Dear Tweeters,

Today (5-28-2011), Randy Knapp, Phil Wegener and I studied a GREY FLYCATCHER for an hour at Corkindale (Skagit County). This bird was in the field south of SR 20, never moving more than a hundred meters from the river's edge.

This bird dipped its tail slowly downwards, every one and a half seconds, almost constantly. The tail was held up when not being flicked--not held down in the manner of a Dusky. It had a very long bill for an Empidonax; the lower mandible was yellowish-orangish with a dark tip, while the upper mandible was all dark. The overall plumage color was very pale and grey, with very little olive color anywhere except on the back and wings. The tail was very long for an Empidonax, with the relatively short primary extension accentuating this effect. The crown was all grey, with a rounded crown, showing a bit of a peak in the center. The bird called "wit" quite often. The overall size of the bird was large for an Empidonax. The bird hunted actively from very low perches, catching insects from shrubs out in the field, staying mostly out in the open, and perching on shrubs of anywhere from half a meter to two meters tall; occasionally, especially when we were
following it about, it resorted to some small alders at the edge of the fields, but always perched below three meters. Although I never saw the pale outer webs, Randy was able to view them through the scope a few times. The bird had a pale white eyering, pale wingbars and tertial edgings, and a whitish-grey throat. The legs and feet were black.

Other Empidonax flycatchers today: we heard a Willow Flycatcher and a Pacific-slope Flycatcher singing at Martin Road. We saw one Dusky at Corkindale (on the north side of the highway). We saw several Hammond's Flycatchers: one at Newhalem Ag Pond and two at NP Road 213.

Unwisely, I hurried home in the afternoon. Randy and Phil found a LEAST FLYCATCHER at the Martin Road during their second visit there today. This bird was at the eastern 90-degree bend (after leaving the WDFW access, go south, take a 90 left, and the next bend is the site). They also saw a female Calliope there, where some wires are stretched over some berry bushes that have wires over them. That hummer's been there for three days.

Also at Martin Road was a Lewis's Woodpecker; this bird has been there for a few weeks now. Another Lewis's was seen at the farm across SR 20 from the milepost 100 parking area.

Newhalem had 15 to twenty Chipping Sparrows, but we were unable to locate the Northern Mockingbird that Randy and Phil had seen near the tennis courts on 5-27-2011.

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch


Gary Bletsch?Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA?garybletsch at yahoo.com?Mentre che li occhi per la fronda verde
ficcava ?o s? come far suole
chi dietro a li uccellin sua vita perde, lo pi? che padre mi dicea: ?Figliuole,
vienne oramai, ch? ?l tempo che n?? imposto
pi? utilmente compartir si vuole?.??