[obol] Re: Detroit flats willow flycatcher, hammonds flycatcher, and macgillivrays warbler

  • From: Brandon Green <brandon.green18@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: David Irons <llsdirons@xxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2014 18:44:00 -0700

Dave,

A late April Swainson's Thrush is only "exceptionally early" if we accept
the premise that all April reports from Oregon and Northern California (not
to mention WA and BC) are of incorrectly-identified individuals.  While I
agree that many (if not most) of them are, I would guess that at least some
of them are not.  There are many eBird reports of late April Swainson's
Thrushes from birders who I know can tell the difference between Swainson's
and Hermit:

http://ebird.org/ebird/map/swathr?neg=true&env.minX=&env.minY=&env.maxX=&env.maxY=&zh=false&gp=false&ev=Z&mr=on&bmo=4&emo=4&yr=all&byr=1900&eyr=2014

Given that early to mid-May is the generally accepted arrival date of
Swainson's Thrush in western Oregon (with Lane Co. reports typically
beginning in extreme late April), it doesn't seem to me that "exceptionally
early" is an accurate description for a Swainson's crossing into Curry Co.
on April 24th.  Especially in a year when many migrants have showed up a
little earlier than expected (possibly due to the favorable weather, the
extreme drought in CA, or other factors).  At the risk of arguing
semantics, a week or so earlier than expected sounds like just plain normal
outlier "early" to me.

-Brandon



On Thu, Apr 24, 2014 at 5:37 PM, David Irons <llsdirons@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> Brandon,
>
> Just because Swainson's Thrushes are being reported in northern California
> does not necessarily mean they are there. As Jeff Gilligan and Tim
> Rodenkirk have suggested, a Swainson's here and now would be exceptionally
> early. As Jeff pointed out, Hermit Thrushes are moving through w. OR right
> now. Every year Swainson's get reported in Oregon in April. On the rate
> occasion when one of these reports is accompanied by a photo, the picture
> shows a Hermit Thrush.
>
> I suspect that the n. CA Swainson's Thrush reports are just as suspect as
> the recent ORr eports. I happily await the opportunity to be shown that the
> arrival window for Swainson's is now in April. Tim Rodenkirk is out birding
> every day on the southern OR coast, where Swainson's typically arrive
> earlier than they do in the Willamette Valley. He has seen and heard none.
>
> Dave Irons
> Portland, OR
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Apr 24, 2014, at 4:20 PM, "Brandon Green" <brandon.green18@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
> > Swainson's Thrushes have already been reported in far northern CA.  It's
> likely that at least a few have crossed the border by now.  Still seems
> early for Northwest Oregon, but maybe not unprecedented.
> >
> > I'm skeptical of Willow Flycatcher in Detroit.  I typically don't see
> them until late May/early June in Eugene.  eBird is currently showing one
> report for the entire Western U.S. (Arizona).
> >
> > -Brandon
> >
>

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