What an amazing account of this Kentucky Big Spring Day! Having participated in
a few Big Days in the past, this is hardcore birding at its best...including
hours of planning, scouting, and hoping for reasonable weather...WOW what a
great feeling when you hit those big species numbers. However after viewing the
top ten counts over the recent years, all these are teams of men, but no
ladies! So ladies...someone form a team of women and go for that magical number
of 200 species!
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________________________________
From: 30451171460n behalf of
Sent: Monday, August 6, 2018 4:06 PM
To: BIRDKY
Subject: [birdky] Bontrager Big Day report from May 4, 2018 ....
Ray Bontrager and I were sharing notes on KY big days recently. Ray put
together a nice summary of the Kentucky big day that he and his cousins, Edwin
and Lyle Bontrager did on May 4, 2018. I had Ray's summary scanned to PDF and
Steve Kistler has loaded it onto the KOS web page under the KY Birding Records
section at the following links:
http://birdky.org/ky-birding-records.html
http://www.birdky.org/uploads/3/4/7/7/34773726/kybigday2018_181sp.pdf
Ray, Lyle, and Edwin tallied a really impressive list of 181 species on their
first really serious effort! I always like comparing efforts, so Ray and I
compared their list to the list from the big day Mark Monroe and I undertook on
May 9, 2009, when we had 187 species. To me what was really remarkable about
the Bontragers' effort was that in various attempts to do big days in KY over
the years, parties that I have been on have never gotten out of the mid-170s
except for Mark and my 187. In fact, I can say with certainty that any list
higher than the high 160s involves a particularly remarkable total. Ray and I
decided that they did have some good luck on their first serious run, but I can
also say that Ray, Lyle, and Edwin are excellent birders and their keen
abilities were just as responsible for the impressive tally.
In comparing the lists from 2009 and 2018, we found 16 species that the
Bontrager's got that Mark and I missed in 2009. In comparison, Mark and I got
22 species that Ray, Lyle, and Edwin missed this spring. That's an impressive
203 species between the two lists, which makes us wonder if with the right year
and the right scouting, that maybe 200 *isn't* impossible in KY . . .
Both the 2018 and 2009 big days included most of the same places. Mark and I
started at Peabody WMA pre-dawn, drove down to LBL and the lakes until
mid-afternoon, then drove back southeast to end the day at transient lakes in
Christian and Warren counties. Ray, Lyle, and Edwin started in their home
territory of Wayne County south of Lake Cumberland, stopped by McElroy Lake in
Warren County and Peabody WMA, and ended their day in the LBL area.
Hope all will enjoy reading, as I did, Ray's summary of their big day adventure!
BPB, Louisville
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