A Variegated Flycatcher was posted on Discord October 18, 2022. Wow, a major rare bird. This would be a lifer for us. A short discussion ensued on that evening of whether the bird would still be there after a 4 ½ hour drive (234 miles). Decision made we got up early the next morning and headed east. We live in Holland and by the time we reached Lansing we hit rain. It rained all the rest of the way there. There were a few cars already parked there to let us know if and where the bird was.
We started walking down the road and one of the birders was a local birder from Allegan County. The other one we also knew from Kalamazoo County. Small world.
The central yellow patch on its crown is often concealed. We were luck and saw that too.
This flycatcher is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and the Guianas; it is a vagrant to more northwestern parts of the continent.