see him capturing a porcupine by hand).

Two concerns that you might have and that I have had over the years involve collecting specimens and the safety of my students.  I personally don’t allow students to collect pets on the trip, even if they legally can (I maintain enough live specimens in my class to help fulfill their desires indirectly).  If you need more information, you should familiarize yourself with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks rules and regulations for collecting non-game wildlife. 

With regard to safety, which obviously involves perparing students for the possibility of coming in contact with venomous snakes, I required students to remain within verbal and visual distance of me and they are restricted from picking up any brown snake or snakes that they can’t identified with confidence.  I do not allow students to handle venomous snakes (even with appropriate equipment and knowledge), and tend not to handle them myself.  There are plenty of experienced snake handlers who will undoubtedly find venomous snakes (if they are to be found) and show them to those interested in a safe manner.

If this kind of opportunity sounds interesting to you but you still have questions feel free to contact me.  I am the current treasurer for the society and my contact information is publicized on their website.  Furthermore, students are welcome whether or not they are accompanied by a teacher.  So if you aren’t interested but you have students that are interested please make them aware of this opportunity.

Ash Fall Itinerary

Join us May 31 through June 1 to Ashfall Fossil Beds Historical Park. Trip will include viewing a 14 foot mammoth skeleton at Nebraska State Museum, exploring and camping in Niobrara Park, and visiting the fossil beds. Open attachment to view itinerary and costs. Don’t forget that family and friends are welcome.

Randy’s campsite at campground #3

Josie’s Tent

several members gather at the hatchery to take a tour of the rainbow trout facility ran by the Missouri Conservation Commission

Josie and Harry “model” excellent student behavior .

Trout in the cave at the spring source.

Looking up to the clift above you can see the fault line that is responsible for the spring.

Josie stands in front of the building constructed by the CCC of the 1930′s

Fingerling trout

Tiffany and Daughter viewing preserved sac-fry.

Harry takes a magnifyed look at the sac-fry

Josie feeding the big trout in the spring pond.

This is at least a ten pound trout.

Tim the park naturalist organizes the stream walk.

There must be something pretty interesting in the water.

Randy had the pleasure of teaching many of us how to fly fish. I was assigned to practice casting in my backyard. Once you cast I learned there is a fine art of snagging the fish, which I have yet to do. Tiffany’s 7 year old daughter had no problem learning how to cast the rod.

Saturday afternoon we toured the Hatchery and learned that Rainbow Trout have a stage in their life cycle called a swim-up fry and need to be fed every hour for 6 weeks! I am glad I don’t have that person’s job! We learned that approximately 290,000 trout are released each year and the hatchery sustains these trout by feeding them 600 pounds of food each day.

After the Hatchery Tour we had the privilege of going to an area of the river and seining for fish, crayfish, and whatever other organisms we could collect. We collected several different species of fish, invertebrates, and an endangered crayfish species. The Williams Crayfish is light in color and rapidly declining in the area. After each of us saw the crayfish our tour guide Tim released it back into the river. Once we left this part of the river the rest of the evening consisted of more fishing, a campfire, and S’mores!

Sunday morning some members went to the Nature Center to participate in the Habitat Hike before leaving. It was nice enjoying the outdoors, other teachers’ company, and seeing the kids have fun while learning about nature. If you missed the Spring Trip this year mark your calendars for next year’s Spring Trip to Ash Fall Nebraska. Don’t forget you can bring your family!