[TN-Bird] Stones River NB - Willow Flycatcher
- From: "Daniel B. Estabrooks" <dbe2g@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2012 20:48:19 +0000
Stones River National Battlefield
Rutherford County
9/8/2012
I saw & heard a Willow Flycatcher on the east side of tour stop #3 at the
battlefield this morning, almost exactly a year after seeing a silent
Traill's-type flycatcher on September 9, 2011 - the only two I've ever seen in
Middle TN. This guy appeared to be a 1st-fall individual, so it probably wasn't
the same bird, but kind of a neat coincidence nonetheless. The following is my
ID justification, copied from my eBird report:
I stalked this bird for about 10 minutes as it skulked through some small
bushes in a clearing, only getting one reasonably decent view of about 15
seconds along with several other very brief views as it would pop out for a
second and then dive back into cover. Behavior was very Empid-like, as opposed
to a pewee (very active and flitty near the ground, never hanging out at an
exposed perch, etc.). My one good view revealed a generally gray flycatcher
(not Acadian or Yellow-bellied) with no eye ring (not Least) and very strong
thick wing bars (1st-fall individual?). At two points during the whole 10
minutes, I heard a Willow-like "whit" call, though I can't be 100% certain that
it was coming from the same bird. I was never able to see anything posterior to
about the midpoint of the bird (e.g., primary projection or tail), but the body
was jerking in such a way that implied it was flicking its tail. Elimination of
Eastern Wood-Pewee based on general behavior, thickness of wing bars, tail
flicking, and "whit" call.
Daniel Estabrooks
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