Is it a Different Vermilion Flycatcher? Or has it Matured?

Vermilion Flycatchers (Pryocephalus rubinus) are rarely seen this far north. They are more common in subtropical environments like Southern California and Mexico. So their presence is enough to get local birders interested in having a look. 

Luckily, these are also birds of habit, migrating back to the same area year after year. One of the few ever seen in Stanislaus County returned to the same fence line for four years running, which is pretty much the known expected lifespan of these pretty birds.

The latest visitors have been sighted at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge in Merced County. We've been watching every fall for the female that likes to hang out on the west side of the auto-tour loop for at least three years so far (we saw it last fall, but others report that it is there this winter as well). On the southeast corner of the loop there has been a juvenile male for months now.

Except...is it the same bird? We caught the first three images above a week ago. The last three images are from late October at the same location. A couple of birders have suggested that there might be two individual males at the refuge right now, but no one has reported seeing both at once.

I'm no expert at the developing maturity of these birds. I don't know how quickly they develop the bright red plumage of adulthood. So I leave it to you...do these pictures represent one bird or two??

Birds of Habit: The Vermilion Flycatcher is Back at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge!

There is a beautiful bird that inhabits Mexico and the extreme southwest of the United States. It's called the Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) and it is one of my favorite birds. The reason certainly has something to do with the brilliant color (the name literally means "fire-head"), but it also has to do with rarity and experience. We live quite some distance outside of the bird's "official" range, but there have been a couple of stubborn individuals who have ventured far to the north, and returned year after year.

One of these was a male who visited Dawson Lake in Stanislaus County between 2017 and 2020. He patrolled the same fence-line during that time. Getting pictures was a little challenging, given that it was on private property and several hundred yards away. Sadly, Mrs. Geotripper and I were the last to see the bird in December of 2020 (they tend to have short lives; the oldest-known individual was less than five years old). 

Merced County to the south of our county has been host to a few more of the birds. Starting in 2020 we have gotten familiar with a female that has consistently foraged on the western leg of the Merced National Wildlife Refuge auto-tour. We heard that it has returned for 2023, but we were not able to locate it on our visit today (we'll be back!). The females are not as brightly colored as the male, but are beautiful in their own way.

But we were at the refuge because of two reports of Vermilion Flycatchers, not one. The other was of a young male that was seen at the southeast corner of the auto-tour. There have been males seen there for several years, and one was seen a week or so ago. We got out at the Bittern Trail, ran into fellow birder Sal, and commenced our search. It wasn't that hard because the birds are habitual. It turned out to be in the same oak where they've been seen in earlier years. After a few minutes I was able to get what I think are some of the best pictures I've been lucky enough to capture. Enjoy!

Vermilion Flycatcher at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge: Finally One of the Males!

It's often true that when I post an adequate picture of a particular bird, I'll get even better pictures a day or two later. It hasn't been a day or two, more like nearly three weeks, but it happened again. I posted about the Vermilion Flycatchers (Pyrocephalus rubinus) of Merced and Stanislaus Counties on December 28 after I got some nice pictures of a female at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge. But we missed out on finding any of the colorful males known to be at the southwest corner of the refuge. We didn't get back to the Merced refuge until today, but what a delightful surprise we had as we followed the auto route.

I've been looking for one of the males in hopes of getting some closer shots, as the mature male in Stanislaus County is always seen from hundreds of feet away. I knew roughly where to look, but had no luck in three or four attempts. But as we rolled up to the parking area for the Bittern Marsh Trail, the bird literally flew right in front of our car and landed in the tree next to us. That led to a few moments of pandemonium as we grabbed cameras and tried to locate the bird in the thick brush. What happened next was a scene probably familiar to most birders: snapping a series of totally unfocused shots just to have some kind of confirmation that we had indeed seen the bird. 

We and the bird finally settled down and I snapped the shot above, and I would have been perfectly satisfied with the result. A beautiful immature male Vermilion Flycatcher! We were blocking the road though, so we drove on and parked a few hundred feet away. I slowly walked back and saw that the bird was gone, but as I was looking around, another birder motioned to me and pointed. The bird had once again flown across the road and was now perched on a small tree next to the Bittern Marsh.

I now had a few delightful moments getting some very satisfying pictures of the young bird. If their range is indeed expanding (perhaps due to global warming), they will be a welcome addition to our region. 

And now, if I could only figure out where that mature male is hiding out...
 

Harbinger of Climate Change? The Vermilion Flycatchers of Stanislaus and Merced Counties

According to the eBird records, the first sighting of a Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) in Merced County was in 2003, and the first in Stanislaus County was in 2012 (the official records may be different). They certainly aren't common. It appears only two individuals have ever visited Stanislaus. But the numbers in Merced are intriguing. Prior to 2020 the sightings have been of a single birds that caused quite a stir among the local birders. They were outliers in other words, accidental wanderers. But this year it appears that there may be as many as seven individual birds in the county: three at Lake Yosemite, and at least three but maybe four at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge. Some are immature, suggesting that some local pairs may be breeding.

