Sault Ste. Marie's Western Kingbird

A Western Kingbird showed up at Whitefish Island in Sault Ste. Marie!.  It was first found by Elijah Rodgers on Friday morning (https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45557804).  He wasn't able to get the word out about it until the afternoon, so right after work, I raced back into town and headed straight for Whitefish Island.

It took me about 10 or 15 minutes to track the bird down and I sure was excited when I did.  I definitely did not expect that I'd be seeing a Western Kingbird, a lifer for me, here in Sault Ste. Marie.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get any really great photos of it.

I got the word out that it was still around and few more local birders arrived to get a glimpse of this rare bird.  This was only the second record of a Western Kingbird for the Algoma District, with the first one coming only last September (https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S38960845).

On Saturday morning, there was sign of the bird and I didn't hear of any reports from anyone else.  I assumed the bird only stuck around for one day, which is the case for many rare flycatchers.  However, while I was birding at Whitefish Island early Sunday evening, I received an eBird alert that the Western Kingbird had been reported earlier that day.  I walked over to the location it was hanging out in on Friday, and sure enough, there it was.  I was able to get a better photo this time!