Subject: Vermillion Flycatcher: The Official Search
Date: Jul 13 19:59:48 2002
From: Andy Stepniewski - steppie at nwinfo.net


Tweeters,

Richard Repp writes frequently for the Yakima Valley Audubon Society. I
thought it high time to share the excitement of ornithological
investigations going on in the Yakima Valley with the statewide birding
community. So, herewith, is "The Official Account" of a search for the Fort
Simcoe Vermillion Flycatchers.

Cheers,

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA
steppie at nwinfo.net

Chirp,

In Denny's last Vermillon Flycatcher post, he mentioned that John H. and I
went to Fort Simcoe on Thursday to look for VFOs (Vermillion Flycatchers
Observed).

He wrote, "I would certainly like to read a detailed description of their
search. Perhaps one of them could do that for us." I'm a little worried
about Denny. He has actually asked Rich712 for a detailed description?
Rich takes four paragraphs to tell you what time it is. It's like asking
this week's sun for a little more warmth. Maybe that's it. The heat has
addled his brain.

At 9:45 Thursday morning, I had just finished mowing my front lawn and came
inside for a drink. I noticed the flashing light on the answering machine
and punched the play button. Denny had called a half hour earlier with a
report of a Vermillon Flycatcher being seen at Ft. Simcoe. The message
stated that neither he nor Andy would be able to shake free to check it out
but he would put an alert on BirdYak. He implied that it would be nice if
someone jumped right on a follow up.

I dashed upstairs with a twofold purpose. First, I wanted to check my
computer for the BirdYak posting. Second, I wanted to check a field guide
to see if a Vermillon Flycatcher was a bird species or an old world pest
exterminator service. Either way, I knew I had never seen one, let alone
two, before.

Having worked the Birdathon with John H., I knew he was off on most
Thursdays. He was eager to make the trip so I threw some cold drinks in a
cooler, grabbed optics, guides, armed myself with a print out of Denny's
message and was out the door.

John was outside and ready to go. As he tossed his stuff in, I started to
feel a little guilty. I tend to ramble but every once in a while, I throw
something out that may have some relevance. On the May Birdathon, I
mentioned to John that the AC was out on my dust leaking trusty Sable. I'm
old enough to remember when cars (and houses for that matter) did not have
AC. Do you know what it's like to take a long drive in 100 degree heat
without AC? John does! Birding buddies are hard to come by and now I fear
I have lost another one.

At 11:15 (here's the time of day, right on schedule in paragraph 4), a
barren Ft. Simcoe parking lot greeted us. I made a beeline for the one
parking spot that was half shaded by a tree at the south end. We guzzled a
cold drink and reviewed the field marks for the female flycatcher. The
male, we felt, would need no introduction. We were aware that we were
working on a five day old sighting but were buoyed, though slightly puzzled,
by the fact that it was a pair of VFOs. Was this a nesting pair? Here in
Washington where there have been prior sightings in only three westside
counties? Or could this be a case of post breeding wandering by a pair? A
pair! In Yakima County!

As the species' habitat preference is streamside shrubs and wooded ponds, we
decided to start on the corner of the parade field adjacent to the park
entrance. The initial report simply stated that the observer was on the
park lawn viewing the birds in the shrubs and brush. As we walked across
the parking lot, the first bird to catch our eye was, fittingly, a Lewis'
Woodpecker working on the flagpole in the center of the field. Denny's
latest post indicates that we chose exactly the right place to look but we
found nary a trace of VFO.

We slowly worked our way up past the springs and caretaker's residence
pausing every few yards to scan all visible perches. John has seen the
Vermillion in the Southwest and recalled that they favor low perches
including fences. Our enthusiasm and the temperature were still
soaring...which would wane first? Behind the display building, John had a
view of an Ash-throated Flycatcher and heard two others. I had to settle
for a Western Kingbird in a different location later.

We checked the area behind the officer's quarters including the dry field
that extends down to the Job Corps Training Center. We then proceeded
slowly down the brushy south side of parade field which we felt was the
second most likely area for success. John hears well and we left no sound
untuned. At the marshy area at the southeast corner of the picnic area,
John was confident he heard a faint song...perhaps a warbler. Deep inside a
small tree, we found a Lazuli Bunting singing from a well shaded obscure
perch. With my poor hearing, I would have walked right by. The vast
majority of my Lazuli sightings have been of birds perched at the tops of
dead snags. Do they frequently sing from secluded locations or was this
just another indicator of the day's heat?

After walking the east perimeter of the parking lot, we ended up back at our
starting point. I phoned Denny hoping for magical suggestions while John
checked along the driveway that extends back to the caretaker's home. Denny
observed that we could get an excellent overview of the trees lining the
south side of the park lawn by going up to the blockhouse in the shrub
steppe south of the officer's quarters. In the blazing heat, that was the
land of no shade. Perhaps a trek more suited to the French Foreign Legion
than a pair (sorry John, you're not that much younger) of aging birders.

Neither of us was that eager to leave an area with tall oaks that offered
occasional shade breaks. We decided to make one more pass along the north
side. If that failed, we would head to the car for a drink before braving
the short but hot and dusty trail. Nada again. We noted that of the few
Lewis' Woodpeckers we observed, none were flycatching. I thought if they
had nestlings, they would be actively pursuing bugs in the air. Too hot at
midday? A couple of the birds on exposed perches were visibly panting.

Fortified with cool liquid, our spirits pushed us towards the blockhouse.
The heat, the incline and the extra pounds I carry soon had me sucking wind.
Hot wind. The high sun limited the strip of shade on the building's north
side to a meager 18 inches. I placed my back close to the wall, inhaled
deeply and nearly pulled my overhanging belly in out of the sun. It was a
glorious view of the tops of the oaks indeed. Absolutely bird free...each
and every tree. John had been agreeable to every suggestion all day. To
quickly head back to the car was no exception.

Back in the car, we drove up to the Job Corp center scouring the area for a
glimpse of that deep red. Some feel that it is as deep as the color of the
mercury in a thermometer. We, on the other hand, were riding in a Mercury
that was as hot as the planet. VFOs? We saw none. Details at 11:00!

Later,
Rich