It's now almost June, and as the wheels of the migration turn, we get flycatchers. Now, flycatchers are famously hard to identify as to species, and the four (or is it three?) pictured above, all of whom showed up in my neighbor's yard today, are all confounding me in one way or another. Start with the one on the left: what's your pleasure, willow or alder? It didn't make a sound, so who knows? But is it the same bird as flycatcher number four? It could well be; the pictures were taken hours apart.
On to flycatcher number two. I call it yellow-bellied, on the grounds that it is, sort of, but then why is its throat so white? Is that okay? And it's the same problem with flycatcher number three. I think it's a great crested flycatcher, but again, it's not very yellow down there, is it?
Meanwhile, I'm trying to put together an account of the warblers that went through in May. There were still a few showing up today, so I'm entitled to a few days' grace period. It's going to take me forever to deal with the photos anyway.
POSTSCRIPT: Looking back at these pictures, at some months' remove, I'm now convinced that picture number one is of an eastern wood-pewee, and not an Empidonax flycatcher at all. Meanwhile, number two does seem to be the yellow-bellied flycatcher, and number three the great crested. I still can't make up my mind about picture number four.
 
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