Hammond’s Flycatcher, 12/14/2018 near Avoca, WI

I finally decided to try my luck with the reported Hammond’s Flycatcher today. It was first seen and reported on Sunday afternoon 12/9/18. Hoping it was still there, a friend and I made the two hour plus trip out there. When we pulled up, we saw a group of 5, all looking in the same area. As soon as they saw us, they were waving to hurry up and get over there! We grabbed our things and rushed down to the western end house. There it was, sitting in a tree 25′ away! Wow, what a beautiful bird!!! We watched it for about 50 minutes and the entire time, it fed, mostly on flies. It grabbed them off the siding on the house, from the grass and off the balcony railings. It flew about the yard, usually staying within 35′ of the road. My understanding is this is the first recorded sighting for Wisconsin. It was a perfect sunny day for a road trip and it was even better to get such awesome views for an extended time. Here are a few images of the bird from today.