—Kay Krebbs & Bill Alexander
The TeamUp calendar introduced this year has several nice features.
One of the major new features is the reduced version which appears
on the Tallgrass Prairie docent website
(http://www.tgp-docents.com/docent/ — select the visitor
center schedule
menu selection), which allows visitors to see if
the visitor center is going to be open on a particular day. The
reduced calendar does not have docent names but only shows the blue
background with the word reserved
entered once for each
docent scheduled.
Another important aspect of the full version of the TeamUp calendar
is that it shows a quick overview of who is signed up each day and
also the days where there is nobody scheduled. While it may seem a
little strange, each docent needs to have his/her own sign-up so
that it will show two individuals working that day. Below is a
sample showing how to schedule a shift at the Visitor’s Center.

Please note the yellow arrows. You should
click on the date that you want to work. Once the box is open,
enter your name on the line designated Title,
be sure the box for All day has a check mark,
and then click Save. Your name will appear on
that day with a lock beside it — you will not see the lock
when you view it, as the lack of a lock indicates a reservation you
made, though everyone else will see it with a lock.
The instructions for removing your name are fairly simple. Please
note the red arrow. You should select your
name on the date which you need to cancel which will open the box,
then select Delete. This will remove your
name and the blue box.
As a side note, we have found that if you only remove your name
from the Title line, the blue box will remain on the reduced version of the TeamUp calendar showing
Reserved. A visitor checking the website will
assume that the Visitor’s Center/Gift Shop is staffed that
day. So please remember to select delete to
remove your name and the blue box from the schedule.
Remember that signing up early not only assures you of getting your
desired times to serve at the Visitor’s Center, but also
provides more advance notice for our visitors about docent
availability. You have done an amazing job of keeping the
Visitor’s Center open this year. Thank you!
The TeamUp calendar also provides information in red, green, and
orange bars covering meetings, workdays, special events, tours,
etc. for everyone to be able to see when they look at the calendar.
By clicking on these events, information is quickly available about
the time, place, purpose, what to bring, and other information for
this particular item.
Below is a sample showing the Butterfly Count at the Tallgrass
Prairie Preserve that was held on June 13, 2015. To view an event,
simply click on the red box.

If you have any questions with these instructions, please feel free
to contact either Kay Krebbs or Bill Alexander for help.
—Nicholas Del Grosso

This tiger of the air
is an extremely fierce and adaptable bird. In
fact it is the most widely distributed true owl in the Americas. Its
year round range reaches from Alaska across Canada, the United
States, Mexico and parts of Central and South America. It is a
permanent residence in most of its range although some far northern
Great Horned Owls migrate further south during the harsh Alaskan and
Canadian winters. Because of its large range the Great Horned Owl
uses a broad range of habitats to include deciduous and evergreen
forests, swamps, desert, tundra edges, tropical rain forests and
cities, orchards, suburbs and parks. If there is a vacancy in an
ecosystem this apex predator will fill it.
The color pattern of this highly adaptable species is a mottled gray
brown, with a reddish brown face and a neat white patch on the
throat. It’s has piercing yellow eyes that can look right through
you.
The Great Horned Owl’s color tone varies regionally from sooty to
pale. Birds from the Pacific Northwest tend to be a dark sooty color,
while individuals across the southwest are paler and grayer, but the
birds from the subarctic of Canada can be almost white. Even with
these color variations there is no mistaking this owl; they are the
largest common owl in North America, only the Great Gray and Snowy
Owls are larger, but both of these Owls lack the distinctive ear
tufts.
Great Horned Owls are nocturnal, you are most likely to see them at
dusk when they start their evening foraging but as evening
transitions into dark your chance of spotting them diminish but they
are very vocal in defense of their territory and you can hear their
distinctive call, a deep stuttering series of four to five hoots
which are repeated throughout the night. Old wives tales tell of
Great Horned Owls sitting on the roof of an ill person’s cottage
waiting to catch the soul of a dying person. I have seen Great Horned
Owls sitting on a roof at dusk surveying their territory but they are
looking for prey not souls.
It is an awesome sight to see this 22-inch apex predator launch
itself from its roost on silent wings and after two or three wing
beats glide to snare its unsuspecting prey. Its talons can apply 300
pounds per square inch of crushing power. These are the owl’s main
weapon. They are such a powerful predator that they have no natural
enemies. Its nickname tiger of the air
is an apt moniker as it
often takes birds and mammals larger than itself. Its menu includes
skunks and great blue herons. But it will also dine on scorpions,
mice and frogs. Nothing is too big or small to make a meal out of.
The Great Horned Owl is an opportunistic predator, I have seen it
come from nowhere and snatch a large mallard drake out of the air as
it locked up to land on the pond. When it picks its prey the outcome
is pre-ordained.

