An Oddity at Old Basso Bridge: A Possible Melanistic Ash-throated Flycatcher

Sometimes one sees the strangest things out there. I was busy social distancing with Mrs. Geotripper up the Tuolumne River a few miles where a hundred-year-old bridge was replaced by a modern span back in the 1980s. Old Basso Bridge remains at its original location, but only pedestrians are allowed to cross it. The bridge is a good spot for birding, being a high observation deck for spotting avian creatures in the adjacent underbrush and trees. We are especially drawn there in the spring because Ospreys have adopted the bridge as a nesting locality and because it is a fairly dependable place to spy Phainopeplas.

I saw a dark shape in the Russian Olive thicket, and thought I had found a Phainopepla, but noticed  that it had no crest or red eye. The problem is that I didn't know what it was. The more I studied the pictures, the more I realized it looked in all but color like an Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens). I searched the internet, and played with photoshop to see if I could turn it into a normal flycatcher, but had to give up. I made inquiries on the Flycatchers of North America and Birding California groups on Facebook, and most of the speculation coalesced around it being a melanistic Ash-throated Flycatcher.

Melanism is a genetic mutation that results in additional pigmentation in the feathers. It happens in a number of different birds and has been documented in several species of flycatchers. I couldn't find anything about melanistic Ash-throated Flycatchers, so unless there is some more documentation from those who know more about birds than me, I will leave this as a hypothesis. But an intriguing one.

I went out two days later to see if I could find the bird again and was unsuccessful, but I did find one or two normally pigmented Ash-throated Flycatchers, which I've added here for comparison's sake.

This has been a strange year for me and strange-colored flycatcher species. Last October I discovered a leucistic Black Phoebe at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge (leucism is a mutation causing a lack of sufficient pigmentation leading to light coloration). I've seen both ends of the gray spectrum!

Leucistic Black Phoebe at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge in the Central Valley of California, 10/18/19.

The Spring Migrants Continue to Arrive on the Tuolumne River: Ash-throated Flycatcher

I'm a little late on posting about one of our recently arrived migrants, seeing as how I first saw them on the Tuolumne Parkway Trail two weeks ago, but it has taken time to successfully photograph any of them. Today's migrant is the Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens).

 The Ash-throated Flycatcher is a denizen of the desert, rarely drinking water. They get their needed water from the bugs and spiders that they eat. They winter in Mexico and Central America and fly north to the western states as far north as Washington to breed. They're cavity nesters, utilizing the holes punched out by woodpeckers.

Pair of Ash-throated Flycatchers on the Tuolumne River

We greeted the Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) on this blog about a month ago as the spring migrants started arriving from the tropics. I've been seeing them off and on ever since along the Tuolumne River Parkway Trail on my morning walks. This time was a bit different because I was taking pictures of the one with the ruffled feathers (below), I realized that a second one had perched below and wanted to be in the picture too.

The spring has continued to bring more and more birds to the river trail. I noted in the last flycatcher post a month ago that the Tuolumne River Trail had reached 100 separate species of birds observed. The number now stands at 107! Fellow nature blogger Siera Nystrom sighted a Warbling Vireo, a Townsend's Warbler, and a Wilson's Warbler. I added a Western Wood-pewee, some Forster's Terns, and just yesterday I discovered some Black-necked Stilts in the recharge ponds across the river. L.D. Scott saw a Savanna Sparrow. Who knows what will be seen next time?

Welcoming the Spring Migrants: Ash-Throated Flycatcher on the Tuolumne River

I love traveling, and I've been a lot of places in the last few months, but for me it always comes back to the home turf, and walks along our gentle stretch of the Tuolumne River as it flows through Waterford. Our modest river trail will never be a world destination (it passes by the water treatment plant, for heaven's sake), but it has some beautiful stretches through the riparian habitat, and is proving to be a rich environment for wildlife. In the past few days I've seen river otters, red foxes, lizards, and many, many birds. We passed a milestone this week. Other birders have been frequenting the trail, and they came up with six new first-time sightings, bring the total eBird roster to 100 separate species!

There have been some other "firsts" this week as the spring migrants begin showing up along the river. Yesterday I was out with Mrs. Geotripper on a section of the trail, and we saw a Western Kingbird, one of our spring arrivals, but I've been seeing them for several weeks now. But there was a second bird in the same tree that had a yellowish breast, but it looked different somehow, and I got one poor shot that gave me just enough hints to realize it was an Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens), another spring arrival. These flycatchers are a desert species who get their water from the foods that they eat. They winter in Mexico, and move north into the southwestern states and California for the summer to breed. They are cavity-nesters who compete for old woodpecker holes in dead trees, but will nest in many environments such as eaves and drain pipes, so they've done well with the spread of humans across the southwest.

Ash-throated Flycatchers at Turlock Lake and on the Tuolumne River

I seem to see these birds at one time of the year, as I posted on them last May, and a year earlier in late April. We were at Turlock Lake State Recreational Area and this Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) landed in the oak tree on the hill top hardly ten feet away from me. It sang for a fair amount of time (enough for the video below), and actually waited for me to wander away.

This species of flycatcher is really a desert species, with a range across the U.S. Southwest and winters spent in Mexico and the tropics. They aren't seen much north of Oregon. Being creatures of the desert, they don't need to drink, getting most of their moisture from their food.

Strangely enough, after not seeing them for almost a year, I saw a second Ash-throated Flycatcher just up the road at the Joe Domecq Wilderness Area along the Tuolumne River near Basso Bridge!

Ash-throated Flycatcher on the Tuolumne River

I guess I need to do more morning walks along the Tuolumne River. Yesterday's stroll yielded sightings of not one, but three birds new to my Parkway Trail list (up to 45 species now). One the birds was a first for me as well (the Bewick's Wren from yesterday's post). I've seen today's bird, the Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens)  a couple of times, but not on the Tuolumne River (that doesn't mean it's rare, just that I haven't been observant enough to see them). This one stuck around enough for some pictures.

The flycatchers like open woodlands and riparian habitats, which means the Tuolumne is a pretty good place for them. Not surprisingly, they feed on bugs, but will eat fruits once in awhile as well. Like the Bewick's Wren, they are creatures of the American Southwest and Mexico.

I'm trapped in airport limbo for a bit, but I have a chance at some species from the eastern U.S. over the next few days. I'm sure I'll find time to post them if I see them!

The Other Bird in the Bush: Ash-throated Flycatcher at Merced Falls

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I saw and got pictures of two new birds for my life list in a matter of a few moments from the same bush out by Merced Falls on the Merced River in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The first was hard to miss, being a bright orange-yellow Bullock's Oriole. After it flew off, I noticed another bird had landed, a little less brightly colored, but unfamiliar. I saw a slight crest so I guessed it might be a Say's Phoebe, but the wing color was all wrong.

It was difficult to tell at first because the bird was being bashful. The pictures here are out of order, with the first picture being the last one I actually took. The first pictures I got were of a bird well-hidden among the branches, as you can see above and below.

It finally popped out into the open, and a little research quickly showed it to be an Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens). It's a common species of the southwestern United States, but you wouldn't know it from my observational powers. They winter far to the south, in southernmost California and Mexico. I noticed in the pictures that this individual is banded.

Lots of birds coming up! There were the nesting Ospreys near the river, and some Flickers competing for the ladies on campus yesterday.