Hi tweets,

I have read with interest the discussions following identification of
Kingbirds. I believe the point is well made that although we may often bird
with percentages and likelihoods, many of us will miss good birds because we
'assume' and forget to consider other similar species. On the other hand,
many of us will miss good birds because a known staked-out bird has been
previously identified, we assume it has been correctly identified and fail
to independently identify it. I have seen both of these situations happen
with some regularity. Anyway, my intention was not to preach, I wanted to
inform tweeters that no less than 3 TROPICAL KINGBIRDS were found this past
week in the small town of Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Earlier in the month there was another bird present, which may make this
season's total 4. The earliest bird was photographed, rather well I might
add and could be scanned if someone is interested. This past Saturday, I
had occasion to see the one known remaining Kingbird and the bird did call
'pip'pip' as is described in field guides. The bird also gave a sweet
sounding trill which was not described in the books at hand.

Also in town was a rather drab (immature) female Bullock's Oriole that was
visiting the fuschia bushes. (One could easily assume this to be Bullock's
and forget that Hooded Oriole is also possible and similar-looking!)