Great Horned Owls are well known for their ferocity, especially when
protecting their owlets. In addition to preying upon mammals and
large birds, they will attack, kill and eat other species of owls. I
have seen Great Horned Owls attack and dispatch Barred Owls with no
problem. They will even attack and kill Red-tailed Hawks. This is
remarkable because the Horned Owl fills the nocturnal niche of the
day time Red-tail. But remarkable things do happen, when I was in
Utah I saw a pair of nesting Great Horned Owls share a large hay shed
with a pair of nesting Barn Owls. I am sure both species were aware
of each others presence, but there was so much available prey that
neither species bothered the other. Both species were using nest
boxes at either end of the shed. The male Great Horned Owl is smaller
than the female. The fledged owlets are balls of inquisitive feathers
protected by the two large gray brown sentinels. Both parents are
good providers and it is rare for Great Horned Owls to engage in
siblicide.
The Horned Owl is one of the earliest nesters in Oklahoma. The
breeding season is from January through May. I have found Great
Horned Owl nests with hatched owlets in it as early as March. The
Great Horned Owl is monogamous. Typically it will use the abandoned
nests of other birds, including herons, hawks and crows, to nest in.
The literature indicates two owlets are common but several nests I
have found have had three to four owlets. This usually occurs when
prey is abundant. The adults invest a lot of time in raising the
owlets. The female will incubate the eggs for 30 to 37 days. When the
owlets hatch the female will feed the owlets with food brought to the
nest by the male. After hatching the owlets will leave the nest at
six weeks, but the adults will continue to feed them for weeks or
months thereafter.
Here at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve look for this owl during the
day roosted in the outer branches of large trees looking like a large
gray-brown cookie jar sitting on a branch. As dusk transitions into
night you can listen to the Great Horned Owls serenade with deep
distinctive hoots in the woods around the research center and the
stucco building. This Owl is common at the preserve; the 15-year
average for the Christmas Bird Count is five Great Horned Owls a year.
Typically the great Horned Owl will live for 13 years but there have
been banded birds recovered that have lived as long as 21 to 28 years
in the wild. Look and listen for this owl at the Preserve your
efforts will be rewarded with some interesting behavior.
—George Pierson
There are five species of fritillaries that have been found at the
Tallgrass Prairie Preserve: gulf, variegated, regal, diana and
great-spangled. The gulf and variegated aren’t true fritillaries like
the others, that all feed on violets. The gulf and variegated are
Heliconians that feed on passion vine. Like all other Heliconians,
they are tropical in origin. Both species emigrate north each year
from the south though a few variegateds do manage to make it through
the milder winters here.

The great-spangled fritillary is a large orange-black-brown butterfly
with a wingspan of 2½–4 inches; it prefers wet open
areas, including open woodlands. There is one brood which flies from
June until September. The caterpillars overwinter here and feed on
violets in the spring.

The females are larger and darker than the males. Above they are
orange with black markings and are much darker toward the base of the
wings. Below, the hindwing is brown with large silver spots toward
the base and a lighter colored band near the edge of the wing. They
feed on the nectar of many tallgrass prairie plants, including
milkweed, thistle, ironweed and coneflower.

