Hello All,
I have spent the last five full weeks out in the field listening to and
surveying many birds, amphibians & mammals across the Blue Mountains in
eastern Oregon. The great discussion on the Western Flycatcher while I was
away is of great interest as constant field observations cause me to
strongly doubt the ability of anyone to separate the Western Flycatcher into
either pigeon hole created by Ornithology. When I watch Western Type
Flycatchers give their position notes , calls or dawn chorus songs within a
five mile square area the variation in notes from individual to individual
is astounding. To sit and watch an individual bird at mid-day give a
position note in no way confirms what species it is. Because the same bird
will be giving a completely different note at 0445 hrs than it does at noon.
So I once again strongly suspect that the key is species diversity and that
seems to get skipped by this ongoing discussion. I applaud Arch M.cCallum,
Gene Hunn and a few others for taking a serious look at this Empid. species
and its vocalizations. Just think when this all gets worked out there are
still the four year gulls to figure out, so lets really take a close look
and spend time understanding if this is still only the Western Flycatcher.
Later Mike

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Mike & MerryLynn Denny
1354 S. E. Central Ave.
College Place, WA 99324
509.529.0080 (h)

IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN BIRDING, YOU HAVEN'T LIVED!
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