What It's Like
 Located
5 miles south of I-70 and 6 miles west of K-177, Bird Runner Wildlife
Refuge contains 180 acres of native Tall Grass Prairie and 30 acres of
bottom land, including a wooded stretch of McDowell Creek. Visitors are
invited to hike, camp, and linger long enough to get to know the Tall
Grass Prairie!
There are camping areas by the creek and on
the prairie,
a small retreat cabin, a quaint outhouse
for sanitation, a large Lakota-style tipi
for sleeping, and decks for stargazing and
wildlife observation. Visitors are free to
roam at will over the prairie, into the woods
and along the creeks. Visits are by reservation,
so the number of people on the refuge can
be kept low — both so the
impact on the refuge can be minimized and so
visitors can experience the awe-inspiring
feeling of solitude on the prairie. There are
places on the refuge where no man-made structures
are visible — only the prairie
as it has come down to us through the last
ten thousand years.
Each time and season on the prairie has its own special power:
Prairie Nights
At all seasons, nighttime on the prairie casts a potent spell. Visitors
are especially invited to come to Bird Runner at the full moon and at
the new moon. Full moon hikes on the prairie (no flashlights needed!)
are an ethereal experience, and new moon visits offer wonderful stargazing.
The Star Deck on the prairie provides visitors with a comfortable place
to stargaze. In addition, prairie night sounds have their own magic. Coyotes
and owls call year round (Bird Runner has an especially large number of
Barred Owls, as well as a smaller number of Screech Owls and Great-horned
Owls). Whippoorwills and Poorwills start calling in the spring, and as
the weather warms, Chuck-will's-widows and Night Hawks join in as well.
April is a good time to hear the ringing trills of the Western Chorus
Frog, and as the summer progresses, visitors who take night hikes along
the creek or who relax on the Creek Deck will also hear the breeding choruses
of Cope’s Gray Treefrogs, Northern Cricket Frogs, Plains Leopard
Frogs, Bullfrogs, and Woodhouse Toads. On some June evenings, all four
nightjars and all six amphibian species are calling at the same time!
Day or night, every season at Bird Runner has its own enchantments:
Autumn
Autumn, when the prairie skies are filled with migrating Franklin’s
Gulls and Snow Geese, is the best time to learn the tall grasses, as they
have gone to seed by then, and their seedheads make them easy to identify.
In addition, many people find the fall colors of the tall grass prairie
more impressive in their subtle way than the gaudy palettes of New England’s
hardwoods.
 Winter
Winter is an excellent time to savor the contours of the land and spot
or track prairie wildlife, such as coyotes, owls, deer, beaver, Bobwhite
Quail, Harris Sparrows, Northern Harriers, Red-tailed Hawks, wild turkeys,
bobcats, and a whole host of mice and voles–many of whose daily peregrinations
can be traced in new-fallen snow.
Spring
Spring brings Bobolinks to the bottom land along the creek and Scaup,
Shovelers, and Blue-winged Teal to the prairie ponds. Spring also brings
overwintering Mourning Cloaks back to life and arouses Western Chorus
Frogs from hibernation. Walking on the prairie after a spring rain is
like walking on a cloud of sound, made by the trills of Western Chorus
Frogs.
Late Spring and Early Summer
In late spring and early summer, the gallery forests lining the creeks
at Bird Runner are full of nesting birds and ringing with their songs.
An old ranch road allows visitors to stroll through the woods and look
for the Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Indigo Buntings, Great Crested Flycatchers,
Parula Warblers, woodpeckers, Phoebes, Pewees, and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds
that are nesting there. Meanwhile, in the prairie areas, the Grasshopper
Sparrows, Meadowlarks, Lark Sparrows, Dickcissels, Field Sparrows, Green-backed
Herons, and Upland Sandpipers are setting up nesting territories, while
the tall grasses are sending up shoots, the Fritillary butterflies are
emerging, and the Blue-eyed Grass and Blue Wild Indigo are coming into
bloom. Where the prairie meets the woods, visitors can also see Eastern
Bluebirds and several species of flycatchers plying their trade.
Deep Summer
Deep summer, when the heat sets in, is the time to explore the creeks.
It’s delightful to linger away the hot afternoons wading, looking
for fossils, and watching the Louisiana Waterthrushes bobbing up and down
along the rocks and the dragonflies and damselflies floating above the
water. Tadpoles and new little frogs–the results of all those amphibian
breeding choruses of a few weeks before–abound. Visitors who wish
to do so may borrow viewing jars from Margy and Ron so that they can also
see under magnification the little invertebrates, such as the larvae of
Caddisflies and Diving Beetles, that make up an important part of the
stream ecosystem and indicate its health. Summer is also an excellent
time to look for turtles, Collared Lizards, snakes, and Great Plains Skinks.
Throughout all seasons and at all times of day, visitors may experience
the relaxing perspective that comes from putting today's stories into
the context of stories that stretch back for millions of years:
Fossil Hunting on the Prairie
Bird Runner offers good exposures of the Threemile, Funston, Crouse,
and Bader limestones, all from the Permian Period, a quarter of a billion
years ago. Especially striking are the "biscuits" — fossilized
algae mounds — from the Funston limestone. In addition, the rocks
contain the remains of a myriad of other aquatic creatures, many now extinct.
Some fossil hunters who become intoxicated with the quest swear that there
is a "rapture of the deep" still emanating from the ancient
seas that laid down the bedrock of the Tall Grass Prairie.
Guided Tours Available
Once arrangements have been made, visitors may hike or camp on their
own. They may also request guided tours to introduce them to the Tall
Grass Prairie or particular aspects, such as wildflowers, tall grasses,
geology, insects, or birds.
No Admissions Fee; Donations Invited
There is no fixed admission fee. Instead,
visitors are invited to make a donation to
the not-for-profit educational organization,
Prairie Heritage, Inc.
Where He Who Runs Faster than Birds Died
By Michael O'Brien Rhodes
Bird Runner
It seemed to me so Anasazi
Mesa Verde
A similar magnitude of severe beauty
and painful
unrelenting rapture
Cliff dwelling facing west
I know it is not Konza
Rounded Flint Hills expansive
oceanic sense
So much yet to learn
How many levels of bliss
exist within this place?
Roaming over the flowing
hills
Indian spirits speak
Grass spirits speak
and Rock and Water spirits
talk to me
And in the Oak Grove
There is a Higher Knowledge
that sets me in a
Celtic spell
And then I know more clearly
the very long path
that I have to tread
toward release
First Prairie Experience
by Joyce M. Thompson
No honking horns. No voices. No man-made noise.
Only the sound of wind playing in the tall grass,
Birds conversing with one another.
Flowing water relaxes, soothes, calms.
Sun is a warm shawl lulling me into peaceful tranquillity.
Water striders causing ripples in the current,
Meadowlark's song dragging tensions away.
Wind searching for leaves to rustle,
Clouds floating lazily above.
Blue sky complementing nature's browns.
My existence is insignificant.
I am merely visiting, fortunate to be living.
(This was written on my first visit to a Tall Grass Prairie [nature preserve
of Dr. Margy Stewart] and was written from my perch on a cool rock beside
a stream on a beautiful sunny day.-JMT)
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