There is also an html
version of this aticle at the end of this
link.
—Dwight Thomas, Ph.D.
After months of not being able to travel to the Tallgrass Prairie
Preserve and work as a Docent or even see it as a visitor, on June 9,
2015, I decided it was time for a visit. I was not scheduled to work
that day as a Docent; I just had missed seeing the prairie while I
was recuperating from my back surgery and wanted to see it again. So
my wife, Judy, packed some snacks, and we headed for the Preserve to
see how the prairie was coping with the good spring rainfalls and
cool spring that had turned suddenly to hot summer weather. I was
eager to see how the grasses and wildflowers were responding to the
season, and I was eager to see this year’s crop of Bison calves. As
usual, the prairie performed well. It showed me a sea of green grass
waving in the wind. It also showed me a riot of colors produced by
many wildflowers in full bloom. And it showed me a healthy herd of
Bison with many calves peeking from their mothers’ sides.

The Bison are always impressive, and the array of different
wildflowers in bloom was as beautiful as ever, but perhaps the most
exciting sight on that day was the widespread blooming of the Purple
Coneflowers (Echinaceae pallida Nutt.) and
the Butterfly Milkweed (Aesclepias tuberosa
L.). Both were spectacular, but let’s concentrate here on the
Butterfly Milkweeds. We can explore the Purple Coneflowers another
time. The Butterfly Milkweed’s bright orange flowers dominated
the landscape everywhere. And to top that off, it seemed that every
Butterfly Milkweed plant was covered with butterflies—imagine
that. They were flitting about, landing first on one flower and then
another. There were also a number of bees that were buzzing around
the Butterfly Milkweed flowers. It would take a major effort to stage
a theatrical production equivalent to the one that was occurring
naturally.

The Butterfly Milkweed is a favorite flower for pollinators. First,
the flower color, that ranges from bright orange to yellow, is well
within the color spectrum that many insects can detect and to which
they are attracted. Second, the flowers are on a bushy plant that
stands about two feet tall, and the entire top of the bush is covered
with flowers, providing those pollinators with an easy-to-reach and
productive target. Third, each flower produces copious amounts of
nectar, which as you know, is what the pollinators are working for.
That nectar is full of sugar and apparently was even used by Native
Americans as a sweetener. The Butterfly Milkweed flower pollen sacs
are firmly fastened to the flower, and then when the pollinator comes
near, they attach themselves to it. This means that it requires a
fairly strong pollinator to wrench free from the flower. So weaker
pollinators have been known to fail to escape from milkweed flowers.
Each flower has five petals hanging downward and five horns that
stand up. The nectaries and the pollen-producing stamens are inside
these horns. As the pollinators dig in to get the nectar, they also
take some of the pollen sacs, which they may deposit at the next
flower that they visit. The nectaries produce a large quantity of
nectar, which means that there is likely to be nectar remaining in
the flower even if it has just been visited. The Butterfly Milkweed
and the relatively large pollinators such as butterflies and bees
probably evolved together to meet the needs of each.

It was obvious that the Butterfly Milkweed is attractive to a large
variety of pollinators. As I said above, there were many butterflies
and bees, but the butterflies weren’t just Monarchs or just
Honey Bees. On one clump of flowers, I counted seven different
butterflies of three species. I saw Pearl Crescents by the dozens,
numerous Clouded Sulfurs, Monarchs, and Black Swallowtails among
several species that wouldn’t be still enough for a butterfly
amateur to identify.

I looked closely at the Butterfly Milkweed plants to find the Monarch
caterpillars. Monarch caterpillars feed only on milkweeds including
the Butterfly Milkweed. I didn’t find any caterpillars, but
they were likely present. The Butterfly Milkweeds do not produce the
milky sap that contains latex as do most milkweeds, but they still
contain several chemicals that the caterpillars take in as they eat
the milkweed leaves. Those chemicals provide protection from
predators due to bad taste or being poisonous or both. Milkweeds grow
fast, which allows them to survive the onslaught of caterpillars
devouring their leaves. Some plants don’t survive the
caterpillars. Last year, we watched as Black Swallowtail Butterfly
caterpillars ate Judy’s Parsley plants to the ground twice.

