Bee Fly on Beebalm 2018

This bee fly was spotted in my Topeka KS yard on Jun 27 2018. A bee fly is a fly that mimics a bee. I slowed this video down so you could see its behavior. See its long beak like mouth part (proboscis). Well it uses that to feed on long tubular flowers, like those of this beebalm. Amazingly its beak is as long as its entire body. I love how they can hover. They are amazing. This insect is a member of the bee fly family (Bombyliidae) which is made up of 100s of genera and 1000s of species. And the bee fly is a parasite of other insects. The female bee fly will lay eggs on its host insects’ eggs or larva. When the bee fly eggs hatch they will consume the host insect killing it in the process.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak on Platform Feeder 2018

On May 5, 2018 a male rose breasted grosbeak visited my Topeka KS yard. Later I also saw two females. These birds are only seen in my yard during spring migration. They winter in Central and South America but breed in eastern North America. The grosbeak is eating sunflowers that I serve in a hanging platform feeder. The feeder hangs from a shepherd’s hook that has a squirrel baffle on it. You hear a house wren singing in the background throughout the video.

Squirrel Outwits Baffle on Bird Feeder

In April of 2018 a squirrel kept getting on my feeder in my Topeka KS yard. The feeder hangs from a shepherd’s hook that had a squirrel baffle on it. I’d seen squirrels on the feeder when they could jump to it from a tree branch or some other structure. But this feeder had no branches nearby. I just couldn’t figure out how he was getting to the feeder, so I set up the camera and after many tries caught him in the act. Watch as he leaps past the baffle. I had to slow down the video to see exactly how he was getting past the baffle. Squirrels are truly amazing. I remedied the situation by repositioning the pole so it was perpendicular to the ground.

Spring Migrating Warblers Visit Pond 2018

From May 2 to the 12, 2018 these are some of the birds that visited the marsh area of my backyard pond in Topeka Kansas. I have a backyard pond and a shallow marsh area underlain with a liner. The marsh is backfilled with dirt and is very shallow. The warblers were coming to the marsh area to drink and bathe. Warblers seen in the video include Nashville, Yellow-rumped, Yellow and Blackpoll.

Desert Biscuitroot 2018

These are the flowers of desert biscuitroot (Lomatium foeniculaceum) growing in my Topeka KS garden on April 19 2018. This plant has a variety of common names that add confusion to its identity. Other names it goes by are wild celery, carrot leaf lomatium, fennel leaf desert parsley. Maybe you know it by another name? Biscuitroots are members of the Parsley family (Apiaceae). Like other members of the Parsley family its inflorescence is an umbel, like an umbrella, made up of many individual flowers. Desert biscuit root is native to western and central North America. In Kansas it tends to grow on thin rocky soils with short vegetation. It is a prairie ephemeral only appearing in the spring. By summer it will be completely dormant with no trace of its existence. The leaves are finely dissected and taste just like celery. The root is a long starchy tap root that was used as a substitute for flour, hence the name biscuit root. WARNING: Never consume plants unless you are 100% positive on its identity as there are lookalike plants that are highly poisonous. Look for this plant on high quality native prairies in Kansas. It makes a great rock garden plant and is a host plant to the black swallowtail butterfly. Cattle readily graze it and it will disappear with early spring overgrazing.

Great-tailed Grackles 2018

It’s May 5 2018 and the great tailed grackles have returned to Topeka for the breeding season. They are not common in the county and the only reliable place I know to find them is along highway 24 west of highway 75 in an industrial area with ponds, trees, and turf grass – their preferred habitat. The great-tailed grackle has been increasing its range as it benefits from agriculture and urban areas. The male is an iridescent purple and black with a large tail. The female is much smaller than the males and are drab brown with a pale underside. Males and females have yellow eyes.

Kansas Plant Identification Books

About Kansas Plant Identification Guides

Since using the Kansas Native Plant Society Facebook Group I've noticed lots of people needing help with plant identification. There are plenty of web resources but I really think guide books are important to HAVE, READ, and USE. That said, I put together this list of books about KANSAS plants with links to purchase them from Amazon. All links to products are affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support my Guide to Kansas Native Plants website and allows me to continue to add new content. Thank you for the support!

The Kansas Native Plant Society (KNPS) is an organization dedicated to our wildflowers, grasses, trees and other plants found in Kansas.  The following books are used by many of its members to identify various plants.  And three of the books were authored by current Board members of KNPS!

Field Guide to the Common Grasses of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska

The Field Guide to the Common Grasses of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska is written by KNPS's Iralee Barnard. There are multiple images for each species such as closeups of grass parts like the blades, ligules, spikelets, nodes, and roots.  Almost all of the images have a dark background so you can make out the details.  If you have ever tried to photograph a grass in the field you will see the importance of this characteristic. Another bonus of the book is a United States range map for each grass.  I especially love the illustrations of grass floral parts. Every prairie enthusiasts should add this book to their library.

Wildflowers and Grasses of Kansas: A Field Guide

The Wildflowers and Grasses of Kansas: A Field Guide is written by another KNPS member: Mike Haddock. The book is divided into 4 color coded sections for wildflowers and 2 sections for grasses and grass-like plants. Each plant is accompanied by one color image and a description that includes scientific name, family, common names(s), flowering period, height, distribution and habitat, life span, basic morphological characteristics, and comments. Every person who wants to identify any of our common wildflowers and grasses will want to include this book in their collection.  The book's companion website is Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses.

Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines in Kansas

The guide, Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines in Kansas was published in 1969 but is still relevant today. The book covers 114 common trees, shrubs, and woody vines of Kansas.  The images are in black and white but include multiple pictures of each plant.  You will find images of leaves, bark, buds, twigs, flowers, and fruit. Each species account includes a Kansas county range map with dots representing known county records.  Included for each plant is a description of the leaves, flowers, fruit, twigs, and trunk. If you are trying to identify woody plants in Kansas, this book will be an important resource.

Field Guide to the Common Weeds of Kansas

The Field Guide to the Common Weeds of Kansas focuses on 201 plants that thrive in disturbed places or are conspicuous plants.  It also includes poisonous plants.  Illustrations are used instead of pictures.  This is helpful because many of the plants in this book do NOT have showy flowers and are better represented by drawings. A useful feature is that a Kansas county range map is included for each plant. Plants are ordered by plant family but the book includes an index of plants grouped by similar characteristics such as grass-like or with milky sap. When identifying weedy plants this would be a good guide to consult.

Kansas Wildflowers and Weeds

Kansas Wildflowers and Weeds is authored by KNPS members Mike Haddock and Craig Freeman as well as Janet Bare, the author of the 1979 Wildflowers and Weeds of Kansas. The book is a comprehensive guide to all of the plants of Kansas with the exception of grasses, grass-like plants, and most woody plants. The book includes descriptions of 1163 species and 742 color photographs. Each genus includes a botanical key to the genus in Kansas. This is NOT a guide you would carry in the field but is a necessary element to anyone's plant identification library.