ML610847322

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Originally reported as Tropical Kingbird. When the bird was first located it seemed to be associating with and traveling with a Gray Kingbird. Tropical Kingbird would have been a county first, Gray Kingbird would be a second county record with the first being a historic reporting. In nearby Wakulla County there is a well-documented female Tropical Kingbird that bred with and raised young with a male Gray Kingbird. I pondered that this could be that pair but I never made it to their location to see if the Tropical Kingbird was still present or not. When I originally located them, I got as many photos and angles as I could during the brief time the birds were present. During that time the bird never vocalized and then disappeared flying up in the sky and away. Initial efforts to relocate these two birds by myself and others were totally fruitless. Examining the pictures the bill appears short and the tail is not super notched which favors Couch's. Referring to the Pyle Guide and looking at flight shots, again and again I came back to the fact that there was not enough evidence to support reporting the bird as Couch's and location heavily favors Tropical Kingbird. That combined with the thought that this was the pair from Wakulla lead me to excepting the most likely option. I was contacted by a person that I consider an excellent resource that is adept at both knowing and seeing the necessary details to work through a difficult ID. He indicated that the bird looked to be a good candidate for Couch's. His comments spurred me to try again to relocate the bird. This time I was successful in finding the bird reported as Tropical but not the Gray Kingbird. Once again the bird was only present for a short period of time. I tried playback in hopes of getting some response but the bird was totally unresponsive to both Tropical Kingbird and Couch's Kingbird calls. Left to it's own devices the bird let out a series of pick, pick, pick calls. I did try and record it but the bird was a distance away and there was heavy traffic, as well as, a construction project with large machinery running. These recordings were totally worthless but they absolutely clarified to me that the bird is indeed Couch's. This was in the evening and the bird had suddenly disappeared and we were unable to relocate it. The next morning I went back and searched in vain for hours. Finally I went back to just check and the bird did not appear to be present and then again, suddenly he appeared on the tree top. I took a few quick pictures and suddenly he started vocalizing - pick, pick, pick! I got a recording and then in the blink of an eye he was gone again. Vocalizations will be added to the appropriate checklist

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 90D

ISO

640

Focal length

321 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/13.0

Shutter speed

1/800 sec

Dimensions

1821 pixels x 1517 pixels

Original file size

351.55 KB