#flint hills

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Greetings from Konza Prairie in the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas! This is one of the largest remnant tallgrass prairies in North America.

[micr0s0ftmax]

from the flint hills in kansas on color negative film

[my-plastic-life]

Happy birthday to my state! Today, Jan. 29, is Kansas Day. I was born and raised here, and I'm still here. Kenleigh is embracing Kansas as well - she even wore a Dorothy-inspired dress, because seriously you can't hear Kansas without immediately thinking of The Wizard of Oz lol. Below are some photos showing our state symbols.

State crop: Wheat (we're known as the Wheat State as well as the Sunflower State):

State reptile: Ornate box turtle (my favorite!) Kenleigh is shown in the Tallgrass Prairie in the Flint Hills, where she found this cute little guy:

State bird: Meadowlark (shown at the Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge in Linn County):

State insect: Honeybee (shown in Tallgrass Prairie):

State flower: Sunflower:

State animal/mammal: Bison, aka buffalo (and yes, she's wearing red shoes to complete her Dorothy look lol):

There are other symbols in Kansas, but these are the top five that are most commonly studied and referred to in schools and what not. The rest:

State amphibian: Barred tiger salamander

State fruit: Sandhill plum

State grass: Little bluestem

State tree: Cottonwood

State motto: Ad Astra Per Aspera (means "to the stars through difficulties")

State song: Home on the Range

[mikemendoza222]

Upper Fox Creek Schoolhouse in the Tallgrass Prairie

[harriehq]

wet weather stream. old stonework. exploring. stories in the hills.

[finnelfin]

[asoiafreadthru]

A Game of Thrones, Tyrion II

West of the road were flint hills, grey and rugged, with tall watchtowers on their stony summits.

To the east the land was lower, the ground flattening to a rolling plain that stretched away as far as the eye could see.

Stone bridges spanned swift, narrow rivers, while small farms spread in rings around holdfasts walled in wood and stone. The road was well trafficked, and at night for their comfort there were rude inns to be found.

Three days’ ride from Winterfell, however, the farmland gave way to dense wood, and the kingsroad grew lonely.

The flint hills rose higher and wilder with each passing mile, until by the fifth days they had turned into mountains, cold blue-grey giants with jagged promontories and snow on their shoulders.

When the wind blew from the north, long plumes of icy crystals flew from the high peaks like banners.

[trailerparktombombadil]

June 1

My farmer's market has some vendors selling some awesome plants - for so late in the season I was thrilled!

This is Ironweed vernonia native to the Flint Hills. Super excited to see a vendor getting into the native plants.

My garden has yarrow, echinacea, and now Ironweed. It will produce bright purple spiky flowers in July. I will win the native plant game somehow.

I also nabbed some nasturtiums and a VERY pretty dwarf crepe myrtle (mocha red).

Better yet, this was the vendor's shop. It was soooo cute inside.

Got some decorative peppers to try and maintain some color in my yard as we get into August. I need to find some mums somewhere.

[randomenglishmajor]

[clementinecompendium]

[hildegard-von-boingo]

I live in the Flint Hills by the Konza Prairie and Biological Station in Kansas and please do not underestimate my excitement about it. I tell you the landscape is breathtaking and just so precious. It is a place everyone should see. Please help us keep it around.

I hope everyone understands, when I say “most endangered habitat on earth”, I mean temperate grasslands.

They’re more endangered than tropical rainforests, coral reefs, the arctic tundra, all of those go-to environments that get more of the spotlight.

Where I live, maybe 25% of the prairie remains in a natural state and that number is dropping. Even these fragments are mostly missing the keystone species that maintain their health, like bison, wolves, and prairie dogs. I know this is the case for other grasslands like the pampas and steppe as well. Vast lands empty of many species that used to call them home.

If you live on temperate grasslands, hold onto them tight, because they’ve been exploited like no other land and most people don’t even know how far the devastation goes.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Hello from Manhattan--Kansas, that is! I'm on my way to Missouri again to do some teaching, exploring, and visiting my family. I spent all week driving and was set to arrive last night. But I woke up yesterday morning with a mild cold (oh no!) and so I extended my stay at the hotel a couple of nights to let it run its course since this is NOT the sort of gift I want to give my family. Thankfully, it's my absolute favorite hotel on the entire route, the Best Western in Manhattan, so if I was going to be grounded anywhere for a couple of days en route this would be it.

On the bright side, I did manage to have a good (outdoor) meeting with the educational director at the Flint Hills Discovery Center, which I recommend visiting if you're ever in the area and want to learn about the native tallgrass prairies of this region. We're putting together some plans for me to do some teaching during my seasonal peregrinations, and a book signing next year when The Everyday Naturalist is out. I'm very excited about this collaboration, because this is a first-rate educational facility and I love everything they're doing there.

Unless this virus decides to take a turn for the worse tonight--which it shouldn't--I'll be on my way tomorrow morning, with a detour over to Konza Prairie for a nice ramble. I've been stuck in the car and indoors way too much this week, and while I got to do a too-short but pleasant jaunt along the Chief Standing Bear Trail Thursday afternoon on my way to Manhattan, I've really been looking forward to my prairie time.

[amalgamatedalcove]

Kansas Sun by Tim Vrtiska Via Flickr: Passing Thru The Flint Hills Of Kansas

[martincooneyart]

Meet The New Martin Cooney STONEWORKS

Tremendous News It��s Not Everyday that I get to Announce Something HUGE, but Today I have an Important Announcement that will Change EVERYTHING ~ ~ ~ You can have no idea just how happy these pictures make me feel, and Kris too for that matter, we are both thrilled as can be about what you are about to see. Because, I won’t deny, we have faced a difficult few years, that’s for sure, what with…

[mikemendoza222]

Ranch house at The Tallgrass National Prairie.

[adventurechristianity]

Bagger 293

“For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”Matthew 17:20b You know what would look great out in the Flint Hills of Kansas? Pikes Peak. I love the gently rolling hills and waving wheat, but a beautiful snow-capped mountain peak would be stunning, right…