My Kentucky list has been stuck at 204 since my last trip to the state in 2006. So now that I’m living in the southeast I’ve been looking for an excuse to get back to KY to fill some gaps in my state list. Then in late summer of 2023 I began to notice lots of good birds being reported at the Falls of the Ohio - a wetlands area in the Ohio River near Cincinnati. At one point there were 8 species there that would have been new for my KY list. I had my excuse to go birding in KY! And although birding at the Falls could be my prime reason to return to KY, I could always try for other new state birds en route or nearby. Plus while I’m in the area I could cross over into Ohio and bird the southwest part of that state as well. Unfortunately, I didn’t get my plans together early enough to make the trip in 2023, but there was always next year.
As Summer 2024 progressed I started to plan my KY and OH trip in earnest. First of all, I scheduled my trip for the third week of August which historically was the week with the greatest number of targets for me at the Falls of the Ohio (based on eBird bar charts). Then I reached out to former KY birder Teresa Noel, whom I met this past year. She gave me lots of advice for my targets, and also connected me with local KY birder Dave Svetich. Dave was helpful as well, and in turn put me in touch with another local birder, Katey Buster, who gave me more tips.
With the help of all those local experts and lots of hours on eBird, I found 16 potential KY state birds in the region. That included my nemesis bird for KY – House Wren. (How could I have more than 200 species in KY and not have House Wren on my list?) That was the good news. The bad news was that, as the trip neared, only 2 realistic targets were being seen at the Falls of the Ohio – Peregrine Falcon and Neotropic Cormorant. And they weren’t even being seen every day. So even though birding at the Falls was the trigger for my trip, it looked like my potential targets there would be limited. Plus, since most of my regional targets were local breeders, I worried that they may be difficult to find so late in the summer. If I had known how slow it would be at the Falls I could have just made this year’s trip early in the summer for KY breeders. And then come back another year in late summer to bird the Falls. But when I was starting to plan the trip earlier in the summer I couldn’t have predicted how good (or not) birding at the Falls might be in late August.
Things were looking so bleak the last couple days before the trip that I almost canceled. But then I remembered hockey great Wayne Gretzky’s quote – “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” In a twisted bit of logic I applied that quote to my trip saying that I certainly won’t get any new KY birds if I don’t go at all. So I decided to go, and at the very least learn about the birding hotspots so I could come back and be successful on a future trip.
It was pretty much the same story in southwestern OH. My eBird research revealed 7 reasonable targets, 4 of which were late breeders, while the others were either waders or shorebirds. But in order to pursue several of them I’d have to drive all the way north almost to Columbus, which was farther than my original plans.
Despite the timing of the trip for the breeders, and the lack of rarities at the Falls, I still hoped for perhaps 9 new KY state birds. Plus 3 new birds in OH. Though perhaps I was being too optimistic.
This blog post summarizes the KY portion of my August 2024 trip, plus a little bit of Indiana. My next post summarizes the OH part of the trip.
Day 1 – August 20
My plan for the first day of the trip was to leave late-morning to begin a 5-hour drive to the Red River Gorge area of central KY to look for Swainson’s Warbler. My departure was delayed a bit to pursue a Western Kingbird in my home county in NC. Luckily that was a successful search and made the delay worthwhile. (See my previous post for the Western Kingbird summary.)
While driving along through southeastern KY I spotted a large Corvid right over the road in front of me. My first thought was that it could be big enough for a Raven, which would be quite a rarity for KY in general, and especially this far west. As I got closer, I could see the large beak and wedge-shaped tail – it was indeed a Raven (KY state bird #1). Then I spotted a second Raven flying along with the first one. Luckily there was no traffic on this rural road, and I was able to pull over to watch this pair continue to fly along before disappearing behind a tree line. I opened an eBird checklist and found that I was in Owsley County. And this was the first Raven eBird record for that county. That wasn’t a bird I had on my radar screen at all. What a great start to the trip!
