identification | Sitka Nature

Mystery Flycatcher

Published August 26th, 2009 at 10:37 pm in birds, identification, photo with 2 comments
Tagged with flycatcher, identification, Western Wood-pewee

Mystery Flycatcher photo composite

My son pointed this bird out to me this morning as we were on our way to Totem Park. It was perched at the very top of a mid-sized Sitka Spruce and I saw it do a flycatching loop once or twice before it seemed to vacate its spot when a Merlin flew by, after which we continued on to the park.

It was too far (high) to get a very good look, even with binoculars, but based on what I had seen, I was confident that it was a flycatcer, and thought it might be a Western Wood-Pewee based on behavior and an impression of size/shape (that is, it seemed a bit to small/squat for an Olive-sided Flycatcher based on my very limited experience).

When we got back a while later, we saw the bird had moved to a snag not too far from where we had first observed it. Though the light was better, the new preferred perch was even higher and further back than the first had been. I watched it for a while several different times during the day, and it was still actively flycatching from the snag until around sunset at least. The first time I saw it there was shortly before noon, so it had been there for at least 8 hours, and probably a couple more.

Though the bird was too far away for any chance of a quality photo, I took many in hopes that they would show enough details to allow for a better chance at a positive identification. I have included the best of these in the composite shown above. My best guess is still Western Wood-Pewee. The behavior certainly fits. However, some of its plumage characteristics raise questions in my mind. In particular, it seems to be rather pale breasted, the wing bars seem to be a more pronounced than I might expect, and there’s a pale area between the eye and the bill. Still, I’m not sure what else it could be. I wouldn’t be surrprised if these questions can be explained with lighting and/or variability in the species, so I’m hoping others with more flycatcher experience might help me out.

Moss with Strange Growth

Published May 26th, 2009 at 11:00 pm in bryophytes, identification with 4 comments
Tagged with Blue Lake Creek, identification, Moss

Last summer I noticed these white growths while doing some plant surveying work along Blue Lake Creek. At first glance I thought maybe they were rootlets coming from the trunk of the tree (either Red Alder or Sitka Willow, I can’t remember which). Closer examination revealed that they were actually growing directly from the moss. The only thing I have noticed growing out of a moss like that is sporophytes, but there are also sporophyts present and they seem different enough to make me think that the white growths are not a stage in the development of the sporophytes (though perhaps I’m wrong about this?).

I believe the moss is a species of Hypnum though I am not sure which one. So far, this is the only time I have noticed anything like this, so I am tempted to say it must not be very common. However, experience has taught me that I overlook many things, so I don’t really know how common it might be. In any case, I would appreciate any suggestions as to what might be going on with these growths.

A note on the photo: the image seen here was created from 3 initial images, each focused at a slightly different point. They were then stacked to give a greater depth-of-field using CombineZM.
It didn’t work perfectly, so there is a little bit of a funny look to some parts of the photo.

WR: Night Twenty-three

Published October 23rd, 2008 at 1:21 pm in Recording, birds, identification, weather with no comments
Tagged with Gulls, Wind, Window Recording

Another stormy night with lots of wind and rain through much of the night, especially the very early morning hours.