Sunday afternoon our Cottonwood County Bird Club observed a bird that neither I (a birder with modest experience) nor Ed Duerksen (a birder with much experience) could readily identify.
I will describe what we saw and the bird I think it most closely resembles and am requesting other interpretations of the identity. First, the location was in a tree overhanging the river in Pat's Grove County Park nine miles straight west of Windom. We had a good view of the bird from about 50 feet with binoculars for 30 to 45 seconds before it flew to the far side of the river. The bird was a little larger than the warblers we were expecting to find in that area, and Ed suggested it was some type of flycatcher. I was skeptical because its stance was more horizontal than either the larger Olive-Sided (which we also saw in the area) or smaller Empidonax (many of which were in the area too). We agreed it wasn't either a Phoebe or Wood-Pewee. Besides its size and stance, its most striking characteristic was a very dark (black?) tail that was much darker than the rest of its body which was a drab brown-gray. The bill was short and sharp (again, unlike the other flycatchers typically seen here). Finally, the underside was much lighter than the back and wings and included noticeable brown streaks. Although originally skeptical of Ed's hunch that this was some kind of flycatcher, the closest match I can find for what we saw was either a juvenile or first year female VERMILLION FLYCATCHER. What other species might fit this description? The general size, tail color, bill shape and flank streaking all seem to fit. Other birds seen Sunday at Rat Lake just southeast of Delft include a pair of AMERICAN BITTERNS and a pair of RED-NECKED GREBES in breeding display plumage. And in the past week at the lake in Mountain Lake the most noteworthy include: first summer ORCHARD ORIOLE, NORTHER PARULA, many TENNESSEE WARBLERS, NASHVILLE WARB LER, CHESTNUT-SIDE WARBLER, MAGNOLIA WARBLER, CAPE MAY WARBLER, unusually low number of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, BAY -BREASTED WARBLER, BLACKPOLL WARBLER, NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, WILSON'S WARBLER, and CANADA WARBLER. -- Jon Harder Mountain Lake, MN