My state bird map for Common Raven is inserted below. The blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range. The cross-hatched state (NJ) is the last state in its regular range where I still need it. The purple-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species as a rarity - KY is now the 4th state along with KS, DE, and RI.
My first planned birding stop of the day was at the Red River Gorge area for Swainson’s Warblers. Although the most recent report in the area was in mid-July, I often hear singing Swainson’s singing into September back home in NC. Plus I had heard a pair of birds just the week before back home responding to tape. So I was hopeful I would be able to find them during my KY trip. There were quite a number of sites in the area with Swainson’s reports in eBird earlier in the year, and I chose one key area, along Nada Tunnel Road, as my birding site for the evening. When I got to the area I was greeted by these multi-story rock formations which were just spectacular.
But unfortunately, that was the only highlight. Despite being in seemingly good Swainson’s habitat I couldn’t scare one up. I made numerous stops covering several miles of the road, listening and playing some tape. Several times I heard a series of sharp chip notes but they were always Hooded Warblers. But I wasn’t too disappointed because I had planned stops in another part of Red River Gorge the next morning just in case I missed Swainson’s that evening. Though I was still a bit concerned that it might be too late in the year for my target at least locally.
After dinner my last stop was a try for Whip-poor-wills at Koomer Ridge Campground. Similar to the local Swainson’s story, the most recent local report for this species was in mid-July. But there had been several reports of Whips at this campground this summer, so I was cautiously optimistic. But I struck out yet again – despite stops at numerous spots around the campground, and playing some tape, there were no calling Whip-poor-wills. Now I was really getting worried about the timing of my trip so late in the breeding season. Hopefully tomorrow would be a better day.
Day 2 – August 21
I started the day at dawn back in Red River Gorge for yet another try for Swainson’s Warbler. This time I birded the Rock Bridge Trail, starting my hike down the trail at dawn. The first part of the trail was in nice mature deciduous woodlands but not quite Swainson’s habitat. And once again I picked up several more calling Hooded Warblers along the way. Then as I neared the junction with the Swift Camp Creek Trail I got into an area with steep slopes and a thick understory of rhododendron – perfect for Swainson’s. Here’s a picture of the valley below me.
I turned onto the Swift Camp Creek Trail and continued my slow walk. Just a couple hundred yards down the trail I heard a series of sharp chip notes that I instantly knew were coming from a Swainson’s and not the higher metallic notes of the common Hooded Warblers. I even checked with Merlin and it agreed. (KY state bird #2) Maybe summer wasn’t quite over just yet after all. Since I’ve moved to the southeast I’ve now picked-up Swainson’s Warbler in 4 states - NC, SC, TN, and now KY. Still a few more to go though.
On my way back to the car I was serenaded by a Red-breasted Nuthatch, which turned out to be a rarity needing details in eBird. This species is not normally a summering bird in that area.
Next I was on to the Haley Downs Road hotspot which is known in central KY for its grassland birds. Within just a couple minutes of parking I walked towards a fallow grassy field and almost instantly had small groups of Bobolinks flying overhead (KY state bird #3). That was easy!
Now I focused on my 2 sparrow targets – Grasshopper and Henslow’s. Grasshoppers were still singing now back home so I was hopeful on that one. Henslow’s are normally reported at this hotspot most summers, but hadn’t been reported at Haley Downs this year so I wasn’t too optimistic about that one. I listened and played tape at a number of grassy fields with no luck for either species. Then I heard a soft call coming from a small patch of uncut taller grass that at first I didn’t recognize. I focused my attention on the area where the call had come from and heard it again. Was it the song of a Henslow’s? I listened intently and heard it give 2 more of its insect-like songs – I indeed had a singing Henslow’s (KY state bird #4). Maybe it was a pair having a late brood after a failed earlier nesting nearby. But I had no luck with what should have been the more likely Grasshopper Sparrows.
While trying one more time for Grasshoppers I noticed a large pale bird perched in a distant tree. A quick binocular view revealed that it was a Eurasian Collared-Dove. It wasn’t new for my KY list, but it was a rarity for the area. It stuck around for several days for Katey Buster and several other local birders to see.
