My trip to Corpus Christi, Texas last week was such a sweet experience. It was such an honor to be one of only ten Swarovski dealers chosen from across the United States and Canada to participate in the pre-launch event for a revolutionary new product that will be coming out in January.
The launch event ended Thursday morning, and many of the participants flew home, but a few hard-core birders extended their trip by one day to do some birding. And, as you might imagine, I was one of those individuals! I figured, since I was in Texas, I should take advantage of the opportunity to go birding.
My birding adventures, along with a few of my fellow Swarovski dealers, could have been a scene right out of the movie The Big Year. In The Big Year, the three main characters—played by Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black—were competing against one another to see the highest number of bird species in North America in the same year.
Thursday, we headed into downtown Corpus Christi to see if we could catch a glimpse of a very rare bird, a cattle tyrant. We’d tried to see it the day before and struck out, which was very disappointing. The normal distribution (or range) of a cattle tyrant is South America, with the northern-most extension of its range reaching into Panama.
This was the first recorded sighting for this species in the United States. To a serious birder, this was a big deal. Within seconds of exiting our vehicle, we saw a crowd of birders—some with binoculars, others with scopes, and many had cameras with gigantic lenses. They were all looking in the same direction, so it appeared they had the bird in view.
I yelled across the street asking if they could see it, and the answer was affirmative. However, we had to wait at the light before we could cross to their side of the road, as we couldn’t see the bird from where we were standing. Believe it or not, by the time we were able to cross the street, the bird had flown out of view, up onto the roof of a restaurant.
On the opposite side of the road was a parking garage. I quickly surmised that if I went up enough floors into the parking garage, I would be able to look down on the roof of the restaurant. Another birder and I ran into the garage, found the elevator, and took it up to the fourth floor, then ran to the edge of the parking garage that overlooked the buildings below.
Success! The bird was in view—but not for long. After a very brief sighting, maybe only a few seconds, the bird flew down from the roof to the other side of the restaurant, once again out of view! At this point, we ran to the stairwell, raced down the stairs to the ground level, and ran out of the parking garage, across the street, to the rear of the restaurant.
Success again! The bird was down on the ground, running after, and catching flies that were attracted to the smelly dumpster behind the restaurant. Tyrants are in the flycatcher family, so it was only appropriate that it was catching flies! However, its foraging technique was unique and different than most flycatcher species.
Most flycatchers sit on a barbed-wired fence, or a low telephone wire, and fly out from their open, exposed perch to catch flying insects. Not the tyrant. His hunting strategy was to literally run after and catch flies down on the ground. What a fun experience to see this rare bird!
Until next week, Happy Birding!
Eric Moore is the owner of The Lookout, in Prescott, where you will find a Hallmark Gold Crown Store, wild bird products, and Vortex and Swarovski optics. Eric has been an avid birder for over 55 years. Eric can be contacted at eric@thelookoutaz.com.
