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Nature Walk & Birding Along the Blue River
Saturday, May 18, 9 – 10 am CT
Free Event Ages 12+
Join The Resilient Activist and friends for a morning walk along this wooded trail at a portion of the Blue River Parkway Trail System. Listen for birds, including late migrants. No birding background is required. We’ll be guided by veteran birder, Don Arney.
You may wish to download the Merlin Bird ID app ahead of time. This simple app can help ID birds both by recording their sound and by visual traits.
Park at the Blue River Parkway Trailhead near the Tennis Courts. See map here.
More details to come … Register now to save the date!
Walk Leader: Don Arney
Don Arney is a Kansas City native with a lifelong love of and curiosity about the natural world. He is an active Missouri Master Naturalist, a past president of the Burroughs Audubon Society, a native plant experimental gardener, and a Little Lending Library proprietor.
Don has degrees in Civil Engineering and Urban Planning, but more importantly, he has been a birder for more than four decades. Don is a supporter of sustaining and enhancing our remnant natural environment. He participates in the events of several organizations: The Missouri Department of Conservation, the Missouri Prairie Foundation, Kansas City Wildlands, Deep Roots, Lutherans Restoring Creation, and others.
If the stars align, maybe we’ll spot a Great Blue Heron!!
Restored Prairie & Wildflower Walk
Shawnee Mission Park / Gary L Haller Trail
Thursday, June 6th, 6 – 7 pm
Free Event Ages 12+
Let’s get social! Optional visit to a nearby brewery afterward!
Join The Resilient Activist to see what the Johnson County Parks Department has been up to in restoring sections of the prairie areas along the Gary L Haller Trail. There should be a nice bloom of Penstemon digitalis (foxglove beardtongue), Echinacea pallida (pale purple coneflower), and Monarda fistulosa (bee balm or wild bergamot) this time of year.
Park on 79th Street near the dam or in the Marina parking lot. Meet at the trailhead at the dam. Shawnee Mission Park Marina – Google Maps
After the walk, participants are invited to gather together for an optional visit to Pathlight Brewing or Friction Beer Co.
Walk Leader: Ginger Werp
Ginger Werp is the Project Coordinator for Kansas City WildLands. Her main role is to manage the native seed collection project. Ginger leads a team of core volunteers and hundreds of seed team members to survey, collect, process, and disperse seeds from over 200 species of prairie, woodland, forest, and glade plants.
She learned native plant ID while assisting in field research on deer herbivory in the tallgrass prairie at the University of Kansas. Ginger advocates for native plants at every opportunity she gets and enjoys exploring the native landscapes of Kansas City including the one planted in her front yard.
Image credits:
Penstemon: PaulineLeverett from Pixabay
Echinacea Pallida & Monarda fistulosa: Missouri Botanical Garden
