Remembering the White Vermillion Flycatcher

Leucistic Vermillion flycatcher 1-4-10 Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson, AZ

As many of you know, I used to live in Tucson, AZ. When I lived there, one of my favorite places to go birding was Sweetwater Wetlands. I could go there almost any day of the year and see 30 to 50 species of birds in just a couple of hours. I would often get lost in my birdy world wandering the paths and watching birds. At times like that, time just stood still for me. On this day in January of 2010 I saw the most remarkable bird of all, a leucistic Vermillion Flycatcher. I did not even know it was hanging out there, but some other birders I met on the path alerted me to its existence. It wasn’t long before I found it and was able to snap off quite a few shots.

Normal Male Vermillion flycatcher 1-4-10

Leucisism is a little understood and much disputed color mutation in birds according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology web site. It is not albinism, which is a total lack of melanin in the cells and would cause a bird to have pink eyes and skin. Birds with leucism have some pigment but it is not deposited in the feathers for some reason as I understand it. You can see that this Vermillion Flycatcher has dark eyes and some pigment in the skin on its back where it would normally have a mink brown mantle. However,the feathers all appear white.

Since I can’t offload any more photos on my regular computer yet, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at this magnificent bird which I will never forget!

Aren’t I cute!

Computer Troubles Update: I have found a good computer guy through a friend and he was here today looking at everything. My PC is still good, it just needs more storage. He is going to help me solve that problem, plus help me finally get all my data off my last 2 computer hard drives! Yay! Meanwhile, I am still limping along on this old laptop which Dawn Fine helped me download Live Writer onto but I have very little access to photos right now. These photos are currently on this laptop and I do not even remember how they got here! I know. I’m hopeless. However, at least I can do limited blogging and check my email, so that is good.  Later this week I am headed to Colchester again to help my Mom who is undergoing a medical procedure. I will be back again soon and birding as I go.

Andover Update: The weather here has been phenomenal after a brief cold front moved through last week and caused a bird fall out at the bog and in my yard. I saw my first Black-throated Green Warbler in my yard, along with the first White-throated sparrows of the fall on October 6th. I took photos at the bog that are still in my camera waiting to be offloaded. Today I saw my first ever yellow-bellied sapsucker in the the yard, so that’s two new yard birds in two weeks! It doesn’t get any better than that!

And that’s a look at My Birdy World on…

Our World Tuesday!

Where've You Been?

Every time I disappear from the blogosphere and then come back I always think of the words to that old song,

Where have you been
I've searched for you forever and a day
Where have you been
I'm just not myself when you're away
I'm just not myself when you're away 

Well, I knew this day was coming. My computer is so full that it won't work. I have zero storage left and it's time to buy a new one. Gus and I went out looking last night. I found one I like with all kinds of RAM and Memory. It's an HP laptop with a 14 inch screen and only 4 lbs. It also has an 8 hour battery, so I can take it anywhere. However, we probably won't be buying it for a couple of weeks, so, until then, I am limping along on this old laptop which has a limited operating system on it. I can access the internet and even blog, I just might not be posting photos for awhile.

However, I did manage to get a guest post up on the Birding is Fun blog before my computer crashed. It posted yesterday. If you would like to read my take on  Why Birding is Fun, just click on the link. There are lots of photos there!