After 10 years of birding, working on my state life list, I have never had a confirmed Alder Flycatcher. I assumed, like some birds, it would just appear in front me someday birding, that never happened. I chased a few ebird reports this spring locally with no luck. A hard bird for me to get as it is typically confirmed from it’s call, not by looks as other flycatchers look similar. My hearing is not the best for calls. I let Anne M. know of my needed bird as she has excellent hearing. She told me where I could find them, in the South Kettle Moraine near Eagle at the Low Prairie. I went out there and she just happened to be in the area of that location birding. We walked to the location and in a minute, 2 Alder Flycatchers were calling in front us at a distance. I could hear their calls on occasion today “free-beer, free-beer”. Other flycatchers have different calls. These birds can sit perched for 5 to 15 minutes at a time, guarding their territory. I hung around for awhile and took a few distant shots. A big thank you to Anne M. for helping me get this bird #354 on my Wisconsin state life list. It was a pleasant morning , with low winds, mild temps, with heat coming for the day, mostly cloudy to start. Images were taken on June 3, 2020.
Alder Flycatcher
Calling free-beer free-beer…
I love the “free beer” picture!
Amazing discovery Jim! Congrats!!
Congrats re your latest find. Was running around in the KM myself over the past few days. But for a different phylum. That is quite the accomplishment – 354 species.