Ruth Nixon Memorial Trail

Yesterday I wandered over to Big Hill Lake in Labette County Kansas. Its a nice place carefully kept by the Army Corp of Engineers. I explored a bit and found the Ruth Nixon Memorial Trail. Loaded down with tackle box, chair, fishing poles and a minnow bucket, not to mention my camera I headed into the woods from the sunny parking lot. Apparently there was a secluded fishing spot about a 1/4 mile from here.
The Ruth Nixon memorial trail meanders along the western side of the lake for about a mile. The wooded hills through which the trails pass are called the "Little Ozarks", not a typical Kansas landscape.
I stopped and listened to some songbirds high above in the trees at this old bench.
Red oaks, post oak, and blackjack oak trees provide acorns for much of the areas wildlife.
Wild plum, mulberry, hackberry, elm, persimmon, walnut and hickory make up the majority of other tree species, although others are present.

The trees were not always as plentiful before European settlers arrived here. Prairie wildfires succeeded in controlling most of the timber growth except for those right along the streams. Once the fires were controlled and the ground being too rugged to till, conditions became ideal here for natural plant succession as the prairie grasses gave way to invading trees.
As I hiked I noticed the sunlight created patterns throughout the mid day woods.
With all the rain we have had this month there were numerous small creeks running to the lake. The woods at this time of day are alive with flying insects. Despite my pleas , "hey sit still for a minute", a zebra swallowtail butterfly bounced silently from plant to plant not sitting long enough for me to get a photo. A small skink shot along a log also too fast for me to unload the fishing equipment.
At last the lake appeared. I found a sunny spot and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to outsmart the local bass, turns out they are a lot smarter than me.