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March 28, 2024

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No Time for Tuckerman -

Thursday, August 3, 2023

The Quitter Returns! -

Monday, March 21, 2022

Putting the goober in gubernatorial -

Friday, January 28, 2022

Return of Bird of the Week: Alder Flycatcher

Alder Flycatcher, Creamer's Refuge, Fairbanks

Identification of flycatchers can be hard. Really hard. But now that we’re warmed up with all those yellow, black and white flycatchers, let’s continue our examination of some reallyhard birds: the infamous Empidonaxgenus, the “Emps.” Because after you’ve done Emps, nothing will seem as hard. Last week we looked at the Hammond’s Flycatcher. This week we’ll have a look at the Alder Flycatcher. This species has an impressive migration: it winters in South America, mostly in Brazil but as far south as Argentina. It’s a later arrival in the boreal forest, where it joins other Emps to torment birders. Here’s the…

Bird of the Week – Alder Flycatcher

Alder Flycatcher perched in, yes, Alder, Fairbanks

Thurshes may be omnivore but the flycatchers pretty much limit themselves to bugs. There’s a genus of flycatchers called Empidonax, which would be on most birders’ list as the very hardest birds to properly identify. Except when they sing. And this handsome Alder Flycatcher was singing his tonsils syrinx off on a warm summer evening. The song, a lovely fee-bee-o, is the prettiest of all the flycatchers, in WC’s judgment. This is a largely boreal species, split from its cousin, the Willow Flycatcher, back in 1973.  The Alder Flycatcher migrates to northern South America where– and you can trust WC on this – there are…