Jayhawk Audubon Bird Watching Sites: Baker University Wetlands
Site Name: Baker University Wetlands Research and Natural Area
Habitat type & General Location: Mostly restored and some virgin wetland prairie with permanent canals and pools, seasonal marshes, and shrubby thickets with scattered trees, bordered on one side by the Wakarusa River with a narrow corridor of mature woods. Northeastern Douglas County.
Main Species: The Baker University Wetlands has such a diversity of regularly found bird species; there is no sense in creating an abridged form of the complete checklist. Though the checklist of 254 birds (92 of which have been confirmed as nesting) has been compiled from records dating back to 1968, it is not unrealistic to expect to find over 200 of these by visiting the wetlands on a regular basis over the course of a single year. On a good day in May, it is possible to find over 100 species before noon! On a good morning in October, it is possible to find 20 species of sparrows!!!
Notable Species: Some of the following species are fairly common, others are rare, but they are all notable from the standpoint that they show up at the wetlands on a regular enough basis to make it one of the better places in the county to seek them.
Residents: Northern Harrier, Pileated Woodpecker, Marsh Wren
Summer Visitors: Least Bittern, Little Blue Heron, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, King Rail, American Woodcock, Barn Owl, Willow Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Bell's Vireo, Sedge Wren, Yellow-breasted Chat
Winter Visitors: Fox Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow
Migrants: American Bittern, White-faced Ibis, Greater White-fronted Goose, Red-shouldered Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Palm Warbler, LeConte's Sparrow, Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Yellow-headed Blackbird
Site Description: The Baker University Wetlands is a highly diverse 573-acre area, containing marshes, brushy areas, and riparian woods. It contains most of the last remaining wetlands in the Wakarusa River floodplain, including 45 acres of virgin wetland prairie. The extent of standing water varies considerably depending on the rainfall, but there are always some wet areas.
The property is bordered and bisected by canals and/or levees. Though open to the general public for foot-traffic only, gravel roads bisect the property north south and east-west. Foot trails run along the entire perimeter, along the tops of the interior levees in the southeast quarter, around some pools in the southeast quarter, and along Mink Creek, which runs north to south down the center of the eastern half of the property. A kiosk and boardwalk are located near the North Levee in the northwest quarter, and a bird blind is located just east of the gravel road intersection in the center of the wetlands.
The Oregon Trail passed north-south through the west half of the wetlands, crossing the Wakarusa River to the south. Previously part of the former Haskell Institute, a federally operated boarding school for the acculturation of Native American children, the area was acquired by Baker University from the federal government in 1968. The land to the north of the property, containing additional wetlands, is now Haskell Indian Nations University. The Santa Fe mitigation marsh is just east of the northern half of the property. Portions of the wetlands were tiled, w-ditched and otherwise altered to allow for cultivation. Cultivation ceased in the northern half in the 1930s but continued into the early 1970s (and even '80s and early '90s in a few places) in the southern half. Restoration and other management efforts have resulted in the preservation and creation of a wide diversity of wild habitats, making the Baker University Wetlands the premier location around Lawrence to find wildlife in abundance. The area was designated a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service in 1969 and a Natural and Scientific Area by the state of Kansas in 1987.
The site might be altered substantially in the near future, if the South Lawrence Trafficway is built, by the addition of a highway and relocation of 31st Street to an alignment across the northern part of the wetlands where the North Levee and the Boardwalk are now located, and by the expansion of the wetlands to the East and West according to the project's mitigation plan.
How to get there (directions): The Baker University Wetlands is on the south side of Lawrence. It is bordered by 31st Street to the north, the southern extension of Louisiana Street (E 1400 Rd) to the west, the southern extension of Haskell Avenue (E 1500 Rd/DG-1055) to the east, and the Wakarusa River to the south. It is one mile east of the intersection of US-59 with 31st Street on the south side of Lawrence, and one mile south of the intersection of K-10 with Haskell Avenue on the east side of Lawrence.
The main public entrance consists of a gravel road (with room along the side for several cars to park - do not block the gate!) up to a gate on the south side of 31st Street, halfway between Louisiana Street (E 1400 Rd) and Haskell Avenue (E 1500 Rd). The kiosk, with a map of the wetlands and informational brochures, and the boardwalk are just to the east after walking through the gate. It is possible to park along the road and enter the wetlands at several other spots along its eastern and western borders. Perhaps the best spots are off Haskell Avenue (E 1500 Rd) at "35th Street" (N 1250 Rd) where there is room for a couple vehicles to park to the sides of the gate (don't block it!) into the wetlands, or off Haskell Avenue (E 1500 Rd) at the Wakarusa River, where you can pull off and park on the shoulder just north of the bridge and then walk down the slope to the west to the trails through or on the edge of the woods along the river.
Recommended paths/routes: The wetlands are open to the public during daylight hours. As long as you minimize your disturbance of the area and do not interfere with research equipment, you are free to explore wherever you like. A pair of knee-high rubber boots will allow you walk anywhere, except through the deepest of the canals and pools, without getting wet. Chiggers, ticks, and mosquitoes are not usually much of a problem by comparison to other local natural areas.
Stop first on the west shoulder of Haskell Avenue, immediately south of the bridge over the canal that is itself just a few hundred feet south of 31st Street. From this relatively high vantage point, you can scan much of the cattail, lotus, and smartweed-dominated marsh to the west, and you can scan the Santa Fe mitigation marsh to the southeast. These areas are good for herons and egrets, waterfowl, swallows, and Great-tailed Grackle. You can move south along Haskell Avenue for a ways to scan from different angles, but mind the often heavy traffic and the lack of a shoulder on the west side of the road as it continues south! Get back in your car and drive back along 31st Street.
Begin your on-foot exploration at the main entrance (described above) off 31st Street so you can study the map at the kiosk and then walk the boardwalk and the North Levee to the west. This area of marsh and trees is good for Green Heron, Wood Duck, rails, woodpeckers, Empidonax flycatchers, eastern Phoebe, Warbling Vireo, mimic thrushes, warblers and Baltimore Oriole. The marsh along the boardwalk itself is usually not very birdy except in the winter, when it can be good for sparrows.
There are many different ways to walk the trails within the wetlands depending on your time and interests. Among the more productive spots to check are: 1) the pools and marshes around the intersection of the gravel roads in the center of the wetlands, 2) the trail along Mink Creek (the north-south canal running down the center of the eastern half of the wetlands), especially south of "35th Street" (the east-west gravel road), 3) the trail through the woods from the intersection of Mink Creek with the Wakarusa River to Haskell Avenue (E 1500 Rd). These woods feature Claytonia and other wildflowers in the spring. Butterfly watchers will find the greatest diversity by walking the curvy east-west vehicle track that follows the contour of the north edge of the woods along the Wakarusa River from one side of the wetlands to the other.
Accommodations: There are numerous hotels, restaurants, and other accommodations like KOA in Lawrence. The nearest campgrounds are west of Lawrence at Clinton State Park, 7 miles from the wetlands.
Date written: 22 August 2002 Author: Alexis Powell