Mega-rarity - Variegated Flycatcher Seen in Ft. Lauderdale

[Ira Runyan]

Thought you may be interested in this rare bird aleart sent to me by E-mail........

Oct 26 at 10:52 PM


All,

I wanted to alert Brevard birders to a mega-rarity Variegated Flycatcher at Evergreen Cemetery in Ft Lauderdale. The cemetery address is 1300 SE 10th Ave. This is an ABA Code 5 bird. This is the 6th ABA record and the 2nd Florida record. Florida is the only state with 2 separate sightings. The first ABA-Area record of this species was one photographed at Biddeford Pool, Maine in 1977. Subsequent records have come from Obion, Tennessee (1984), Toronto, Ontario, Canada (1993), Franklin, Washington (2008), and St. John’s, Florida (2013). If you have the time this chase is a no-brainer. Good luck to anyone who decides to chase it.

Jim Eager
Space Coast Audubon Society
Vice President
Program/Publicity Chair 

[Ira Runyan]

Today, I received another E-mail confirming this rare bird was indeed at the above Ft. Lauderdale location. It said....

"Score! I saw the Variegated Flycatcher today at 10:45am, as promised it was in the Ficus tree specified on ABA blog. There were also lots of other prettier(in my opinion) migrants such as the Black-throated Blue Warbler and American Redstarts flitting around. I may have even seen a 1st yr Spot-breasted Oriole(Saw a bird flying away at some distance with an orangish back and tail, local birder told me they are present in the area). Also got the scoop on Eyptian Geese(ospring of past escapees from Miami Zoo/hurricane event) that hang-out at the Helen Hoffman Library in Ft Lauderdale. I will go down there another time for that life bird. I only had a 45 minute window today. Thanks again for the notifcation Jim.

Happy Birding to All,
Ruth Ellen Peipert
Indialantic, FL"
 

[Ira Runyan]

This little bird even made the news in Los Angeles Times with the story line Florida cemetery visitor has birdwatchers all aflutter. The news article has a photograph of a Variegated Flycatcher if you have never seen one. The variegated flycatcher had been seen just five times before in the U.S. and Canada.