Subject: [Tweeters] Wenas Campground: CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER
Date: Jun 20 20:38:22 2010
From: Eugene and Nancy Hunn - enhunn323 at comcast.net


Adam, Dan, et al.,



In my experience, it is virtually impossible to distinguish the songs of Cordilleran and Pacific-slope Flycatchers at normal speed. If you play them back at 1/2 or ? speed or study a sonograph you should be able to notice the subtly different rhythm of the third phrase of the song, which is apparently the most distinctive difference, according to the late Ned K. Johnson. The male position notes differ noticeably between Arizona birds (Cordilleran) and coastal birds (Pacific-slope), including birds I?ve heard at and near Wenas, but individuals considered to be Cordilleran breeding in SE Washington may alternate slurred single notes (typical of Pacific-slope) with more clearly two-parted notes (typical of Cordilleran).



If at all possible you should make a quality audio recording of the bird in question, as there are certainly many typical Pacific-slope Flycatchers breeding in the Wenas area. I heard one today at Hardy Canyon.



Gene Hunn

Lake Forest Park

enhunn323 at comcast.net



From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu [mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of notcalm at comcast.net
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2010 11:51 PM
To: Tweeters
Subject: Fwd: [Tweeters] Wenas Campground: CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER



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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