And speaking of rarities, as I was leaving Haley Downs a Loggerhead Shrike flew over the road. I didn’t realize it at the time but that was another rarity, with less than 20 county records, and luckily it too was re-found by another birder. Though I would have traded both rarities for a Grasshopper Sparrow…
The next target as I continued my drive to the west toward Lexington was a Mute Swan reported from a private pond on Berea Rd in Fayette County. The pond was a short distance off the road so access was a bit iffy, but once I figured out how to get a view of the pond the Mute Swan was quite obvious with binoculars (KY state bird #5). The swan is circled in this cellphone picture without magnification.
The Pfeiffer Fish Hatchery northwest of Lexington was my next stop, where a Baird’s Sandpiper was found a few days earlier. But since my drive took me through areas of grassy pastures I made several stops along the way hoping to run into Grasshopper Sparrows. I was once again unsuccessful on all those stops. But across the road from the field at one of those stops in Franklin County was a brushy area that looked good for Wrens. I played a bit of House Wren calls and songs and almost instantly one responded, and then popped into the open (KY state bird #6). Finally – House Wren in KY! KY was the last state in the Lower 48 for me to see House Wren. That is the 59th species that I’ve seen in all the Lower 48 states (plus DC).
Pfeiffer Fish Hatchery was full of Great Egrets and Great Blues, but the only shorebirds I could find were Killdeer. And this long-staying Mute Swan was photogenic.
My next stop was another long shot – Peregrine Falcon in downtown Lexington. The good news was that eBird reports gave the location of a nest box on the Central Bank building downtown. The bad news was that there had been no sightings since June. But I had some time, so why not give it a go. I parked in a downtown parking lot with good views of the skyline. I quickly found the nest box which was empty, and scanned the edges of the nearby buildings. I only found a few Rock Pigeons which seemed to be totally at ease. Oh well, it was worth the try.
After dinner I headed to Lexington Green Pond in the Lexington suburbs where 2 Mute Swans had been reported sporadically. As I pulled up I saw the pair of Swans along with about 50 Mallards all being fed by shoppers. Since the Swans are countable, they must be tame but not feral. Interesting that Mute Swans around home in western NC that appear to be very wild are always considered to be escapees.
The last target of the day was Common Nighthawk. There were numerous recent Nighthawk reports throughout the central and western parts of the state as they were migrating through the region. But there didn’t seem to be any particular spot where they might be seen reliably on any given evening. So I decided to just find a large shopping center parking lot nearby that would provide me a full view of the sky. And if I don’t see one passing by overhead maybe I’ll find one after dark eating the insects attracted to the parking lot lights. I picked out a large parking lot for a grocery store a short distance from my Lexington hotel as a good candidate. I parked in a quiet part of the lot about an hour before sunset and started my vigil. After about 30 minutes of counting Crows, Starlings, and House Sparrows I spotted a candidate in the distance. And with a binocular view I picked out not 1 but 2 Nighthawks flying by (KY state bird # 7). A nice way to end the day. I just need this species in 1 more state.
Day 3 – August 22
The first stop of the day was at the Talon Winery south of Lexington. No, I wasn’t going there to attend a wine tasting event. Instead, I was there to look for grassland species that regularly breed around the winery grounds. Specifically, I was hoping to see Henslow’s Sparrows reported as recently as the previous afternoon, and to hope for Grasshopper Sparrows that bred there this year but hadn’t been seen for a couple weeks.
When I arrived, I went right to the area of the uncut field where both sparrows were reported. But I couldn’t find the field. I rechecked with Katey Buster and I had the right spot. It turns out the field had just been cut – literally in the last 18 hours since the eBird report the previous afternoon. I could not find a single sparrow in the area, though there were at least 20 Meadowlarks walking through the now short vegetation, perhaps lamenting that they had lost their nests. If only they had delayed cutting the field by a day. Luckily, I had a Henslow’s the day before at my other stop, but Grasshopper Sparrow would have to go down as one I missed because my trip was so late in the summer.
