Empids

I'd mostly made the transition in my mind from birds to dragonflies (and had just texted that I'd pretty much given up on Yellow-bellied Flycatcher) when this bird appeared in front of me in the little park beside Hickory Creek by Ace Hardware.

I had my camera set for fast exposure in bright sun of (potentially flying) dragonflies so I wasn't prepared for a passerine in the shade.  It was a scramble to get anything workable of the surprise Yellow-bellied.  Given that they're pretty much the passerine migrant with the latest peak this isn't that late for one (I know Tim's had them into June), but with the bulk of the migrants north of us it was still a surprise.  Ace park is the best place I know of in the county for Wild Lupines.

Willow and Alder Flycatcher were calling there as well and while I was close to a Willow I couldn't get a pic of one.  This Willow teed up by the golf course though.

There were a few calling there.  I was mostly trying to catch dragonflies (probably a future post) when I heard this next one calling.  It seemed closer to Willow but the tone was much thinner, it honestly seemed somewhat intermediate between Willow and Alder to me. 

Finally a dunlin from the beach that would have fit a lot better in the last post.  There was a willet too at the base of the pier but pierwalkers flushed both birds with me 200 yards away.  The willet headed south, the dunlin landed close and worked its way even closer to me.

and then there were two

I've walked Floral at dawn a lot more this year than I ever have before, giving up shots at Tiscornia megas in favor of trying to get the hard spring passerines.  I appear to have missed Olive-sided, though it's probably the least difficult of this group to reclaim in the fall.  Connecticuts have been hard to come by this year, I'm aware of only one in the county so far this year.  After listening to a lot of Northern Waterthrushes making Connecticut like songs (with a few Yellowthroat impersonators as well), it was nice to have the real thing pop out at Floral this morning.  It sang off and on through the morning, but we never even got a glimpse of the bird moving in the brush.

This Mourning along the nature trail was much more obliging, by far the best shot I've obtained of this fellow skulker.

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher was the other passerine I was hoping for.  As one of the latest migrants we're entering its peak window.

The primary extension on these birds is as impressive as the belly is.

I tried to turn this Acadian into a Yellow-belly as well (and actually called it out as one).  I was wrong though.

That leaves me with Worm-eating and Chat as the last 2 warblers I need.  The wormer is really the last woodland bird left, unless there's a late Olive-sided lurking somewhere.

Fall empids

What am I? The above composite and the next pic are the same individual from a week or 2 ago.

Silent fall empids are their very own special can of worms. Michael O'Brien wrote one of the best Empidonax ID articles I've come across, focusing on fall birds here. When this bird popped up my immediate impression was Yellow-bellied; its eye ring is medium prominent and it seemd fairly greenish (the Willow/Alder complex should be browner and have less of an eyering and Least usually has a stronger eye ring and colder tones). It's shot at a pretty high ISO in deep shade so I think a lot of the color is lost. In the backlit shot below the throat (except the part blown out by the sun) blends inot the face which would be a good point for Yellow-bellied. The pics do seem to show a grayish collar/nape. O'Brien's article, though makes point that Yellow-bellied and Acadian (which I'm basically discounting based on location and timing) are greenish throughout the upperparts. If the photo's accurate then that might be a point for Least.

Yellow-bellied has a longer primary projection than the very short primaries of Least. The pics are equivocal, though I think the top composite suggests a length more consistent with Yellow-bellied. Of course if I'd remembered (or noted) the primary length and/or the collar detail instead of utilizing the usual spray-away-with-the-camera-shutter -ID-confirmation-method I'd maybe be more confident on the ID. Maybe next time.

I'm pretty sure this next bird is a Least though.

It has a short bill, short primaries, strong eyering, and cold dark plumage, all of which make me fairly certain that this one is a Least.

No such problem with a Wilson's Warbler.

Connecti-not

It's that time of year when most of the year list is rounded out with just a few nemesis birds left.  Like Connecticut.  And just in time for a birder to really start gripping comes the female Mourning Warbler.  She may stay deep in the underbrush and give just enough to hope for the real thing ... they aren't though.  In some ways it's far easier to ID the pic of the bird frozen than the rapidly moving, mostly hidden blur that we're presented with in real life.
The eyering is actually a couple eye arcs and the underparts are also way to yellow for a Connecticut.

Another mark between Connecticut and Mourning is that the undertail coverts extend very far out on Connecticut and are more average in Mourning.

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher is probably the last passerine migrant to peak, and probably second only to Whimbrel as the latest migrant. Yellow-bellied's were actually pretty apparent at Floral earlier this week, we had them singing both the classic Peterson uprising chu-wee, as well as the very Least-like kibbick.

Here's Yellow-bellied's in a couple different lights.

I'm going to try one more crack at Connecticut tomorrow, but if I miss it then (and miss it I will), I'm probably going without one this year

The empids of Tiscornia

"From this point forth, we shall be leaving the firm foundation of fact and journeying ... into the murky marshes of memory into thickets of wildest guesswork." Bonus points if you recognize the quote. (Mostly) silent empids are the subject of this blog, all from this spring at Tiscornia.

It's hard to really capture the subtle colors present, so I've put a bunch of smaller pics together to try to give a better overall impression of the birds.

The first would appear to a be a Least Flycatcher. This bird was completely silent which puts on decidedly shaky ground traditionally.
However, the bird has a very prominent eye ring, and a short bill, both good marks for Least. There is a decent amount of dark along the lower mandible; most of the eastern empids have mainly orangish lower mandibles. The bird does have a somewhat olivey back which contrasts somewhat with the color of the nape and head, another good mark for Least. It would have been nice to have heard the chip note, a soft whit call, but with the above marks, as well as the date of May 12, during the peak movement for Least and before most of the other empids have returned, is also supportive.

Next we have a longer billed bird with a much plainer less-contrasting eye ring, and much less in the way of olive tones.

This bird would certainly appear to be in the Trail's class, either a Willow or an Alder. Willow is much more widespread in Berrien, and this bird's soft whit (quite similar to Least's) call also supports that ID. Alder apparently gives a stronger pip call said to be more reminiscent of a Carolina Wren. Next time I'm close to an Alder I'll try to hear that call note.

Finally we have the Yellow-bellied from last week.

This bird (above montage and below) is intermediate between Least and the Trail's in terms of the strength of the eyering. It's evenly greenish above, with the back the same color as the crown and the nape. There's little contrast between the face and the throat.

I had to really over-expose the pic since it was pretty dark that day and some of the yellowish underparts are lost somewhat in the pics. It did, however, give its diagnostic call, a very un-empid-like weak note that the books rightly describe as almost pewee-like.

A lot has also been written about the primary projection of these birds. I had trouble getting perfect portrait level shots and am having trouble appreciating the differences in the primary projection. For an excellent online discussion of these birds, see one of Cape May's sites here.