I have had in my field for many, many summers a bird that I'm pretty sure is a Willow Flycatcher. I haven't seen breeding activity, but doubt that it would come back like clockwork every year if things weren't going well. It perches here and there and makes a call like a boingy spring, or what I think of as a mechanical sneeze, morning through evening. But this year, there is in the same field another "singing" flycatcher, which looks pretty similar, but sounds slightly different, with an upward-sounding exclamation. I have listened to recordings repeatedly but can't tell if it might be an Alder, Acadian (not likely, right?) or weird Willow. Such an odd sound to pin down in your mind! I'm going to have to go out there and play the recording and see who gets mad.
If anyone feels like an expert on the differences, please advise. But, really, I'm not sure that it matters, right ?! Nancy Dickinson Mecklenburg -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