We saw our first female ever in late November at Merced NWR. It was on the west side of the auto route, and was a surprise to us because most of the sightings have been on the southeast part of the refuge. And it was perched right along the side of the road, hardly 20 feet from our car. The female  lacks the brilliant vermilion coloration, which can make it easy to miss. We didn't expect to see it again when we were there today, but there it was, almost in the same spot! It's more than a mile from where others have reported a mature male and female, and an immature male. I looked and looked but wasn't lucky enough to see the others.

The sole Vermilion Flycatcher in Stanislaus County is nothing if not consistent. He has occupied the same fence and shoreline along Dawson Lake (a small irrigation reservoir in the east part of the county) since late 2017, leaving during the summer months, but returning like clockwork in the fall. We saw him on December 16. The lake is on private property, so most pictures of this bird are from a great distance, as you can see below.

I cannot claim any specific knowledge as to why more of these birds have been sighted in the region lately, but it is a known fact that the climate is warming, and a great many species have been shifting to the north in response. The Vermilion Flycatcher is a subtropical species, being common in Mexico and Central America. Other subtropical species have become more abundant in the region, including the Blue Grosbeak and the Phainopepla. This is exciting for us local birders, but can be bad news for the species and the ecosystems they inhabit. Species move in response to availability of food sources and can cause disruptions in their new homes. The increasingly common Great-tailed Grackles for instance are aggressive feeders and have displaced other native species. In a warming world, there will be winners and losers, but mostly losers. Introducing aggressive new species into formerly stable habitats is rarely going to have a positive outcome.

Source: Vermilion Flycatcher Range Map, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The Vermilion Flycatchers don't seem to be in the category of aggressive invasive species, at least not in the low numbers that have right now. As such, they are a wonderful and colorful surprise to see in our local region.

Postscript: Make that eight Vermilion Flycatchers in Merced County. Ralph Baker saw one at the San Luis NWR on November 1!

The Worst Picture of the Loneliest Bird in Stanislaus County

But I got the picture! It's a Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) and it is indeed the loneliest bird in Stanislaus County.

How lonely is this bird? He's been at this spot on the north shore of Dawson Lake in eastern Stanislaus County each winter season since at least December of 2017 when he was discovered by Ralph Baker and Xavier Sandoval. He patrols the same barbwire fence flying from one fencepost to another, and when he finishes he repeats the operation. No other Vermilion Flycatcher has been seen in the county since 2012.

November of 2019

I've been lucky enough to see this bird on four previous occasions, and this was of course possible because of the bird's habitual patrols along the same fence line. I have achieved better imaging results, but only marginally (see above). To give you a sense of how challenging photographing the bird can be, know that the picture below is the bird's fence at about a 10X magnification. The bird is actually in the picture...can you see it?

The bird is not totally lonely, if birds feel such emotions. I've seen it twice now only one fence post away from some Black Phoebes, who are also members of the flycatcher family. If the bird lives long enough (the oldest ever recorded was just over four years old), it may finally have company of its own species. It is a tropical bird, adapted to warmer climates. As average temperatures continue to rise from global warming, the edge of their range will continue to creep northward, and more of the birds will find conditions in the region to their liking. There are at least three Vermilion Flycatchers in Merced County just south of us, and at least one of them is a female. Others individuals may remain yet undiscovered.

A Rare Sight: Vermilion Flycatcher at Dawson Lake

We did something today we've never done before. News had spread of an extremely rare sighting of a bird in our county, only the fourth time it's been seen here, and the first time it was seen in a publicly accessible place. So we did it. We went looking for it as if we were actual birders. It was a Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus).

Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The Vermilion Flycatcher is more of a tropical species, and we lie north of their normal range. Obviously, a few individuals get "lost" and end up outside their usual habitat, as happened with this one. I note that a female flycatcher has been reported this month at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge. I imagine they are both feeling a bit lonely (the male has been hanging out with a Black Phoebe, a related species).

Mrs. Geotripper tried her hand at sharpening one of the shots

Our chances of actually seeing the bird weren't great. It was said to be patrolling a barbwire fence at the north end of Dawson Lake, but there are a great many such fences out there, and they weren't close to the highway (La Grange Road, just south of Highway 132). We lucked out though, because a birder was already parked there and he knew which fence to keep an eye on. It was a long ways off, far enough that I could not make out birds with the unaided eye. But after about fifteen minutes of scanning the slope with the camera set to highest zoom, I spied it. I snapped as many pictures as I could, but don't expect a whole lot of detail. But you can't miss a bird this colorful!

If you live in the area and want to have a look, drive east on Highway 132 to La Grange Road about 18 miles east of Waterford. Turn right (south) on La Grange and drive a mile or two until you see the Dawson Lake, a small irrigation reservoir, off to the right (west). Park at the bridge that crosses a corner of the upper lake. The fence is across the dry arm of the lake directly to the west (below). The bird patrols for bugs, going from fencepost to fencepost every 90 minutes or so, according to Rich, the birder we talked to. The lake property is privately owned, so don't jump the fence (bad form in any case to do that sort of thing).

Even if you don't see the flycatcher, don't be too disappointed. Dawson Lake is a local birding hotspot, and there are plenty of other birds to be seen. This afternoon we saw cormorants, mergansers, geese, Acorn Woodpeckers, egrets, and lots of small songbirds.