Hello Tweets,

I have always been enchanted by the thought of vagrants at eastern Washington vagrant traps, and I so I was extremely excited to be able to go see the Eastern Wood-pewee. I spent an hour at the oasis of chestnut trees I had so long wanted to visit. In the in the north central area of the grove, where the "corridor" between the heavy-canopied trees was widest, I came across an obvious Western Wood-pewee, though it was silent. After it disappeared into the forest, I continued on. I heard warblers and robins, and saw a flycatcher that might have been my lifer Dusky (I must examine my photos to confirm).

A few minutes later, on the northeast edge of the central corridor, I came across another pewee. This pewee was silent as well. It perched on a branch 15 feet away, and I took many photos, a majority of which were blurry. Soon, it flew off into the northeast corner, and I saw it once more, then lost it. Mr. Williams, the owner of the property who was very helpful and friendly, suggested playback, but it didn't work. I left the place feeling a bit defeated.

However, once I examined the photos and showed them around, I came to realize that the pewee that had really piqued my interest had every indication of being the Eastern: pale throat, mostly light mandible, longer tail and shorter wing, upper wingbar as bright as the lower, and the way it held its tail at a different angle than the wing. Also, as another birder mentioned this morning, the undertail coverts can be helpful: marked on Western, less-so (or completely unmarked) on Eastern. And my photos indicate plain UTCs!

Finally, the ever-helpful Blair Bernson gave me the best clue of all: he sent me a photo of the bird that he had taken on August 14th. When I compared plumage details on the right wing in an image I had taken of my bird in the same position, I found that the feathers looked exactly the same, just a bit more worn, which is to be expected after two weeks of late summer!

So, I feel very confident in confirming that my pewee was indeed the Eastern. Needless to say, I am happy! I hope to go back and hear it call on Monday, and to spend more time looking and less time photographing.

In a chestnut-shell: yesterday, August 26th, at about 1:20 PM (I will confirm the time later when I look at my camera), I saw the Eastern Wood-pewee foraging in the northeast quadrant of the Trail's End Ranch chestnut grove, not calling, but perching for extended periods of time and offering good views.

Oh what a wonderful joy birding is!

Here are my photos that I have uploaded onto Flickr (all phone pictures of my camera screen at the moment, if you'll forgive me):

https://flic.kr/p/xBExNp
https://flic.kr/p/xSnFbG
https://flic.kr/p/wYD7A9

Mr. Williams called us after we had left to ask if we had seen it. I'd better call him back and tell him of the good news!

Good birding to all, in our glorious state and beyond, Joshua Glant

Mercer Island, WA

Josh.n.glant at gmail.com

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