One advantage to being a late arrival is that someone else has already located the bird for you. Photographing the Brown-crested flycatcher.
I spent Saturday morning birding at Fort Desoto Park with the friendly folks of the St. Petersburg Audubon Society. We were looking for shorebirds, which turned out to be in short supply. So we turned our attention to having a look for the Brown-crested flycatcher that has been reported in the north beach area for several days.
Some very brief background info for the uninitiated (including me) as to why this is a big deal:
The Brown-crested flycatcher is normally found in the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America. Think Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah. So, it’s quite a rare instance for one of these to visit Florida.
As you can imagine, birders from all over have “flocked” to the park to catch a glimpse and snap thousands of digital photos of it (see photo above).
O.K., so what does this rare bird look like? I managed to get a serviceable photo of it with my point-and-shoot:
Here is the little bird that's drawing all the attention. I give you...the Brown crested flycatcher. Click the image to see an even larger, grainier image.
Why is it so far out of its range? Who knows. They fly south for the winter. Perhaps this one got blown off course or disoriented. Or perhaps it heard we have better bugs in Florida.
They look exactly like a Great-crested flycatcher–which is fairly common in the area–except that the Brown-crested flycatcher’s colors are not as deep and vibrant. It’s a paler bird.
I’d have never discerned the difference myself, which is why I enjoy hanging out with the St. Petersburg Audubon folks. They teach me a lot. I would have just thought it was a Great-crested flycatcher. Apparently the Brown-crested flycatcher has a very distinctive call that made the I.D. certain.
If you’d like to see some of the photos (better ones) that other people have taken, or learn more about all the excitement this little wayward bird has caused, check out these web sites:
