This is an open call for everyone to email "your" photos for consideration in the 2027 KOS Bird Calendar or the 2027 KOS Kansas Phenology Calendar!
With the generous help of another volunteer, we are creating two calendars this year! We plan to have both available for purchase at the fall KOS meeting in Winfield Kansas on September 25th through 27th.
The feedback was so positive on the 2026 calendar, and I learned so much putting it together, I decided to use the same theme for 2027 and explore more species that potentially hybridize. So yes, the photo attached to this post is recycled and is the same as last year with new text! For the Bird Calendar, photos of the listed SPECIES are of particular interest! Please feel free to send as many quality photos you have of the species below as comparison between species relies on male, female, adult, and immature birds! The photos do not need to have been taken in Kansas.
1. Finches (Cassin's, House, & Purple) 2. Goldfinches (American and Lesser) 3. Grebes (Clark's and Western) 4. Hummingbirds (Black-chinned and Ruby-throated primarily, but Calliope, Rufous, and Broad-tailed also for fun) 5. Ibis (White-faced & Glossy, White also for fun) 6. Kingbirds (Cassin's & Western, Eastern also for fun) 7. Sandpipers (Baird's, Least, Semipalmated, Western, & White-rumped) 8. Sapsuckers (Red-naped, Yellow-bellied, & Williamson's) 9. Screech Owls (Eastern & Western, Flammulated for fun if you have it) 10. Swallows (Cliff & Cave primarily: Bank, Barn, Northern-rough Winged, Tree & Violet-green also for fun) 11. Tanagers (Scarlet, Summer, & Western, Hepatic also for fun if you have it) 12. Vireos (Blue-headed, Cassin's, & Plumbeous) 13. Warblers (Black-throated Green & Townsend's
After a couple years considering this option, it is with great excitement that a 2nd calendar is offered focused more on the phenology of Kansas. The general theme of the calendar will be to highlight the 12 different geographical regions of Kansas. For each listed REGION, we would like the following: A. Landscape or habitat photo. Famous points of interest in each region would be awesome! B. Critter photos! Species that are specific to each region are awesome, but species found across multiple regions are also fair game. This can include invertebrates (insects, spiders, mussels, crawfish), amphibians (frogs, salamanders, and toads), reptiles (lizards, snakes, and turtles), mammals (small and large), and birds! C. Native plants! Species that are specific to each region are once again ideal, but plants found across multiple regions or tied to them are also great. The goal is to put together a monthly spread for each region with both critters and plants associated with that region. This is truly a calendar to highlight the entire state and the entire year of changes across the state. The twelve regions are:
1, Arkansas River Lowlands 2. Chautauqua Hills 3. Cherokee Lowlands 4. Flint Hills 5. Glaciated Region 6. Osage Cuestas 7. High Plains 8. Osage Cuestas 9. Ozark Plateau 10. Red Hills 11. Smoky Hills 12. Wellington-McPherson Lowlands
With the broad geographical ask for the phenology calendar, please look through your favorite photos from years enjoying the outdoors and send them our way. If any of your photos are used in either calendar, you will have a choice of either provided to you for free as a thank you!
Please send full-sized (don't crop), non-watermarked (attribution will be given as text in the calendar), high-resolution jpgs to Malcolm via email at <malcolmgold...> for consideration. Files you send may be edited slightly for creative use in the above calendars or future years and you will be sent a preview for review before printing. Please email them all by the end of August for priority usage, as rough drafts will be created in the first week of September. Photos sent in September will be considered, but that region or comparison of species may already have been completed.
Sincerely,
Malcolm Gold (Overland Park, Johnson County, Kansas)
