A Great Crested Flycatcher at the Rookery

Today at lunch I headed over to the heronry to check on the babies, and although none had fledged, I was lucky enough to see a few practicing! Although intrigued with the herons’ behavior, when the knocking of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo broke through my concentration, I couldn’t resist ducking out of the cover of the windbreak to try to find him! He sounded like he was over by the edge of the woods near the creek and for a few moments I saw him. The spots on his tail feathers were a dead give-away as I watched him through a small break in the branches.  As I started to walk back to the windbreak, I saw a bird with a yellow belly sitting on a dead branch in the brush pile. Yowsers! A Great Crested Flycatcher! I had heard him sing earlier, but hadn’t recognized the song. Now I knew it. I’d never been able to photograph a Great Crested Flycatcher before, so my adrenalin was pumping and I almost couldn’t focus.

This photo shows the reddish tones in his flared tail.

I was too excited and moved a bit too fast trying to adjust the monopod (why was I even using this thing anyway!). He took off, but only flew a few feet away and dropped to the ground where he hunted through the grass clippings. In the past, I had only seen Great Crested Flycatchers higher up in the canopy of large trees. Why was this guy in the grass?

Maybe he was looking for suitable nesting material 

and the grass clippings looked promising...

Too soon, he flew to the copse of trees by the pond and landed on a dead branch. His mate, absent before, joined him briefly before flying higher in the tree. He soon followed to the top. I’d never been that close to a Great Crested Flycatcher before…and I liked it!

This guy was having a really good hair day because 

his crest almost always was nice and smooth.