Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairie – Part 1 | Accent on Natural Landscaping

Reference my earlier post Tallgrass Prairie. We started our Flint Hills National Scenic Byway tour at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve’s Visitor Center. Here we toured the Spring Hill Ranch buildings and sat in on a wild bird demonstration.

The three-story Spring Hill Barn was made out of limestone, as were all the outbuildings and many of the fences.

The Spring Hill home was also made out of limestone. Unfortunately it was being left to deteriorate.

Among other raptors, we were introduced to an American Kestral. I’ve never seen one up close and personal before, so I was pretty impressed. Such beautiful colors. Nor had I ever seen a Swallow-Tailed Kite before. What unusual markings and that very special tail.

Shown here is an American Kestral. What beautiful colors!

The Swallow-Tailed Kite is most often seen across Southeastern USA. Its deeply forked tail and bold black and white plumage is so striking.

Next came the best part, touring the countryside and looking at all the wildflowers. We stopped at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Bottomland Trail. There were butterflies and pollinators everywhere.

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