KIRWIN NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE.
Day 369 – It wasn’t too windy today, high of 77 degrees, partly sunny. MUCH better than yesterday. We slept in this morning and spent the morning doing some chores, and Rob put the Kansas sticker on our travel map on the RV. After lunch we went out to Kirwin NWR, 40 minutes north of this campground.
There were no people driving through the Refuge, the Visitor’s Center was closed, and at first there was no wildlife. The action was on the Kirwin Reservoir. There were a lot of people fishing in boats on the lake. While driving the well-maintained gravel roads around the Reservoir/lake, we saw a huge amount of Cormorants grouped together and several smaller groups of White Pelicans. There were some ducks and some smaller birds flying around. We saw two Great Blue Herons and two Great Egrets. We saw and heard Sandhill Cranes, and White-Fronted Geese were intermingled with them. Several times we saw Northern Harriers and other Hawks flying above. The fall colors were nice and the scenery was good. And of course, there were plenty of Cows.
“Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge, the first Refuge established in Kansas, is one of over 565 refuges and 38 wetland management districts in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The 10,778-acre Refuge is located in north central Kansas, among the rolling hills and narrow valley of the North Fork of the Solomon River. The eastern tall grass prairies meet the western short grass plains here, resulting in plants and wildlife common to both of these habitats.” from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2020 Kirwin NWR brochure.
On the way back from the Refuge, we drove through the closest town to the campground, Stockton, KS. We were looking for a place to refill a propane tank and for some gas in the Honda. We never found the propane, but got the gasoline. Stockton was one of those older midwest plains cities with the really wide streets. There were very few people out and about. Most businesses were closed either for the weekend, or for good. Everything was older and the homes were nicely kept up, although many were for sale. It appeared to be a slowly dying town, which is a shame because we could see there was lots of history here and that it once was a thriving family town and a nice place to live. You could picture the past with kids running around or walking to and from school. And crowded streets, everyone knowing each other. And people hanging out after church services on a Sunday. It was that kind of town.
Anyway, tomorrow we’ll probably look for more wildlife by driving around the State Park area and the Webster Reservoir. And maybe there are museums and historic sites to visit.
Rob took pictures of the sunset at the State Park.
