Go with the flow

To truly enjoy one’s time of grace on this earth, one must be happy with who they are, and who they are not. One must be satisfied with opportunities they are provided and the opportunities they make for themselves. Everyone is different; we all have our own quirks.  … some of us many quirks.  Enter every situation with an open mind and an open heart. Don’t let your expectations for someone else ruin your perception of them. They are who they are, and they will behave how they always behave. You won’t change them. Be happy you have the time to spend with those you love, regardless of your expectations going into the situation. Better yet, don’t have expectations, especially when you know they are different than you in experience and perspective. Just have a good time doing what you do. Be ok with the times God gives you.  You’ll be much happier for it.

Wisconsin Flycatcher Slam

Wisconsin Flycatcher Slam

It was more good fortune than intrepid birding, but even so on 1 June, 2013 I had about as good a flycatcher day as any birder could hope to have in Wisconsin.

Anytime I’m birding with friends, and we’ve nearly checked off an entire category of birds on the WSO check list, I like to play a fun game to see if we can complete a slam - corvid slam, swallow slam, plover slam, etc.. The starred/review species don’t count, since they either aren’t expected in the state, or at least they are only expected in very specific locations. Most of these categories have four, five or six species to find which would constitute a “slam” which, given location and season, usually isn’t all that difficult, but is always fun. A flycatcher slam, however, was not something I’d ever considered as it includes ten species. An empid slam, perhaps, but not all the flycatchers. But little did I know that waking up on the first day of June, having snoozed through my alarm enough times that I probably missed a species or two, that an odd detour, birding at highway speed, and grilling burgers would lead to accomplishing this “feat”.

The day started at Ryan Park in Pewaukee, my new favorite birding spot. EASTERN KINGBIRDS kzeet kzeet and WOOD-PEWEES peee-a-weee had become standard fare at the park by this point in the season, but a WILLOW FLYCATCHER fitz-bew was a new bird for the park this spring. Its song had alerted me to its presence, and I located it traveling across the prairie, stopping at each bush to give song and allow for ID confirmation.

I had planned to meet my friend Paula in Delafield, but I was running a little early so I decided to take a jaunt down a road I’d never traveled before, because it looked like good habitat.  My instincts were right, and at the corner of Nagawicka and Oakwood Roads, with my windows down, I heard an ALDER FLYCATCHER demand free beer! I parked and stepped out of the car for a few minutes to hopefully hear the bird repeat its song for confirmation. A few local residents slowed as they drove past to inspect the random person standing on the side of the road at 8:00 am on a Saturday, staring into the scrubby woods. Finally I heard it again free beer!, just before a GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER greeep! called nearby for comparison. I was pretty stoked at this point, as Alder Flycatcher is not a bird one can expect to find every year in Waukesha County.

Our plans were to meet up with the Benjamin F. Goss Bird Club, of which we are both members, to spend the day birding with them in the Southern Kettle Moraine State Forest. We stopped at Carlin Trail to check for a Yellow-breasted Chat, which we found, and turned the corner to find the birding group. We heard more Great Crested Flycatchers, Eastern Wood-Pewees, and the anticipated ACADIAN FLYCATCHER piZZA, with some Cerulean and Hooded Warblers to boot. We hit the road to our next spot, and on the road south of Palmyra a singing LEAST FLYCATCHER chebek made itself known with perfect timing as we past it at highway speed.

Probably the most unexpected flycatcher was a near miss at Young Prairie. Paula and I had gone ahead of the group to scout a pond for possible shorebirds. Not much was around accept a few Killdeer and a single Spotted Sandpiper so we scanned the skies for raptors turning up a single immature Red-tailed Hawk. We soon got word that the rest of the group had been held up by the viewing of an Olive-sided Flycatcher that a new birder named Dodie had spotted. I shrugged my shoulders as the group was moving on for Lark and Grasshopper Sparrows ahead. Once we found the sparrows, though, we were encouraged by the group to head back and make an attempt to find the Olive-sided.  It was a good thing we took their advice, because the bird cooperated well, and made its U-shaped sorties from its perch, returning back each time. As we left the OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER quick three beers!, we heard a drive-by EASTERN PHOEBE fee-bee, bee-fee, leaving me a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher short of the flycatcher slam.

Having ended a great outing with the Goss bird club, I was completely satisfied with the birds we had seen/heard for the day.  Paula and I were tired and hungry, and I had plans with friends back home. Besides, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, although being a late migrant, would still be a tough find, as there is nowhere in the area one would expect to find this species. Accidentally tripping onto one would be my only hope, and I was far too tired to continue birding all day in hopes of maybe finding one, so we called it a day.

Later in the evening, near dinner time, I was grilling out with beer in hand and relaxing with my cousin and his wife on their deck, which has a nice second-story view of a marshy area in the Pewaukee River basin. As a birder is never not birding, I kept myself aware of my surroundings, keeping an eye and ear on the birds. As Willow and Least Flycatchers sang from the marsh, a Common Nighthawk flew overhead, and about twenty or so American Goldfinches made such a huge raucous that even my non-birding friends to took notice. I was standing by the grill flipping burgers when I heard what sounded like kill-it, so I took notice and listened intently. I heard it again - kill-it.  I wasn't 100% convinced that I wasn’t forcing the ID to fit what I wanted to hear so I kept listening. Most often when I hear empids I am not immediately sure of the ID, and I need to hear them a number of times to be sure. This time was no different and I listened again for the singing flycatcher. The song didn’t repeat, but I heard what sounded like the turee contact call of the Yellow-bellied, and then nothing. Shoot! I resigned myself to leaving it as an unknown Empid. Sp.  and moved on to finally eating dinner and chatting with friends. About fifteen minutes passed and suddenly kill-it came from the marsh again. And then again kill-it, this time louder and much closer.  I quickly scanned the marsh and there it was, a YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER perched in a tree on the edge of the marsh, not more than 75 feet away from the deck.  A FLYCACTHER SLAM!  This last flycatcher of the day couldn’t have been easier!  I almost couldn't believe it, so I had to share it with anyone who would listen. My friends had no concept of what had just happened, so I logged onto my cousin’s computer and shared it with my birding friends on the listservs. Surely a flycatcher slam in Wisconsin is not something that requires outstanding skill, but it certainly doesn't happen every day.  So after today, I have my flycatchers checked off for the year, and I can now concentrate on filling my list of sparrows... or shorebirds... or gulls.  Ugh... gulls.

Real Life vs Birding Life

       For birders, migration season is a time when they lose touch with their "real life" friends and family, and become close with their birding friends and family. Summer is then spent "catching up" with those they've ignored for six to eight weeks, drinking drinks by the stick, getting campy, and getting fershnookered at weddings.