Photo: Getty Images
In Rowan county, a rare sighting of a non-native species to Kentucky was documented.
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed that a video of the flamingo seen at the Cave Run Lake is real.
The spectator who filmed the bird is a resident of Rowan, Amanda Frazier. She went out to the lake with her family on Labor Day to enjoy their day off together. It was when she and her husband were driving their children around in tubes that her husband first caught a glimpse of the majestic creature in a still state.
Frazier recounted, "My husband looked over, and he said, ‘Look at that flamingo!’ and we were laughing because we thought someone had brought a plastic one and pushed it down in the sand."
However, the group realized that they were incorrect when the flamingo began moving. What was unfolding caught the attention of other bystanders who wanted to document what they were seeing, too, and it's a good thing that the animal wasn't camera shy.
"It was just walking around, letting people come up to it and take its picture," said Frazier.
According to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife associate John Brunjes, it is most likely that Hurricane Idalia swept away flamingos north from the direction of the Yucatan Peninsula, where they resided. Hurricane Idalia specifically caused flamingos to flee into nine different states across the U.S.
The particular one caught on camera still exhibited bright coloring, which is a good sign that it has a sufficient enough food source to make the journey back home.
This incident is the first-ever recorded sighting of a flamingo in the state of Kentucky.