Hello All,

This evening at 4:30 PM MerryLynn and I were just getting ready to leave Windust Park along the Snake River in southern Franklin Co., WA when MerryLynn thought she saw an odd warbler so I drove over to her end of the park and just as I was walking around a line of broad leaf trees MerryLynn pointed up into a mass of dead branches and urged me to look. Looking up all I saw was a robin, then this kingbird sized bird that snagged a bug out of mid-air. it proceeded to fly out & return to the same perch. It had a black bill, a finely streaked chest, white vent and belly with a pale yellow wash across the flanks and upper chest. Both of us looked up underneath this bird and at the time could not see the dorsal surface of the bird. There was only one bird that met all these field marks in our mind. MerryLynn called out "Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher"!! There was no doubt as the bird flew out after insects and dodged several attempts by a nearby robin to force it off its perch. The robin won and the flycatcher flew west out of the park towards the home near the granary. I kept an eye on it as MerryLynn got the camera and I the scope. We started snapping pictures of this unexpected Arizona specialty in the trees beside the home to the west of the park. Soon a man came out wondering what we were doing. We showed him the flycatcher and explained why this particular bird was so special. He saw it and asked if we knew abut Washtucna. We last saw this bird still flycatching beside the home at 5:25 PM.. We could not contact anyone right away as there is no cell service in the area. We will send a description and photos to the WBRC. Good luck to all in your search for this very unexpected species. Watch the tree tops, especially dead branches. This bird was silent! No rubber ducky calls. A huge thanks to Nancy for posting this discovery for us.

Later Mike and MerryLynn
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Mike and MerryLynn Denny
Birding the beautiful Walla Walla Valley

If you have not birded, you have not lived