It is wonderful that the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve has such a large
population of milkweeds to support the butterflies, especially the
Monarchs. And it is wonderful that these milkweeds are so beautiful
and so entertaining. It’s not too late to see the Butterfly
Milkweed and Butterfly spectacle at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve.
—Iris McPherson
Please remember to always politely request our visitors to sign the
guest register.
Annual Number of Known Visitors to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve Summarized by Month
Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Totals |
1994 | 260 | 280 | 569 | 951 | 1,456 | 1,529 | 1,565 | 1,045 | 1,010 | 1,117 | 672 | 338 | 10,792 |
1995 | 282 | 420 | 668 | 1,167 | 1,602 | 1,700 | 1,485 | 1,598 | 992 | 1,588 | 770 | 262 | 12,534 |
1996 | 216 | 325 | 705 | 1,100 | 1,904 | 2,081 | 1,362 | 1,030 | 1,197 | 1,416 | 530 | 399 | 12,265 |
1997 | 291 | 288 | 912 | 1,055 | 1,922 | 1,877 | 1,299 | 1,055 | 1,032 | 1,304 | 578 | 417 | 12,030 |
1998 | 317 | 340 | 609 | 1,178 | 1,456 | 1,258 | 1,182 | 960 | 884 | 1,133 | 667 | 289 | 10,273 |
1999 | 215 | 417 | 628 | 777 | 1,712 | 1,857 | 1,209 | 703 | 754 | 1,549 | 922 | 342 | 11,085 |
2000 | 229 | 282 | 583 | 1,176 | 1,624 | 1,614 | 1,017 | 597 | 818 | 1,125 | 438 | 93 | 9,596 |
Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Totals |
2001 | 131 | 149 | 855 | 910 | 1,811 | 1,550 | 1,100 | 638 | 1,049 | 1,250 | 653 | 252 | 10,348 |
2002 | 217 | 114 | 761 | 725 | 1,745 | 1,383 | 1,057 | 685 | 951 | 688 | 517 | 140 | 9,010 |
2003 | 98 | 39 | 527 | 808 | 1,190 | 832 | 594 | 672 | 1,008 | ??? | ??? | ??? | 7,125 |
2006 | ??? | ??? | ??? | 586 | 810 | 629 | 709 | 310 | 605 | 641 | 405 | 68 | 4,763 |
2007 | 47 | 35 | 361 | 575 | 810 | 737 | 756 | 407 | 660 | 688 | 396 | 81 | 5,553 |
2008 | 26 | 74 | 299 | 507 | 941 | 664 | 629 | 436 | 488 | 724 | 560 | 111 | 5,459 |
2009 | 117 | 72 | 482 | 428 | 969 | 1,026 | 790 | 688 | 746 | 615 | 443 | 25 | 6,401 |
2010 | 23 | 194 | 471 | 735 | 979 | 739 | 898 | 538 | 769 | 793 | 450 | 72 | 6,661 |
Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Totals |
2011 | 35 | 42 | 478 | 547 | 612 | 587 | 634 | 293 | 494 | 672 | 313 | 92 | 4,799 |
2012 | 73 | 42 | 368 | 436 | 732 | 699 | 446 | 293 | 389 | 416 | 466 | 36 | 4,396 |
2013 | 64 | 33 | 437 | 466 | 720 | 760 | 846 | 580 | 543 | 612 | 391 | 104 | 5,556 |
2014 | 81 | 41 | 482 | 811 | 784 | 635 | 874 | 601 | 464 | 687 | 385 | 114 | 5,959 |
2015 | 92 | 78 | 822 | | | | | | | | | | 992 |
As of December 2014, we have received 154,605 visitors who took the
trouble to announce their presence in the Visitor’s Book.
In 1994, George Myers started recording the numbers of visitors to the
Tallgrass Prairie Preserve and from whence they came. He did this for
almost ten years. His last report appeared in the September 2003 edition
of the newsletter.
Beginning in April 2006, Iris McPherson took up the task of chronicling
Tallgrass Prairie Preserve visitation, as recorded in the Visitor’s
Book.
—Bill Alexander
The May Visitor’s Center coverage would have been 100-percent
again this month, except for the two days when we had docents
signed up, but the weather was not appropriate for opening the
Visitor’s Center. So the average for the month was 92-percent
and the average year-to-date is 92-percent. The 2014 year to date
at the same point was 74-percent coverage, with 24 days closed in
the first three months compared to 7 for the first three months of
2015 (of which 6 were weather closings.) This shows what a huge
