Rick and others -
	You are in pretty good company as far as Talbot County is concerned.
Jan Reese of our club, and certainly one of our finest birders, is highly
reluctant to put a name onto the fall empids that pass through our area.  He
very clearly promotes the position that "empid sp." is as far as one should
go.  (Jan is not a member of MDOSPREY).
	I should note that he is a licensed and certified biologist who has
prepared bird specimens for Smithsonian and other research institutions for
many years.  If one cannot be sure of the species when holding it in hand
and preparing the skin for research, how can one be fully confident when
looking at a silent bird in the field in autumn?

Les Roslund
Talbot County
Easton, MD

Hi all,
 The "take home" (as Pete Dunne would call it) from this post, beyond  the 
late date, is that many of these fall empids cannot be identified as to  
species, on non-calling/singing birds in the fall. If banders cannot 
safely make an ID with a bird in hand, then many of the fall empids we see  
in the field should simply be let go as "empid sp.". 
 
I say this because I have recently had folks on fall field trips that want  
to pin a name to each empid we encountered and seemed upset when I
explained 
this to them.
 
Rick Sussman
Ashton,MD


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