[TN-Bird] Re: Red River Gorge, KY weekend/Rock Bridge Burn
- From: Charlie <cmmbirds@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: FrankRenfrow@xxxxxxx, tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2006 20:09:47 -0700 (PDT)
Dear Frank Renfrow,
Isn't it pretty common practice to burn a pine area to KEEP it pine?
In other words, to prevent succession and overtake by oaks, etc?
That burning may be the only thing that maintains the habitat you
love so much...
charlie
--- FrankRenfrow@xxxxxxx wrote:
> 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
>
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>
> _____________________________________________________________
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*******************************************************************
Charlie Muise, Naturalist near
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
"To the dull mind all nature is leaden. To the illuminated mind
the whole world sparkles with light." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================
The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
You are also required to list the count in which the birds
you report were seen. The actual date of observation should
appear in the first paragraph.
_____________________________________________________________
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_____________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
______________________________________________________________
TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society
Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
endorse the views or opinions expressed
by the members of this discussion group.
Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_____________________________________________________________
Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
_____________________________________________________________
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