Sounds exciting doesn’t it?

As a birder, it is an exhilarating experience when you add a “Life Bird” to your list. Whether it’s a lifer at home on my feeder or when I find one in my home state while on a walk, everytime it’s a thrill to say “I got a new one!”

The chase is on!

There are times though, that make me want to drop everything and just go. These are the times when word gets out that rare a bird has been found that shouldn’t be expected anywhere near your state.

One such instance happened while heading up to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan for a birding trip. A rare Tropical Kingbird that, while has visited the state a recorded 3 or 4 other times, was found near the Michigan/Ohio border.

While the bird was discovered just a mere hour from home, I was six hours away. No, I didn’t just drop and go but my birding companion and I decided that if the bird was still being seen, we would forgo the morning birding we had planned to do and head down as early as possible to get a shot at seeing this unlikely visitor.

With hope and with the knowledge of a prior evening sighting, we headed south at dawn, and aside of a quick gas fill-up, we arrived at the spot.

As we pulled up, the bird (Life Bird #477) landed on the telephone pole above us, and with a quick look through our binoculars, we quickly got out of the car. We enjoyed the bird for about an hour, with others pulling in as excited to see their “lifer” as well.

Not all chases end with a happy ending as this one did. But in each case the thrill of the possibility of seeing something new is just as exciting.

Here’s to chasing #478!