HABITAT TOUR AT BYRON WALKER WILDLIFE AREA JULY 6

Event to focus on how pollinators affect wildlife habitat
CUNNINGHAM — On July 6, Pheasants Forever will host a wildlife habitat tour of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism’s (KDWPT) Byron Walker Wildlife Area, near Cunningham. The tour will focus on habitat diversity and the importance of native wildflowers and pollinator insects to raising successful broods of pheasants and quail. The tour is free and open to the public.

Interested individuals should meet at 8 a.m. on Friday, July 6, at the Byron Walker Wildlife Area Headquarters, 9 miles west of Kingman on Highway 54. The tour will last approximately three hours.

Topics to be covered include vegetative diversity and wildflowers in grasslands and how they affect game bird populations, ways to improve bird habitat in CRP, grassland management techniques that are being employed on the wildlife area, and common pollinator insects that can be found there. Following the presentations, the tour will visit two sites on the area for short nature walks to see first-hand how the grasslands have responded to management employed by area staff.

This workshop will offer some spectacular photo opportunities. Long pants, sunscreen, and bug spray are recommended. For more information, phone Zac Eddy at 620-338-7132 or email zeddy@pheasantsforever.org.

Partners assisting Pheasants Forever with the tour include KDWPT, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Mary Liz Jameson from Wichita State University’s Department of Biological Sciences.