ML610013766

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Looked like a good candidate for Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, but perhaps not seen well enough to confirm in the field. Photos show a front view and seem to suggest Yellow-bellied Flycatcher pretty strongly, but may not be diagnostic—sometimes I'm surprised at how yellow other empids can look in the fall. I heard "whit" calls, consistent with Least or Willow, from low trees along the slope down from the Geddes entrance, then saw two Empidonax-like birds chasing each other around. The one that popped out and gave me the best views was this yellowish bird, with a greenish-yellow back and a moderately weak eye-ring. It looked like a dull Yellow-bellied to me, but I wondered if it could be an unusually yellow Least. As I continued trying to get better views, I saw this bird and an Eastern Wood-Pewee flycatching in the same tree, so those may have been the two flycatchers I saw earlier, leaving the source of the "whit" calls unexplained if this bird really was a Yellow-bellied. My naked-eye glimpse of this bird's back made me especially convinced it was Yellow-bellied, as its back appeared quite olive-yellow, in addition to its yellowish underparts. Addendum 26 Sep 2023: After doing a little more reading, I'm pretty confident this was Yellow-bellied. There must have been a second Empidonax, presumably Least but possibly Willow, giving "whit" calls here too, so I've updated my list accordingly.

Technical information

Model

Canon PowerShot SX620 HS

ISO

1600

Focal length

112.5 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.6

Shutter speed

1/640 sec

Dimensions

1114 pixels x 836 pixels

Original file size

299.08 KB