A couple of birdwatchers recently obtained a rare sighting of a Magnificent Frigatebird during an outing in northern California.

At first John and Dana Naber had no idea what they were looking at -- only that the bird with the 7-foot wingspan perched high in a tree over the Russian River seemed really out of place.

Only after they returned home and had a chance to consult their field guides did they realize just how out of place was the Magnificent Frigatebird -- a species that breeds in the tropics and rarely ventures north of the Salton Sea. The bird was probably blown off course by the recent storms in early January. Underweight and fatigued, the bird was rescued by experts from the Audubon Society and Santa Rosa Bird Rescue before being brought to the International Bird Rescue Center in Cordelia, CA. Freedom -- as the bird has been named -- is doing much better and is expected to be released off the coast of San Diego sometime next month.

Photo © William C. Webb