I had an Olive Sided Flycatcher at Huntley Meadows Park (Fairfax County) this
morning a little after 7 am. It was perched in some of the snags near the
start of the boardwalk.
I first noticed a flycatcher perched in the dull gray light that I thought
was one of the many Pewee's that were calling, but when I put him in the
scope, I could see the "vest" (dark sides of breast with a white stripe up
the middle). Whoa! This was no Pewee!!
I started to think it was an Olive Sided, but my only experience with this
species was in a field guide, so I was a little wary. The bird must have
sensed my tentativeness because he sang the "quick three bears (beers!)" song
a couple of times and confirmed its identification. I high-fived my scope
for the life bird and looked around for another birder to share it with.
Fortunately, there was one other birder coming down the boardwalk who got to
view it through the scope.
A few minutes later the bird posed with its white rump tufts showing (well, I
could only see one of them). Thank you very much! Field mark number three.
I took a bunch of shots of the bird with a digital camera through the scope
and they came out pretty bad(!), but there's enough there to confirm the id.
Predictably, the bird flew off just as the Monday morning bird group came
onto the boardwalk. ;-(
Bart Hutchinson
Alexandria, VA
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