Post by Gord on Apr 4, 2009 22:12:52 GMT -8
did not want to post this with this bird's name in the subject line for obvious reasons but thought it needed to be shared.
At the Hope Airport yesterday I was talking with the lady who runs the terminal. She is not a birder but appreciates birds very much. We talked about birds and she brought up one she saw last June or so. "Grey, with some red colour and a long, forked whitish-tail" was pretty much verbatim of what she said to me. Hung out in the open sitting on the fence and would fly to the ground often. It often sat outside her office window for the two days she saw it. I showed her some pictures of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and she thought it was but did not want to commit to it; possibly partially due to my eager excitement! I really cannot see what else she saw but I appreciate her caution. The 'red' she said she saw confused me a little until I saw how extensive the colour (described as bright pink in Sibley's) is on the underwings when the bird is seen in flight.
She now has several ways to contact me should she see something like this again and vows never to leave home without a camera. I have accepted this sighting as a sight record based on her description which matches how the bird would look and behave. Even though this is a very rare bird, I think it would be wrong bordering on arrogance to dismiss it given the facts provided.
Amazingly enough, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers have been seen two other times at the Hope Airport. I believe it was 1992 and 1993. This species regular range is the lower states around Texas. Maybe the trend of consecutive years will continue... ;D Something tells me Thor will be making a few extra laps on his jog around the airport this summer.
At the Hope Airport yesterday I was talking with the lady who runs the terminal. She is not a birder but appreciates birds very much. We talked about birds and she brought up one she saw last June or so. "Grey, with some red colour and a long, forked whitish-tail" was pretty much verbatim of what she said to me. Hung out in the open sitting on the fence and would fly to the ground often. It often sat outside her office window for the two days she saw it. I showed her some pictures of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and she thought it was but did not want to commit to it; possibly partially due to my eager excitement! I really cannot see what else she saw but I appreciate her caution. The 'red' she said she saw confused me a little until I saw how extensive the colour (described as bright pink in Sibley's) is on the underwings when the bird is seen in flight.
She now has several ways to contact me should she see something like this again and vows never to leave home without a camera. I have accepted this sighting as a sight record based on her description which matches how the bird would look and behave. Even though this is a very rare bird, I think it would be wrong bordering on arrogance to dismiss it given the facts provided.
Amazingly enough, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers have been seen two other times at the Hope Airport. I believe it was 1992 and 1993. This species regular range is the lower states around Texas. Maybe the trend of consecutive years will continue... ;D Something tells me Thor will be making a few extra laps on his jog around the airport this summer.
