Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge, Kansas
Marais des Cygnes NWR is located in Linn County, Kansas near the state's eastern border. Our first visit to this large and diverse area was in December of 2020 to photograph Short Eared Owls which were being regularly sited in one section.
The refuge was established in 1992 and consists of 7500 acres in total. Refuge habitat consists primarily of bottomland hardwood forests around the Marais des Cygnes River. This habitat is somewhat unique to Kansas. Uplands surrounding the hardwood forests are primarily prairie grasslands, some of which are native tallgrass prairies. We expect to continue visiting this location regularly over time.
Read MoreThe refuge was established in 1992 and consists of 7500 acres in total. Refuge habitat consists primarily of bottomland hardwood forests around the Marais des Cygnes River. This habitat is somewhat unique to Kansas. Uplands surrounding the hardwood forests are primarily prairie grasslands, some of which are native tallgrass prairies. We expect to continue visiting this location regularly over time.
Short Eared Owl _D850368-Edit
The last photo from our first visit: As our 4Runner was slowly rolling away from where we had parked on the side of the gravel road, a curious owl flew in and perched on this sign just a few feet ahead of us. We crept forward then came to a stop and remained still as it peered in through the open passenger side window.
Fortunately our cameras were ready at hand, but the owl was so close that it was nearly too close for them to achieve focus . The owl remained calmly perched and even looked all around as we were shooting. The light was very low resulting in a high ISO 8000 exposure, but the experience of that moment was priceless for us.
