Joyce (or anyone else who knows flycatchers)



I saw what I think were 2 different kinds of flycatchers yesterday at
Spencer Island near Everett. Or maybe the 2nd was a female? But
they're so similar in the books I have no confidence in IDing them. Can
you help?



We saw easily a dozen on the day. The shape of the 2 types was the
same. The one we saw more frequently had a bit of tennis-ball-yellow on
its lower underside, and made a 2-syllable call like churr-dek (or
something). The other (or the female?) had no visible yellow. On the
one without yellow I couldn't see orange on the beak. On the others the
lighting was tricky enough that I couldn't tell if they showed orange or
not.



They were in the same terrain - maples near a stream - and both moved
about fairly constantly, like kinglets.





How can I know if they were pacific slope or willow or what? I'm new
enough to birding that the flycatcher distinction seems just about
impossible.





Thanks for your help,

Jerry Neufeld-Kaiser

Seattle





Ps - 'twas a pretty good day at Spencer Island, though I missed seeing
the blackheaded grosbeaks and the tanager this time:



- 4 hairy woodpeckers

- 2 bitterns

- The aforementioned mystery flycatchers

- 4 common yellowthroats

- An albino mallard in a group of 5, plus plenty other mallards

- A mother tufted duck with almost-fully-grown ducklings

- 3 spotted sandpipers

- 4 killdeers

- 4 towhees, incl. a junvenile

- 3 osprey, incl. 1 on each of 2 nests

- 2 bald eagles

- 1 red tailed hawk

- ~20 cedar waxwings

- 2 flickers

- White crowned & savannah & song sparrows

- Barn, cliff, tree and violet-green swallows

- Marsh wrens

- Goldfinches, incl. a juvenile making a junco-like chipping
sound

- Great blue herons

- Anna's hummingbirds

- 1 beaver



________________________________

From: MEYER2J at aol.com [mailto:MEYER2J at aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, June 20, 2004 7:40 AM
To: Tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Scatter Creek, Thurston County



Hi tweets:



Saturday, June 19, was a beautiful warm day with many birdy rewards for
an East Lake Washington Audubon field trip to Scatter Creek, Thurston
County. The day started with a Green Heron perched at the top of a
conifer tree. In addition to the many Savannah Sparrows, a few Chipping
Sparrows were seen. Black-throated Gray Warblers sang and fed in the
conifers while Common Yellowthroat, Wilson's and Yellow Warbler worked
the bushes. An Orange-crowned Warbler finally showed itself all the
while calling. Western Wood-pewee, Willow and Pacific-slope Flycatcher
were fairly abundant. Vireos included Hutton's, Cassin's and Warbling.
Color was provided by Western Tanager, American Goldfinch, Purple Finch,
and Bullock's Oriole. Two American Kestrels, Hairy Woodpecker,
Red-breasted Sapsucker, Winter Wren, Rufous Hummingbird, and Brown
Creeper added to the variety of bird species. After a quick trip the
Mima Mounds, the day ended with 51 species, 46 of which were found at
the two units of the Scatter Creek Wildlife Area south of Olympia.



Joyce Meyer

Woodinville, WA

www.elwas.org