Late on the afternoon of Nov. 18, Kathy Marche birding at Indian Head Park, Stephenville came across a very colourful bird unfamiliar to her. She took photos but had to wait until she got home to look up the identification. Little did she know at the time she had discovered a Newfoundland and Labrador first. It was a vermilion flycatcher!
Word reached the birding community that evening. When daylight broke birders from across the island were already well into their treks toward Stephenville. First responders got their views of the vermilion flycatcher. It was seen sporadically until mid-day on Nov. 20 when a cold heavy rain ensued.
Then it vanished.
Was the cold rain enough to snuff out this little bird used to living in the warm arid environments of Arizona and Mexico?
The vermilion flycatcher is extremely rare as far north as Canada. There is one sighting from Nova Scotia, a few from southern Ontario and one from British Columbia.
It was not on the radar for our province by even the most enthusiastic birder. It was a young male with a patchy red plumage instead of the blinding deep red of the adult male. It made an error in navigation and somehow ended far north instead of migrating south or just staying right where it had been all summer.
It was surprisingly energetic and strong for a hot-weather bird that requires a good supply of living insects to feed on. It frequently flew down to the ground to get food items. On one occasion it got a grub of some sort. Intensive searching over the next two days did not turn up the bird. We assumed it was gone or had met its demise.
But surprise surprise, eight days later Tina Randell and Denise McIsaac were birding in Indian Head Park not even thinking about the flycatcher when suddenly there it was.
In the unseasonably warm weather it was catching plenty of insects in the grass. It is still there at the time of this writing on Dec. 1. With a warm start forecasted for December the vermilion flycatcher has a chance to make up its mind of go south again, all the way south.
The lighter side of birding
We could all use a little laugh these days. Early Saturday morning I pulled back the sliding glass door of the kitchen to poke my head outside to check on the weather. At the same time a blue jay rounded the corner of the house and landed on the BBQ nearly within arm’s length. We were both a little startled. Instead of flying off the jay moved over to the deck railing so we were at a socially safe distance of six feet.
I am sure it was expecting me to immediately toss a handful of peanuts on to the deck.
But no, I just stood there and talked to it in a soft voice. It turned its head from side to side trying understand me, then fluffed itself up. I decided to make getting the peanuts a little challenging this time. We keep our peanuts in a large glass jar. I took the cover off the jar and placed it in the opening of the door and leaned back on the kitchen counter to see what would happen. The jay hopped down to the deck and began pecking on the glass, then jumped up to the top of the jar. So many peanuts to choose from it picked up several before deciding which was the heaviest.
What happened next I was not expecting. Instead of flying off across the back yard as per usual it jumped down on to the kitchen floor. With peanut held high and proud in its bill it pranced across the kitchen floor past me and went down the hall! I gave it a minute or two hoping it would make its way back out. It did not show up so I had to go look for it.
I found it sitting calmly on the living room window sill looking out still holding its prize peanut. An envious blue jay on the outside was flying up against the window trying to get in.
How do I get this bird out of the house?
It was too much of maze to think about gently herding it out the way it came in. I was forced to catch it. The blue jay did not like this as I chased it around the room with a light coat to throw over it. Upon release it flew to a backyard tree and sat there regaining its composure for a couple minutes. What was it thinking when it came into the house?
Was it looking for a place to bury the peanut or did it just want a tour of the house?
Birds keep us thinking.
Bruce Mactavish is an environmental consultant and avid birdwatcher.
