[birdky] INFO: "My" solution to recent quiz on rare birding locales in Kentucky ...
- From: "Palmer-Ball, Brainard (EEC)" <Brainard.Palmer-Ball@xxxxxx>
- To: "BIRDKY" <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:36:29 -0500
LOCATIONS FOR KENTUCKY'S RAREST OBSERVATIONS
One can look at the topic in several different ways, but a few years ago I
chose one way of compiling a list of the locales where the "rarest" birds have
been seen in Kentucky; different manners of compilation could result in a
slightly different list. I used locales where only birds that have been found
in Kentucky "about 5 times" or less frequently were included; I say "about"
because there are a few where we don't know if the same bird was involved or
not (i.e. 2009's immature Brown Pelican). A bunch of interesting little, mostly
meaningless conclusions can be drawn from such an exercise, a few of which I
will mention! The listing that follows uses published reports through August
2009. This was not an exercise I was completing for a college final exam or
being paid to do, so please excuse any omissions or lapses that might be
present. I had originally envisioned this being part of a book on KY birds, but
I know I'll never get around to it!!! This was pasted in from a MS Word
document, so I apologize if it ends up being garbled and will try to repost if
it is unreadable.
Rarities have been found in a variety of manners, and I thought about the
locales in categories defined by manners of detection as follows:
1) "commonly birded areas" ... these are the expected places for rarities to be
found because they are interesting habitats for uncommon birds that are birded
frequently and regularly. In fact, when one splits sites out like this, only a
couple of rare bird locales end up being in any other category, but there are
*many* others with only one report (the last 3 categories below):
2) locations of what one might call "random finds " ... there are a number of
locations where random observations of rarities have occurred, especially by
non-birders or birders who weren't really birding!
3) "CBC" effect rarity locations ... then there is an interesting class of sits
that are known because of the sighting of birds that would have been random
encounters except that they occurred during organized events, most specifically
Christmas Bird Counts ... this group highlights how many unusual birds are
probably out there that are only encountered because birders actually get out
and beat the bushes for them.
4) "feeding stations" ... this is a class of rarities in and of itself; it
pools finds by both birders and non-birders.
With some "wiggle room" for groupings, there are actually only seven general
locations in the state where more than two of the state's "rarest" bird
observations as defined above have occurred, but at least one of them may be
quite surprising ...
Commonly birded areas
#1
Kentucky Dam & adjacent Kentucky Lake (10)
Brown Pelican
Brown Pelican
Brown Pelican
Sooty Tern
Sooty Tern
Audubon's Shearwater
Long-tailed Jaeger
Pomarine Jaeger
Pomarine Jaeger
Little Gull
The largest body of water in the state; formerly the most accessible site for
seeing some sort of weird waterbird. Who knows if many more will be found here
if access is restricted. One might note that this site and *many* below are
human-created habitats; our KY state list of birds would be much less extensive
if humans hadn't cleared lots of land and created large reservoirs ... I,
myself, would rather still have Ivory-billed Woodpeckers, Passenger Pigeons,
and Greater Prairie-Chickens, but we have to take what hand we are dealt,
right?!
#2
Ohio River at and near Cincinnati, Kenton/Campbells cos (9)
King Eider
King Eider
Black-capped Petrel
Black-capped Petrel
Northern Gannet
Brown Pelican
Little Gull
Sooty Tern
Harlequin Duck
This is probably the most surprising site in the list ... how many KY birders
regularly bird this stretch of the river???? Some were random occurrences
including hunter-harvested waterfowl
#3
Falls of the Ohio, Jefferson Co (7)
Brant
Black-headed Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
Curlew Sandpiper
Brown Pelican
Reddish Egret
Another site on the Ohio River ... as a side bar here, if it was more
accessible, the stretch of the Mississippi River that forms Kentucky's far
western boundary would probably rank right up there.
#4
Lake No. 9, Fulton Co (4)
Mottled Duck
Mottled Duck
Common Ground-Dove (random obsevation while visiting for waterbirds)
Say's Phoebe (random observation from nearby pumping station)
Like other sites in this list, there are *numerous* other sightings of more
frequently recorded "rarities" that have been made at this locale.
#5
Sinclair Unit Peabody WMA, Muhlenberg Co (4)
Swallow-tailed Kite
Northern Shrike
Northern Shrike
Neotropic Cormorant (at adjacent Paradise Power Plant slurry pond)
The fact that this area has only been birded since the late 1980s makes this a
great site for potential future rarities observations.
#6
McElroy Lake & vicinity (3)
Tufted Duck
Curlew Sandpiper
Little Gull
How long would this list be if the lake formed every year ... or if Gordon
Wilson would have had today's optics?!?!?!?!?
#7 (an admittedly loosely defined area, but thought I'd highlight it)
Danville & vicinity, Boyle Co
Rock Wren
Vermilion Flycatcher
Varied Thrush
These are all random observations, but the first two were found during somewhat
routine, "near to home" birding.
* * * * * * * * * * *
The next 12 locales have had MORE THAN one "rare" bird sighting. They are all
somewhat regularly birded areas.
