Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Gilsland Farm, Falmouth, ME, 9/17

While taking a break from chores around the house I opened my e-mails to see what might be around.  Needless to say my attention was instantly drawn to one that had just been posted with this subject line – “FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER, Gilsland Farm, Falmouth”.  I’ve seen this South American vagrant in New England in MA, NH, and CT, but still needed it in ME, so of course I wanted to run right out and chase after it.  However as is often the case, I had commitments that day and could not go twitching.  And worse yet, I couldn’t go out the next day either.  Would the bird still be around on Day 3?  Vagrant Fork-tails will often stick around for a while, so I tried to be optimistic that I might still have the chance to see it in a couple days.

The e-mails and eBird Alerts continued throughout Day 1, and then luckily continued through most of Day 2 as well.  The bird was being reasonably reliable, though it was more difficult to find when a cooler fog bank engulfed the farm.  Under those conditions the flycatcher’s food was likely less active, so the bird was not surprisingly less visible feeding from lower perches.  All sightings were around the North Meadow, and since I’ve birded Gilsland Farm before, I had a general idea of the habitat and trails in this area.  With a bit of research I compiled a pretty good list of areas where the bird had been seen over those 2 days – basically any perch around the perimeter or in the middle of North Meadow.  It would be a large area to cover, but I was hopeful that there would be lots of eyes looking for it when I finally had a chance to give it a try. 

I left the house pre-dawn on Day 3 to make the 2-hour drive to Falmouth.  Just after dawn I saw a post that the Fork-tail was refound that morning, but the weather was once again cool and foggy at Gilsland Farm, so the bird was not being very cooperative.  But at least it was still around!

I arrived at 8 AM and quickly noticed 3 birders out in the middle of North Meadow.  I made my way down to them and one of the birders was the person who had spotted the target bird earlier that morning.  Unfortunately it had not been seen for at least an hour.  Soon thereafter I came upon a birding tour group who had decided to stop at a spot with a nice overlook of virtually the entire North Meadow in hopes of spotting the bird on an exposed perch.  And then minutes later the leader of that group got a phone call from another birder on site saying he had refound the bird.  After a few anxious seconds of searching, I spotted the Fork-tailed Flycatcher in the distance hunkered down in an apple tree.  The pressure was off, but I wanted to get much better views of this most attractive adult bird and its long tail feathers.

After a short walk I made my way down much closer to the apple tree where the Flycatcher had been spotted earlier.  The bird was still there, but mostly obscured by foliage.  Eventually I got some better views of the bird, and was able to get this passable phonescoped shot of it in the fog.

A couple minutes later it flew down to some shrubs in front of me and began to eat berries, providing this “Kodak moment”.

Satisfied with these great looks, I began my short walk out of the park, only to realize that the bird had flown into trees right in front of me.  So of course I had to stop to get a few more phonescoped shots of this amazing bird.  Unfortunately the thick fog limited picture quality quite a bit (not that phonescoped pictures are ever very good quality).

I headed back to my car very satisfied with my great views of this spectacular Fork-tailed Flycatcher, which was #341 for my ME list.  

Fork-Tailed Flycatcher, Hadlyme, CT, December 2013

A couple years ago a very cooperative Fork-tailed Flycatcher showed up in southwest Connecticut.  But that would have been 3+ hours from home for me, which is longer than my normal distance for chasing after rarities, so I didn’t go after it.  However, as the bird continued to be seen daily for quite a while, I wondered if I should have gone after it despite the distance.  After all –would this mega-rarity ever be seen again in CT in my life time?

The answer to that question turned out to be a resounding “yes”, when a Fork-tailed Flycatcher was discovered along the Connecticut River in Hadlyme just before Thanksgiving.  And within my self-imposed 2-hour driving distance for chasing!  The bird continued to be very reliable, so I headed to Hadlyme  to give it a try.  As I neared the ferry parking lot where it was most often seen, I could see at least a dozen cars, and at least as many birders with scopes and cameras all pointing in one direction.  I pulled in and could see the gorgeous bird perched atop a small tree right at the edge of the parking lot – didn’t even need binocs.  The bird was silhouetted against a bright sky for much of the time, so I didn’t get the best pictures, but was able to get these representative shots.

 We are all very lucky that this bird selected such an accessible part of the river as its home during its stay in CT.  There must be hundreds of miles of seemingly similar habitat along the Connecticut that are virtually inaccessible that the bird could have chosen instead.

This was my 3rd New England state (and 3rd state overall) for Fork-tailed Flycatcher, and number 307 for me in Connecticut.