Vermilion Teenager

A failed twitch for a reported Tundra Swan at Avra Valley turned into a very pleasant couple of hours of birding on a cold, clear afternoon. As usual in the winter, there were several Black and Say’s Phoebes hanging around the ponds, and the “magic cottonwoods” almost always have a Vermilion Flycatcher or two. Today there was one brilliant red adult male, and this little beauty, just beginning to show the startling badges of the vermilion brotherhood.