Press Release ARCHIVE
AMERICA’S BIRDIEST INLAND COUNTY
August 2004 - The results are in, and Kern County has been named as "America's Birdiest Inland County" based on a nationwide contest held earlier this year. One hundred birders covered all corners of Kern County this past spring. A total of 232 species of birds were observed within the boundaries of the County. Major areas of coverage were east Kern County desert oases, Frazier Park, Greenhorn Mountains, Hart Park, Kern National Wildlife Refuge, Kern River Valley, Piute Mountains, Sequoia National Forest, and the State of California Tule Elk Reserve. The 232 species placed Kern County first among all inland counties in the United States, well ahead of neighboring and second place Inyo County with 219 species, Cook County, Illinois with 199 species, St. Louis County, Minnesota with 191 species, and fifth place Hidalgo County, Texas with 173 species reported.
“Kern
County is increasingly becoming a destination for birders from around
the United States and around the world,” states Bob Barnes,
Outreach Director for Audubon-California's Kern River Preserve located
in Weldon just east of Lake Isabella. Barnes, who organized the
Kern County "America's Birdiest Inland County" effort
further states, "In addition to the recent articles on Kern
County in major birding magazines that have spurred visitation,
word of winning this contest will spread quickly throughout the
birding community and they will come. It legitimizes what we have
been saying about Kern County ... when it comes to birds and birding,
'Find It Here!'" For more on wilderness areas in and around
the Kern River Valley, see www.kernvillechamber.org and
www.kernrivervalley.com.