Next I was off to Henderson County in western KY just across the river from Evansville, IN. It was a long drive but I had 3 key targets there not easily found elsewhere in the state. The first was a flock of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks that were being seen for some time at the Industrial Park Pond hotspot. Some reports made it look like you would just drive up to the pond and they’d be right in front of you. Then again there were other reports where the BBWDs were not found at all. I was one of the luckier birders, because the instant I pulled up to the pond I could see a flock of brown ducks on the far bank – with a quick binocular view I confirmed I had 7 BBWDs (KY statebird #8). I was just giving myself a high five when I noticed 2 sleeping BBWDs practically right in front of me. Here are digi-bin pictures of both the distant flock and the pair right next to my car.
My next target was Bell’s Vireo, which is a regular nester in the area. There had been several reports in the area recently, but the one that sounded most promising was at the Diamond Island Boat Ramp hotspot where 2 had been reported less than a week earlier. When I arrived at the boat ramp I found a large brushy area near the water that seemed like the right habitat. I played some tape at several stops before I caught a glimpse of a candidate low in the vegetation. Eventually it popped out and gave good looks – it was indeed a Bell’s Vireo (KY state bird #9). Little did I now that listening to recordings of its song would prove to be helpful the next day in the OH portion of my trip. I just need this species in 4 more states in its regular range.
My last stop in the county was at the Horseshoe Road Slough where a Baird’s Sandpiper had been spotted recently, along with a Buff-breasted the week before, and always with a nice mix of other shorebirds and waders. It took me a while, but I finally found the slough tucked into a sea of soybean plants. I found lots of waders but the only shorebirds I found were 1 Killdeer and 2 Spotted’s. Little did I know that a Red-necked Phalarope was found at a nearby slough that same day. If only I had checked my KY Needs Alert before leaving the area…
My original plans included a nighttime stop to try for Chuck-will’s-widows and Whip-poor-wills south of Louisville. But given all the driving I did that day, the lack of recent goatsucker reports, and my lack of success with Whips earlier in the trip, I decided to pass on these nocturnal birds.
Day 4 – August 23
I started Day 4 of the trip at Turkey Run Park in the Louisville suburbs in hopes of finding a Prothonotary Warbler. This was another late summer breeder which initially I wasn’t too optimistic about, but it had been reported several times recently from the park so maybe I’d be successful after all. My first stop was near the entrance where 1 had been reported earlier in the week. I found some good riparian habitat along Turkey Run, but a calling Screech Owl and a perched adult Bald Eagle were the only notable birds. Next, I headed to Squire Boone Bottoms where there had not only been a recent report, but also reports of a likely nesting pair earlier in the summer. A mile and a half loop trail took me down through the bottoms area which had some excellent riparian habitat along the river. It looked like a great spot for Prothonotary’s! I slowly walked along the river playing some tape hoping for a response. The area was quite birdy, but I couldn’t find my target. But then finally I heard a Prothonotary sing, undoubtedly in response to my tape (KY state bird #10). Just 2 more states to go in this species’ regular range.
The next stop was in a small residential neighborhood in Louisville to look for Yellow-Crowned Night Herons. There had been several reports of 1 or maybe 2 nests in this area in the spring and early summer but I figured surely those birds would fledge and move on before my late August trip. So this species wasn’t one of my initial targets. But then there were a couple reports in early August from the same spot. And again, a nest with juveniles was reported. It must be a second brood – I didn’t know that YCNH’s have multiple broods. With a bit of help from my KY contacts I found out that the nest was in a tree in front of the house at 3542 Ramona Ave. As I pulled onto Ramona Ave. I saw very large deciduous trees planted in the front yards of each house. I got to 3542 and stepped out of the car. With a quick scan I found a dense area of twigs and sticks that must have been the nest. And with a closer binocular view I could pick out at least 3 juveniles at the nest (KY state bird #11).
