I can confirm the presence of the CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER near Wenas Campground early this week. I both observed and heard the bird for a long time. I agree with Adam that: " it was absolutely spot-on: phrasing, tone and cadence" with recorded calls. In this case, IBird Pro. Thanks Adam, Great find!


Dan Reiff
Mercer Island

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Adam Sedgley" <sedge.thrasher at gmail.com>
To: "Tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Saturday, June 12, 2010 11:20:56 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: [Tweeters] Wenas Campground: CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER

Hi Tweets,


Had a great time today leading a group of three high school students from the Seattle Audubon BirdWatch program through Ellensburg, Vantage, Umtanum Road and the Wenas campground. It was a full day leaving Seattle at 6am and returning at 9pm. Highlights included:


? Displaying WILSON'S SNIPE and flyover male RED-NECKED PHALAROPE at Hungry Junction Road in Ellensburg
? Singing SAGE, BREWER'S and VESPER SPARROW at the entrance to Whiskey Dick WMA
? Calling ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER at MP24 on Vantage Highway (thanks Tom!)
? Flyover GREAT-HORNED OWL and numerous COMMON NIGHTHAWKS near Umptanum Falls with the expected warblers and vireos.
? Numerous LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS throughout Umtanum road
? A singing CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER was located in some riparian habitat just a couple hundred meters down the road from the Wenas Campground. I know this is quite unlikely but I was immediately struck by the song while we were walking up the road. To reassure myself that I wasn't hallucinating (it was a lifer), I played the appropriate track on my BirdJam (which uses audio from Stokes Western Birdsong CD) and it was absolutely spot-on: phrasing, tone and cadence. Of the three part song, it most often sang the first two parts but also sang all three repeatedly. As I played it (on my phone, which has very soft speakers), I received a positive response with the bird flying in to sing in a conifer just above me. His song matched the recording verbatim. It flew off after a few minutes. When it continued to sing about 50m away, I played the recording and it immediately flew in again providing even better views*. This matches the song (and the CD track) quite well: http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/45301 The precise location: as you go downhill from Wenas, the road bends to the left (the Wenas sign still visible behind you). Towards the end of the bend, there is a stand of conifers on the right hand side of the road (to the left of some cottonwoods). The bird was singing actively in the middle of this riparian area.

* - I should note that I do not frequently play bird song/calls and NEVER do so during spring or summer when birds are potentially on nest. I made a conscious decision that I would play the song twice to confirm the birds identity considering how unlikely it is at this location.


Good birding!


Adam


--
Adam Sedgley
S e a t t l e, WA
sedge.thrasher [at] gmail [dot] com

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