Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 21:55:25 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Paul Subject: a 3 flycatcher day... in January Comments: cc: Janni Ottavio MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A little late in posting, but yesterday (Sat, 12 January), Rob Hilton and I saw 3 rare flycatchers in the same day. OK, 2 of them were in Delaware, but how often do you get to see your state WESTERN KINGBIRD in two states on the same day, with the added bonus of a DUSKY FLYCATCHER - the first to be seen in DE (and one of a very few east coast records). That both the kingbird and flycatcher have been hanging out along the same hedgerow just makes it that much more exciting. We arrived at Eastern Neck NWR at 9:30 am, and hung out around the Ingleside Area. The bird was nowhere in sight. Stan Arnold and Joan Decarli showed up a little after 10, and they stayed at Ingleside while Rob went north and I went south (with our FRS radios in hand, though in the end we didn't need them). I worked my way back to Ingleside, but by 11:30 there still was no sign of the bird. It was a beautiful day, and Stan & I enjoyed chatting about bird trips, both past and planned, even if there was no kingbird about. Rob came back at about noon, and we continued to chat, just hanging out along the side of the road. Patience was wearing thin, and after 2.5+ hours of searching, we all were ready to hang it up. But before going our separate ways, I turned to look at the bluebirds calling from the top of the tree that was literally right next to us. There were 2 birds, but lo and behold, one of them wasn't a bluebird! So I casually said to Rob & Stan (Joan was sitting in the car), "hey, do you guys want to see a Western Kingbird in MD?" We couldn't believe it. Somehow the bird had flown into the tree right next to us without us seeing it. It's anybody's guess how long it was sitting there. So Stan called Joan, and the 4 of us got some great looks it. It then flew north a little bit (to the trees just south of the road to Ingleside), continuing to keep up with 2 bluebirds. More great views in bright light, and then it flew across the field to the east, eventually landing in a deciduous tree beyond the row of pines. It stayed there for a minute or so, and then continued heading east. So clearly this bird has a wide range that it's covering. I'm not sure when Pete Webb & crew showed up, but I assume it was after this, perhaps after the bird had made a loop around it's range. So from there Rob & I drove the hour or so to Cedar Swamp WMA, just NE of Smyrna, DE. It was after 3 pm by the time we got there, and neither bird was being seen at the time. In fact the Western Kingbird hadn't been seen at all that day. But persistence paid off, and we ultimately got great looks at the Dusky Flycatcher. It was also calling frequently, which helped locate it in the hedge. While walking back to our car we stopped when we heard this diffent, "pip pip pip" right next to us. Almost like deja vu, there was a Western Kingbird sitting in the top of a tree right next to us. A great way to end the day. Good birding, Paul Pisano cheep@erols.com Arlington, VA ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================