That was 2 for 2 for the morning so far. But now it was on to the Falls of the Ohio where my opportunities were likely to be pretty limited. In the previous couple weeks there had been just 2 possible targets being seen there – a Peregrine reported on maybe a third of the checklists, and a long-staying Neotropic Cormorant. But the Cormorant had not been seen for 2 days so maybe it had moved on. Like I said, it was looking pretty bleak.
When I arrived at the hotspot I was truly taken aback by the scenery and the enormity of the site. Here’s a scenery shot of the lower falls and fossil beds, taken from the observation deck at the Falls of the Ohio Foundation on the Indiana bank of the Ohio River.
And here’s a shot of the upper falls with a distant railroad trestle which was apparently the Peregrine’s favorite perch.
One of the first birds I saw when I got there was the long-staying American White Pelican, which unfortunately was not a new state bird for me in KY. The bird was in flight over the Falls, and since basically the entire river and the Falls are in KY, the Pelican was squarely in KY airspace. But as the bird circled it slowly drifted northward, and eventually it slipped out of sight into Indiana – a bonus Indiana state bird for me! That was unexpected. As shown in my White Pelican state bird map I’ve now seen this species as a rarity in 10 Midwest and northeast states.
Now it was time to get to work on my KY targets. The Neotropic Cormorant liked to perch with Double-crested’s on a distant concrete wall nearly a half mile away. But thanks to a 50X scope I could see the cormorant flock quite well. Despite lots of searching, unfortunately I couldn’t pick out the diminutive southern cousin among the 85 Double-crested’s. Here’s a shot of a portion of the flock.
Next I focused on the railroad trestle for the Peregrine. But again I came up empty. At one point a train went across the trestle and I hoped it might flush the raptor but to no avail.
Back to the Falls I was able to find Little Blue Herons and a Snowy Egret, both somewhat unusual for the site, but not new for my KY list. Ironically, I need both of those species for my IN list, but these waders were definitely inside KY, albeit within a quarter mile of the state line. I also scoured the wetlands and fossil beds for rarer shorebirds but just came up with 13 Killdeer. A pair of Caspian Terns and a Black-crowned Night Heron were nice as well. After about 2 and a half hours of scanning (and hoping) I decided to give up on the Falls of the Ohio and the KY leg of my trip, and head into OH.
Ironically the key trigger for my trip, a visit to the Falls of the Ohio, didn’t yield any new KY state birds. But if it hadn’t been for that hotspot, I wouldn’t have made the trip to KY at all, and wouldn’t have added 11 new birds to my KY state list. That’s still a nice tally compared to my expectation of adding 9 new birds. That brings my new KY total to 215. And now I have good locations for Grasshopper Sparrow, Chuck-will’s widow, and Whip-poor-will should I come back on a future summer trip. Plus I can’t forget the 1 new bird in IN which brings that state list to 233.
And now a bit of a postscript regarding the significance of my 215 total in KY –
Early in my birding career I set a goal to see at least half of the birds on the official state lists of each state in the Lower 48 and DC. The genesis of this goal comes from the American Birding Association (ABA). Back in the day, the ABA would publish your state and Canadian province totals but only if you had observed at least half of the total ever recorded in that state/province. So my goal was to be able to report my totals in each of the Lower 48 states and DC. The ABA last published birders’ totals in this way in 2011. Later they went to a digital format where all your totals would be published without any threshold. And of course, eBird has taken that approach as well. But my goal remained – to be able to meet the ABA reportable threshold in each state. And in 2023, with a birding trip to Oregon, I reached my lifelong goal of being reportable in each of the Lower 48 states plus DC.
As of 2011 the ABA reporting threshold for KY was 194, meaning the total state list was twice that total or 388. I had 204 on my KY list at the time so I was safe at 10 over the threshold. Or was I? You see as new birds are added to a state list, the threshold increases as well. As of January 2023 (the most recent update on the internet), the official KY statelist had increased to 396 (www.birdky.org/kbrc.php). That means the threshold has increased to 198. My new KY total of 215 is 17 over that new threshold – that should hold me for a while.