Ohio River at Louisville, Jefferson Co (not Falls of the Ohio)
Long-billed Murrelet
Harlequin Duck
If this area was combined with the Falls of the Ohio, it would make the Ohio at
Louisville equivalent to the Ohio River at and near Cincy.
Open Pond, Fulton Co
Smith's Longspur
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Similarly, this area could be combined with nearby Lake No. 9.
Miss River at Island No. 1, Carlisle Co
Reddish Egret
Swallow-tailed Kite
Sauerheber Unit Sloughs WMA, Henderson Co
Swainson's Hawk
White-faced Ibis
Melco Flood Retention Basin, Jefferson Co
Little Stint
Northern Shrike
Interesting in that this is the most recent addition to this list, only being
built in 2005 and birded since 2006.
WKU Farm, Bowling Green, Warren Co
Cinnamon Teal
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Lexington, Fayette Co
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Groove-billed Ani
Long Point Unit Reelfoot NWR, Fulton Co
Painted Bunting *nearby*
White-faced Ibis
Hickman, Fulton Co
White-winged Dove
Inca Dove
Surrey Hills Farm, Jefferson Co
Black-headed Grosbeak
Rock Wren
Could these two sightings suggest that the rate of return for birding any
random area in the state very regularly would be a super-rarity about once
every 15 or so years ? ? ?
Land Between the Lakes
Varied Thrush
Say's Phoebe
Pack Lane near Garrett, Meade Co (Otter Creek Park CBC)
Spotted Towhee
Mountain Bluebird
This is an especially interesting location in that both first-state records
were found literally only a couple of hundred yards and several years apart
while participating on the Otter Creek Christmas Bird Count!
* * * * * * * * * * *
The following locales have only one rarity:
Regularly birded areas (current or past)
Kentucky Lake near Birmingham Point, Marshall Co
Yellow-billed Loon
Blood River, Kentucky Lake, Calloway Co
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Sawyer Park, Jefferson Co
Northern Shrike
Lake Barkley, Trigg Co
Neotropic Cormorant
Smithland Dam, Livingston Co
Sooty Tern
Wolf Creek, Logan Co
Bachman's Warbler
Ohio River at Joppa, IL, McCracken Co
Sooty Tern
Horseshoe Road Slough, Henderson Co
Mottled Duck
Near Hailwell, rural Hickman Co
White-tailed Kite
West Ky WMA, McCracken Co
Spotted Towhee
Kendell Recreation Area, Wolf Creek Dam, Russell Co
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Rural n. Ballard Co
Say's Phoebe
Somerset, Pulaski Co
Brant
Smith's Grove, Warren Co
Sage Sparrow
Cave Run Lake, Bath/Rowan cos
Brown Pelican
Lake Cumberland, Russell Co
Brown Pelican
Lake Carnico, Nicholas Co
Brown Pelican
Freeman Lake, Hardin Co
Pomarine Jaeger
Kentucky Bend, Fulton Co
Black Skimmer
Rural w. Boone Co
Swallow-tailed Kite
Central Ky WMA, Madison Co
Swallow-tailed Kite
Randomly encountered observations
Ohio River at Augusta, Bracken
Black-capped Petrel
Rural Simpson Co (I-65 corridor)
Northern Gannet
Pine Mt, Letcher Co
Sooty Tern
Shelbyville, Shelby Co
White-faced Ibis
Frankfort Fish Hatchery, Franklin Co
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
Rural e. Anderson Co.
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
Rural n. Carlisle Co
Inca Dove
Christmas Bird Count Observations
Rural Oldham Co (Mayo Lane) (Louisville CBC)
Varied Thrush
Bernheim Forest, Bullitt/Nelson cos (Bernheim Forest CBC)
Spotted Towhee
Near Keysburg, Logan Co (Olmstead CBC)
Say's Phoebe
Rural se. Muhenberg Co (Paradise CBC)
Spotted Towhee
Yard/Feeder Observations
Rural ne. (Figgett Bend Road) Hart Co
Spotted Towhee
Bethlehem, Henry Co
Painted Bunting
Jeffersontown, Jefferson Co
Black-headed Grosbeak
Burkesville, Cumberland Co
Painted Bunting
Aurora, Marshall Co.
White-winged Dove
Berea, Madison Co
White-winged Dove
Murray, Calloway Co
White-winged Dove
Rural e. Calloway Co
Groove-billed Ani
Indian Hills, Louisville
Varied Thrush
Taylor Mill, Kenton Co
Green Violetear
Near Kevil, McCracken Co
Hooded Oriole
Reidland, McCracken Co
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Central City, Muhlenberg Co
Green-tailed Towhee
N. of Frankfort, rural Franklin Co
Scott's Oriole
Eddyville, Lyon Co
Band-tailed Pigeon
Rural n. Jessamine Co (#1)
Black-headed Grosbeak
Rural n. Jessamine Co (#2)
Common Ground-Dove
Elizabethtown, Hardin Co
Lesser Goldfinch
Lawrenceburg, Anderson Co
Bullock's Oriole
Lone Oak, McCracken Co
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
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