By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Things tend to slow down a little around the Kansas Wetlands Education Center in the winter. That makes it a perfect time for some holiday-themed festivities. Director Curtis Wolf said the fun begins with the annual Holiday Open House from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Dec. 14.
"The gift store out at the center has some phenomenal, local, nature-based gift items," he said. "There'll be a lot of gift store specials we'll implement for that day and for the season. We always do some sort of food-decorating thing. This year we're going to stick to our sugar cookies."
The open house will feature the Christmas Goose contest, free bird sugar cookie decorating for kids, and holiday crafts. People are invited back out to the KWEC on Monday, Dec. 16 for the Cheyenne Bottoms Christmas Bird Count.
"It's always a fun time to get out," Wolf said. "This is a great way if you'd like some practice and some more information about getting into bird watching. We'll pair you up with people who are in the know and are just awesome at helping beginners out."
The National Audobon Society collects the bird counts from around the world for analysis. This year's bird count runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and participants can stay for part of all of that time. Seventy-seven species were spotted in last year's count that includes a 15-mile radius around the Bottoms. Sixty-one species were counted in 2022.