impact the 2015 class of docents is making for visitors who visit
the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve and would like to talk with someone
and get a few questions answered about the Preserve. Thanks to all
for your help in making this significant improvement for our
visitor outreach and education.
Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
Vistor’s Center Docent Coverage of Season Days Compared
2014 | Days | Closed | Coverage |
2015 | Days | Closed | Coverage |
March | 31 | 11 | 65% | March | 31 | 5 | 84% |
April | 30 | 8 | 73% | April | 30 | 0 | 100% |
May | 31 | 5 | 84% | May | 31 | 2 | 94% |
June | 30 | 10 | 67% | June | 30 | | |
July | 31 | 4 | 87% | July | 31 | | |
August | 31 | 4 | 87% | August | 31 | | |
September | 30 | 11 | 63% | September | 30 | | |
October | 31 | 7 | 77% | October | 31 | | |
November | 30 | 8 | 73% | November | 30 | | |
December | 14 | 4 | 71% | December | 14 | | |
Year | 289 | 72 | 75% | Year to date | 92 | 7 | 92% |
Here we provide some links to other places worth visiting.
Here is the latitude and longitude of the Tallgrass Prairie
Preserve Visitor’s Center that you can give to visitors for
entry into their GPS
navigation device.
- 36° 50′ 46.6004″ N
- 96° 25′ 22.4320″ W
These coordinates are a verified position on the parking lot in
front of the Visitor’s Center. This link to Google maps shows
the position superimposed on satellite imagery:
https://goo.gl/maps/hBUIu.
Some printed back issues of the Docent Newsletter, to February 2009, can be found in the two green and one
blue-black zip-binders, stored in the Perspex rack by the file cabinet in the office of the
Visitor’s Center.
All back issues are available electronically via the links shown below. All newsletters
prior to December 2007 are available in Portable Document Format (PDF), which means that you
will need Adobe Reader installed on your computer to read these files. All newsletters
from December 2007 onwards are in HTML
format that is easily read using your web-browser.
Available Back Issues:
2015—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2015
2014—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2014
2013—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2013
2012—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2012
2011—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2011
2010—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2010
2009—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2009
2008—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2008
2007—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2007
2006—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2006
2005—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2005
2004—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2004
2003—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2003
2002—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2002
2001—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2001
2000—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—2000
1999—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—1999
1998—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—1998
1997—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—1997
1996—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—1996
1995—January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December—1995
This persistent index of selected topics should make finding
articles of interest easier. The list will grow as I move further
into the past and it will grow as I add interesting topics from
each new newsletter. Iris McPherson lent me the paper copies of the
