FreeLists / birdky / [birdky] Red River Gorge, KY weekend/Rock Bridge Burn

[FrankRenfrow@xxxxxxx]

We (Veronica and Frank Renfrow) were at the Red River Gorge this  weekend and 
saw quite a few good early spring birds.On Friday March 31 we  walked the 
Whittleton Arch trail and found 4 Eastern Phoebes, 3 Blue-headed  Vireos, 1  
Winter Wren, 3 Louisiana Waterthrushes, 4 Pine Warblers  and 4 Black-throated 
Green Warblers. On Saturday April 1st we found 1 pair  of Red-breasted 
Nuthatches 
inspecting snags (especially interested in one  particular dead white pine 
snag) along Rock Bridge Trail at the top of  the ridge not far from the picnic 
area and another male was heard calling near  Rock Bridge. Also found along the 
trail and along Rock Bridge Road were 12  Blue-headed Vireos, 2 Hermit 
Thrushes, 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, 1 Winter  Wren, 14 Pine Warblers, 8 
Yellow-throated Warblers, 11 Black-throated  Green Warblers, 3 Black and White 
Warblers, 
and 30 Dark-eyed  Juncos.  We also found a Red-breasted Nuthatch near the  
Castle Rock Arch overlook near Sky Bridge, the first time I have definitively  
found them that far downstream in the Swift Camp Creek  watershed (almost to 
the 
Red River) but of course it is still early in the  season. There were at least 
a dozen more Pine Warblers at the Tunnel Ridge Road  area near D. Boone hut, 
totals for the trip probably reached 50-60 in all,  considering those also 
heard along KY 715 and at Natural Bridge. We found the  pair of Red-breasted 
Nuthatches still active around the white pine  snag near the Rock Bridge Picnic 
area on Sunday April 2nd.  
 
We were very disappointed to find that another large prescribed burn had  
just been made along a mile stretch of Rock Bridge Road. I realize that these  
burns are a very good idea in prairie areas, cliff edges, and pine woods  but I 
think they have dubious value as far as a mature white  pine-hemlock deciduous 
forest is concerned. This is a habitat type of which  Kentucky has precious 
little in the first place, and one would think that the  presence of breeding 
Red-breasted Nuthatches here and nowhere else in the state  would be enough 
reason to preserve the forest as it is. I realize that  there is room for 
disagreement on this issue, but I would challenge anyone that  thinks that 
these 
burns are a good idea to walk the length of Rock Bridge Road  and then see how 
they feel. They might notice that most all of the  Blue-headed Vireos and 
Black-throated Green Warblers are singing on the unburned  side of the road, 
where 
there is still an abundance of coniferous (small white  pines and hemlocks) and 
evergreen deciduous (i.e.rhododendron, mtn laurel  and holly) understory. I am 
also rather disappointed that I was  falsely assured that no burns were in 
the planning for this area in the  near future, and that I would be informed 
prior to the implementation of future  burns, so that I would have time to file 
an objection.  I have sent this  email to the bird listservs of the neighboring 
states as well as Kentucky,  as many of the visitors to this beautiful area 
are from out of state and they  should also be made aware of the situation.
 
Frank Renfrow
Bellevue, KY