New Yellow Cardinal Sighting

This just in: a reader from Pikeville sent these two photos and says: "My daughter took these pictures this morning (3-13-2011) through the kitchen window."


Recently, ultra-rare mutant yellow Cardinals were spotted in Boyle County, causing quite a stir in the world of ornithology.

Rare Yellow Cardinals

A pair of extremely rare yellow Cardinals showed up at a Kentucky family's backyard bird feeder a few weeks ago, and it's rocking the world of ornithology.

According to the Herald-Leader, retired Kentucky Nature Preserves researcher Brainard Palmer-Ball and Auburn University professor Geoff Hill have examined the photographs and confirmed that these Cardinals are indeed the result of a genetic mutation, rather than being the yellow South American Cardinal, which is an altogether different species from our Northern Cardinal.

If you see a yellow bird outside, don't hesitate: take pictures! Don't stop to gawk and ask yourself whether it's a goldfinch or not, snap pics and ask questions later.

These specimens were sighted near the Boyle County/Marion County border, not far from Gravel Switch.

Raptor Rehab

How awesome is this? Raptor Rehabilitation of Kentucky, Inc. is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of sick, injured and orphaned birds of prey.

Through RROKI, you can adopt a raptor and help offset the costs of feeding it, housing it and providing it medical services. You get:

•A Subscription to RROKI's newsletter
•A photo of your raptor
•Your adoption certificate
•A biography and history of your raptor
•Official recognition of your adoption in RROKI's newsletter
•Opportunities to make scheduled visits with your raptor

Whether or not you choose to join/donate, do keep in mind that if you ever see an injured hawk, owl, falcon, vulture, kestral, eagle, etc. you should immediately call RROKI's rescue hotline at 502.491.1939!


(Top photo: Great Horned Owl. Bottom photo: Turkey Vulture.)

Pregnant Woman Saves Pets from Burning Building

This week in Independence, KY, an off-duty animal control officer rushed into a burning apartment complex to rescue over thirteen pets - two dogs, six cats, a snake, a bearded dragon lizard, a rabbit, a lovebird, and a tank of fish.

Amy Leslie, who is in her second trimester of pregnancy, is shrugging off those who call her a hero, but I do indeed hope she receives some sort of award or prize or special recognition. (Not since Pee-wee's Big Adventure have I known such bravery and love of animals.)

Weird Bird Vortex?

From the ol' JSH mailbag:

Hello there! I was googling "weird bird vortex" and your blogspot popped up and while I didn't investigate all the archives, I did think maybe you would have heard something about it.

About twelve years ago I lived in Bowling Green, KY and I was walking toward the square and I espied what appeared to be hundreds of starlings swirling in a cyclone pattern over the parking lot of the community services building. I asked a friend about it and he said that it happens every year on a certain date and is something akin to the egg-standing-on-end phenomena.

Have you ever heard of this and if so could you give me your knowledge on the subject? Much appreciated.

Marie

Unfortunately, I haven't heard anything about the connection of starlings to the balanced egg phenomena, although it sounds fascinating! Any other readers know anything about this?

I do remember taking some pictures in Georgetown, KY last year of a huge murmuration of starlings, who were swirling for over an hour in a peculiar sort of frenzied cyclonic cloud, much in the same way as in this video but more consistently figure-8-shaped. Going back through the files now to retrieve them.

Woodrow Wilson's Turkey Fight

From the Washington Post, Nov 23, 1920:

"President's Turkeys Battle: Kentucky Bird Defeats Texan In White House Grounds Fight."

The White House grounds were the scene yesterday of a spirited battle between the turkey gobblers sent President Wilson for Thanksgiving by South Trimble, of Kentucky, and the chamber of commerce of Cuero, Tex.

The turkeys were released from their crates, and Texas leaped upon Kentucky, but in the fighting the turkey from Kentucky emerged victorious, although not unscathed. Then with bloody comb and bedraggled feathers it engaged in a strut of pride over its victorious battle.

Government-sponsored animal fights on the White House lawn?? Where was PETA when we needed them? Times were different then indeed. The article doesn't specify what became of the winner, but I'm sure he was eaten just like the loser.


Such behavior from Woodrow Wilson doesn't surprise me, though. Wilson was a sociopath, and openly and unapologetically a white supremacist, and his public endorsement of the Ku Klux Klan was quoted in Kentuckian D.W. Griffith's controversial film The Birth of a Nation.

Axe Lake Swamp

Axe Lake Swamp is a 458-acre State Nature Preserve located in Ballard County, near the city of Barlow. In addition to the swamp proper, an additional 3000 acres of protected wetlands are adjacent.


Not only is it a very remote and spooky secret place (you have to fill out an application just to be allowed to visit), it's environmentally significant as Kentucky's only nesting-home for the Great White Egret (pictured above). If you've ever thought to yourself, "hey, did I just see some kind of tropical-looking bird in Kentucky?", you may well have. And another endangered species that calls Kentucky home via the Axe Lake Swamp is the peculiar Wood Duck (pictured below).

Pete the Talking Crow

Georgetown, KY is the final resting place of a most unlikely legend: Pete the Talking Crow, who is said to be buried in a coffin with no grave marker somewhere on the campus of Georgetown College.

Details are sketchy on wherefore Pete and his owner, one Dave Adams, came to be in Scott County, but we do know that Adams ran a hat shop in downtown Georgetown and that his trained bird Pete was a constant companion around town. According to one account, such reknown was Pete's that he was permitted to enter restaurants on Adams' shoulder. According to another, Adams taught Pete to yell "Go!" as a practical joke at small racetracks, confusing the horses and causing races to start prematurely.

In 1832, Pete was shot and killed by some idiot kid with a rifle. But Pete's memory lives on today, in the form of a Japanese animatronic robot currently on display in the Georgetown & Scott County Museum.