newsletter from the very early years of the docent program; I ran
them through a scanner equipped with a document feeder, saving them
as PDF files, then
added them to Back Issues section above. Let me know of any dead
links that you discover. Also, please lend me any paper copies of
the newsletter that are missing so that I can scan and add them to
the list of back issues.
Biodiversity
Birds
-
American Crow,
Corvus brachyrhynchos.
-
American Golden Plover,
Pluvialis dominica.
-
American Kestrel,
Falco sparverius.
-
American Robin,
Turdus migratorius.
-
Bald Eagle,
Haliaeetus leucocephalus.
-
Barn Swallow,
Hirundo rustica erythrogaster.
-
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,
Polioptila caerulea.
-
Breakfast Guest.
-
Brown Creeper,
Certhia Americana.
-
Buffalo Bird or Brown-headed Cowbird,
Molothrus ater.
-
Canvasback Duck,
Aytha valisineria.
-
Carolina Chickadee,
Poecile carolinensis.
-
Cedar Waxwing,
Bombycilla cedrorum.
-
Chimney Swift,
Chaetura pelagica.
-
Cliff Swallow,
Petrochelidon pyrrhonota.
-
Common Nighthawk,
Chordeiles minor.
-
Cooper’s Hawk.
-
Dickcissle,
Spiza americana.
-
Downy Woodpecker,
Picoides pubescens.
-
Eastern Bluebird,
Sialia sialis.
-
Eastern Meadowlark,
Sturnella magna.
-
Great Horned Owl,
Bubo virginianus.
-
Greater Prairie Chicken,
Tympanuchus cupido.
-
Hairy Woodpecker,
Picoides villosus.
-
Lark Sparrow,
Chondestes grammacus.
-
Merlin,
Falco columbarius.
-
Mourning Dove,
Zenaida macroura.
-
Northern Harrier,
Circus cyaneus.
-
Passenger Pigeon,
Exctopistes Migratorious.
-
Peregrine Falcon,
Falco peregrinus.
-
Pied-billed Grebe,
Podilymbus podiceps.
-
Pileated Woodpecker,
Dryocopus Pileatus.
-
Red-bellied Woodpecker,
Melanerpes Carolinus.
-
Red-headed Woodpecker,
Melanerpes erythrocephalus.
-
Red-shouldered Hawk,
Buteo lineatus.
-
Red-tailed Hawk,
Buteo jamaicensis).
-
Rough-legged Hawk,
Buteos lagopus.
-
Ruby-throated Hummingbird,
Archilochus colubris.
-
Rusty Blackbird,
Euphagus carolinus.
-
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher,
Tyrannus forficatus.
-
Snowy Owl,
Nyctea scandiaca.
-
Trumpeter Swans.
-
Tundra Swan,
Cygnus columbianus.
-
Turkey Vulture,
Cathartes Aura Septentrionalis.
-
Upland Sandpiper,
Bartramia longicauda.
-
Wild Turkey,
Meleagris Gallopavo Silvestris.
-
White-crowned Sparrow,
Zonotrichia leucophrys.
-
Wood Duck,
Aix sponsa.
-
White-throated Sparrow,
Zonotrichia albicollis.
-
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Sphyrapicus varius.
-
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Coccyzus americanus.
-
Yellowlegs, Greater & Lesser,
Tringa melanoleuca & Tringa flavipes.
-
Yellow-rumped Warbler,
Setophaga coronata.
Bison
Bison Roundup
Books
Botany
Butterflies
Butterfly Counts
Docents
Docent Recognition Luncheons
Docent Reorientations
Docent Council Meetings
Forbs
Insects
Grass
Haiku on the Prairie
History
Josie of the Prairie
Miscellaneous
Osage
Prairie Watching
- 2012:
Dec.
- 2013:
Jan,
Feb,
Mar,
Apr,
May,
Jun,
Jul,
Aug,
Sep,
Oct,
Nov,
Dec.
- 2014:
Jan,
Feb,
Mar,
Apr,
May,
Jun,
Jul,
Aug,
Sep,
Oct,
Nov,
Dec.
- 2015:
Jan,
Feb,
Mar,
Apr,
May,
Jun
Rangeland Management
Recipes
Science
Sightings
Trails
Trees
Verse
Visitor’s Center
Visitor’s Center Kiosk
Visits
Deadline for submission of articles for inclusion in the
newsletter is the 10th of each month. Publication date is on the
15th. All docents, Nature Conservancy staff, university
scientists, philosophers, and historians are welcome to submit
articles and pictures about the various preserves in Oklahoma,
but of course the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in particular.