Our ride today took us across I-70 to 1-135 then to I-35.
We are staying one night at a KOA in Wellington, Kansas. Wellington was first surveyed in 1871 and named for the Duke of Wellington. This area produces vast quantities of winter wheat and wheat is still the driving force behind the local economy, so much so that Wellington is called the “Wheat Capital of the World”.
As I sit here typing this post, I can hear the mournful sound of a train whistle in the distance.
Railroads and petroleum, along with the wheat, are also significant to the economy of Wellington and manufacturing, especially aircraft parts, is growing.
Wellington, Kansas
It was a pleasant ride today with “green” being the word to describe the landscape we saw.
Lots of rain in this part of the country. It was nice to see fields of green grass, ponds filled with water and bales of hay dotting the landscape.
We spotted hawks flying high, riding the currents, and scouring fields for food. I saw a huge, dark colored bird that I thought was a Golden eagle sitting on a bale of hay. Couldn’t get a positive ID going 65mph down the interstate. 😦
Mourning Dove
Walks and a little birding.
When we pulled into the Wellington KOA, we took our girls for a walk. We flushed up, out of the brush, a male Pheasant. He was beautiful flying low across the field and out of sight. I have seen Pheasants before in Colorado, but it has been a very long time since my last sighting.
A little further down the path we spotted a pair of Yellow-shafted Flickers. I have only seen one before today and this was many years ago. We added to our campground bird list an Eastern Kingbird, American Robins, Northern Cardinal, Eurasian Collared Dove and Mourning Dove.
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