ML210919281

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

**Rare**. Observations below made before looking at photos and while in the field: Empid species observed mostly in mid to low perches hunting insects. Skittish. Habitat dry grassland next to the large pond of Whelan Lake. Some brushy habitat with small trees. Stood out originally from phoebes because of light drab color and 2 noticeable white wing bars. Overall grey and unimpressive from a coloration standpoint. Possibly some contrasting tones in the primaries. Struck me as having a long tail. Wing bars white and noticeable. Second wing bar more extensive than first. When perched had a slow, downward bobbing motion to the tail. This distinguished it from all other empids. I saw the tail flicking very well on 4 occasions and was convinced of its downwards and not upwards motion. The tail accelerated downward and was then brought back to neutral slowly (more slowly than the downward acceleration), very phoebe-like. May have been the lighting but also seemed to show a very light yellow wash to the lower flanks and belly. No reliable vocalizations although I may have heard a soft “whit” call among some of the yellow rumped warblers it was around at one point. It stood out because of its difference from the YRWA and sounded very similar to the same wet sounding “whit” call that is given by Willow Flycatcher, which I am familiar with from growing up in Pennsylvania. However, I only heard it once and cannot be sure.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS Rebel T6

Lens

EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

ISO

800

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/800 sec

Dimensions

1917 pixels x 1384 pixels

Original file size

909.76 KB