Walkin' in the Woods

The last two days, we have had 60 degree temps here in Kansas. 

I took the dogs to the Ag. 

For those of you who are new readers, I am a volunteer at the 

National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame, 

commonly called here in our area: "The Ag Hall", 

but those of us who volunteer there,  "The Ag".

I go daily to take care of the chicken flock there. 

As you see, I can let Jester off the leash, because he minds perfectly. 

He was wearing himself out yesterday, he runs about three times 

what Lilly and I walk. 

Even he gets pooped. 

And speaking of poop, I clean it up, just like the park. 

The Ag has a wonderful wooded area.  There was a nature trail 

through there 40 years ago, and last summer, Cabelas kindly donated 

money and persons to work on re-establishing a nature trail again. 

The woods are full of poison ivy in summer. 

Notice Lilly is on the leash, the long leash... but, I don't trust 

her to come back when she gets excited. 

There is a trail, as you can see. 

We followed the trail, because I had never been back in there except once, 

a very short way in. 

There are some beautiful large trees. 

We came out of the treeline and started towards the barn.  Those poles you see are the pole farm for Kansas City Power and Light, who has an international competition there every October. 

It is on Ag Land.  They keep it nice. 

We walked back to the event barn where Lilly had to have a good sniff at several holes. 

Today, I decided to take them back over.  We get tired of going to the park daily. 

I let Lil drag the leash, but watched her like a hawk. 

Look at all the fungi! 

Lilly was in her element. 

So was Jes, too, actually. 

My guess is in summer, this is bristling with poison ivy, but the trail as cut through right now is very broad and you would not brush the ivy unless you were trying. 

We went down a hill and over a small creek, which I think is probably roaring in rainy weather.  

It had a deep gully, but there was one spot to cross.  Down we went, and up the other side, but we could not figure out how to get through, so had to backtrack. 

I saw deer tracks everywhere. 

This structure is back there, and the education director told me it was put up 40 years ago when 

they were first cutting the trail through.  There is a trail over a gully that I think is safe to walk across (it has a culvert) but we have not tried it yet. 

More holes.  If you have a wild area/park, you have wild animals. 

Lilly had a blast smelling before she got in the car and collapsed.  

(laughing, but she was very tired). 

Both dogs took a good nap when we got home. 

I stopped to take some pictures on my way to church. 

On my way back, I stopped to take some pictures of four mallards on the pasture pond. 

And the gorgeous sunset! 

Everyone have a peaceful Sunday. 

(little ducks are on the right) 

A Birding Saturday, Sort Of

Saturday was Global Big Day, the bird count day. 

A friend and I decided to celebrate by going to 

Wings over Weston, a gathering at Weston Bend State Park, 

just over the Missouri River from Leavenworth. 

The funny thing was, we did not take one picture of the 

actual Wings over Weston event, as it appeared to be geared to 

families with young kids. 

There were supposed to be birding hikes leaving the event, but we 

never saw one, so... we hiked on our own.  More about that in a minute. 

Operation Wildlife, where I took the turtle several weeks ago, 

was there with raptors on display. 

Most of these birds cannot be released back into the wild. 

This is a merlin, a small raptor. 

This is a peregrine falcon, who actually belonged to a falconer. 

Oh yes, one of my favorite birds was there, and was cleaning himself up 

on his perch. 

That's the merlin again, from the front.  Pretty bird. 

This woodpecker was flying back and forth from grassy area to tree. 

I guess I should tell you that this park is on a bluff overlooking the Mighty Missouri, now the muddy Missouri, after the rain we have had. 

Read this sign carefully.  We had a good laugh, it had obviously been altered, but we 

laughed our way right by the "Steep grades and inclines more than 10%.  Bluffs or drop offs next 

to trail."

Oh, boy. 

It started off looking pretty easy. 

BWHAHAHAHAHA. 

I took this from a very high point on the very narrow, on the bluff trail.  

I climbed over several downed trees... and at one point, my companion 

stood with her back to the drop off so I could inch past her.  

Whew. 

I have to tell you I have vertigo, not really badly, but enough to be frightened. 

We were in the forest primeval. 

There was beauty everywhere. 

You can see how shaded we were, it was unseasonably cool that day. 

After a bit, we ran into two young woman coming the other way.  

Then, a single man.... who told us to turn around and go back. 

I looked at my friend and said "Uh, no". 

At one point, we came upon a man in the uniform of a Missouri Dept. of Conservation agent. 

He explained he was supposed to be working at the festival... but had decided to hike for a bit. 

He looked at our map and told us what to look for. 

I asked if there was any way he could get us airlifted out.  

HAHAHA (again). 

Several other couples and one pair of parents with two little kids and a stroller 

passed us, and lo and behold, the fork came up that led out of the woods. 

I only fell twice, once going down, and the other, going UP steeply. 

That one hurt. 

It still hurts. 

I did pretty good for someone who turns 66 this summer and is a 

casual walker in the park. 

I checked my step counter on my phone when I got home, and I had walked 

nearly seven miles that day. 

We are ready for another hike in a few weeks! 

How glad I was to see the familiar sights of home! 

We have had some unusual visitors to our feeders the last few days, 

and I'll show you pictures of them tomorrow. 

It has rained all day here, so the dogs have had no exercise, nor have I. 

We will have to try to get caught up tomorrow.