[NatureNS] New life bird and an agitated least(?) flycather

Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2008 21:10:58 -0300
From: Ken McKenna <kenmcken@eastlink.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
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Ken McKenna
Box 218 Stellarton NS
B0K 1S0
902 752-7644
Hi Patrick
I think it is a Least. I find them very difficult to tell apart by sight, but by sound it is very easy. The Least makes a repeated che BEC sound with emphasis on the second part. It also has a call note  "whit" a bit thinner than the call note of the Swainson's Thrush which is similar. 
The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher sounds a bit like the Least, but the notes are not repeated rapidly and the accent is on the first CHE bec. It also has a Purweee call similar to Peewee, but not drawn out. Leasts are usually found in hardwood stands in the northern mainland where I am atlassing. Robie Tufts indicates they are seldom found in conifer. However, while atlassing in the Eden L. Barrens ( another barrens with trees!),  I find them routinely in Pine forests where the pine has been thinned. In fact they are very numerous in such situations. I have not found a nest in the Pine yet, but they must nest there as there are no deciduous trees in the area. 
You mention no Peewees yet. I too have been atlassing in about 6-8 squares in the past week and have yet to hear a Peewee or an Eastern Kingbird. Yellow-bellied Flycatchers are very common and most squares up here have several Olive-sided Flycatchers. 
Again the easiest way to ID the flycatchers is by sound. Now to find a Willow or Great-crested!! or a Pine Warbler in all that pine- no luck yet!
cheers
Ken

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Patrick Kelly 
  To: NatureNS 
  Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2008 8:05 PM
  Subject: [NatureNS] New life bird and an agitated least(?) flycather


  Hu everyone:

  I spent over four hours atlassing the the Vaughan square (On Highway 14 south of Windsor). I even managed some nice views of a new life bird for me, an olive-sided flycatcher! The Stokes is right. It does sound like "Quick! Three beers." I came across a second one later in the day. I also almost stepped on, a female ruffed grouse and her brood. The little ones scattered and she lured me away. I was wondering the other day how people managed to get FY from birds like that! LOL

  This square had 52 species in the first atlas and I'm up to 47 so far. Still not a single duck, or a wood-peewee. I haven't heard a peewee so far this summer... and that is quite unusual for me. I have been in the right type of woods on quite a few occasions....

  I did have one bird which may be a least flycatcher. I had seen one (that was quite cooperative) in one area a week ago and was hoping to bump it up to on territory. This is semi-mature softwood with a brook running through it. A lot of birch and the occasional tall softwood. There was a bird about the right size in the same area, but it was agitated, and would only make "chirp" calls. It also refused to sit still. There was another, larger bird, doing the same thing but I could not see what it was.

  It did sit still long enough for me to get two quick pictures. I have put them into a single image at:

  http://myweb.dal.ca/pmkelly/Least.jpg

  The only reason I'm not 100% sure it is a least, is that when I did catch it in binos, the overall appearance that I got was more of a brown than a gray, but they pictures seen to look like a least, at least to me. As usual, any help is greatly appreciated.

  Pat


  ==========================================================================
  Patrick Kelly
  Director of Computer Facilities
  ==========================================================================
  Faculty of Architecture and Planning
  Dalhousie University
  ==========================================================================
  PO Box 1000 Stn Central 5410 Spring Garden Road
  Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 2X4 Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 2X4
  Canada Canada
  ==========================================================================
  Phone:(902) 494-3294 FAX:(902) 423-6672 E-mail:patrick.kelly@dal.ca
  ==========================================================================

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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Ken McKenna<BR>Box 218 Stellarton NS<BR>B0K 1S0<BR>902 752-7644<BR><FONT 
face=Arial size=2>Hi Patrick</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I think it is a Least. I find them very difficult 
to tell apart by sight, but by sound it is very easy. The Least makes a repeated 
che BEC sound with emphasis on the second part. It also has a call note&nbsp; 
"whit" a bit thinner than the call note of the Swainson's Thrush which is 
similar. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher sounds a bit like the 
Least, but the notes are not repeated rapidly and the accent is on the first CHE 
bec. It also has a Purweee call similar to Peewee, but not drawn out. Leasts are 
usually found in hardwood stands in the northern mainland where I am atlassing. 
Robie Tufts indicates they are seldom found in conifer. However, while atlassing 
in the Eden L. Barrens ( another barrens with trees!), &nbsp;I find them 
routinely in Pine forests where the pine has been thinned. In fact they are very 
numerous in such situations. I have not found a nest in the Pine yet, but they 
must nest there as there are no deciduous trees in the area. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>You mention no Peewees yet. I too have been 
atlassing in about 6-8 squares in the past week and have yet to hear a Peewee or 
an Eastern Kingbird. Yellow-bellied Flycatchers are very common and most squares 
up here have several Olive-sided Flycatchers. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Again the easiest way to ID the flycatchers is by 
sound. Now to find&nbsp;a Willow or Great-crested!! or a Pine Warbler in all 
that pine- no luck yet!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>cheers</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ken</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
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