Review-Mirror

By Maggie Fleming For The Review-Mirror The third Flycatcher that I am writing about this month is hard to find but easy to hear. Least Flycatchers make their presence known with their incessant "chebecs" during the breeding season. The eleven Empidonax flycatchers in North America are notorious for causing trouble for birders. All are small birds with wing- bars and eye-rings, and most are very hard to tell apart. The Least Flycatcher is the smallest and grayest of this group in the east, and it is often common near woodland edges, where it perch- es in the open and raps out its snappy song, chebeck! To find them, take a walk in a deciduous woods like a sugar bush and lis- ten for their very short 2-note song. Don't be surprised if you don't hear them right away; they nest in clusters so there might be stretches of woods without any Least Flycatchers. But once you come across a cluster, there will likely be several about. On the Lindsay Lake Trail near Lake Opinicon (during the first kilo- metre of the trail) look and listen for Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Cerulean Warblers, Blue- Gray Gnatcatchers, both species of cuckoos, Least Flycatchers and other forest birds. Least Flycatchers generally catch insects from branches in the middle to upper levels of the forest and they frequently change perches, so look up for quick movements. Their small size, bold white eyering, and distinc- tive chebec song sets them apart from other Flycatchers. They may be little, but they don't let other birds push them around, sometimes chasing species as large as Blue Jays. The courtship behaviour of the Least Flycatchers is not well known. Least Flycatchers often actively chase American Red- starts out of their nesting territo- ry. The nest site is usually in a deciduous sapling or small tree such as maple, birch, or ash, and it is placed in a vertical fork in a branch. Nests may be .5-19 metres above ground, but heights usual- ly average 3.5-7.5 metres up, varying with habitat. Nests are evidently built by female only and are tidy cups of grass, strips of bark, twigs, lichens, plant fibres, often bound together with webs of spiders or caterpillars; they are lined with fine grass, plant down, animal hair, feathers. One Least Flycatcher nest was found to have used dragonfly wings as nest lining. Four, sometimes three, and occasionally five creamy white eggs are laid. Incubation is by the female only, and lasts thirteen to seventeen days. Both parents bring food for nestlings. The age of young at first flight is about 12 to 17 days. Their parents may feed the young for another two to three weeks after fledging. Least Flycatchers don't waste any time on the breeding grounds. It takes them about 58 days to find a mate, build a nest, lay eggs, and raise their young from nestlings to independence, and they only spend about 64 days in their summer homes. That doesn't leave them much free time. Least Flycatchers trav- el between 96.5 kilometres and 116 kilometres per day to reach their wintering grounds, a jour- ney that takes them about 25 days. During winter, this fly- catcher is most common in coastal Central America. On the Pacific slope, it prefers wooded ravines, while on the Caribbean side it is more often encountered in dense brush and wooded edge habitats. Sadly the Least Flycatcher population has declined by more than half since 1970. • • • For information about joining the Rideau Lakes Birding Group please contact Group Leader Ethel Green at 613-273-4712 Please follow our outings in our weekly report at http://www.twprideaulakes.on.ca /rec-birders.html 14 – July 27, 2017 The review-mirror Good birding... Least Flycatchers generally catch insects from branches in the middle to upper levels of the forest and they frequently change perches, so look up for quick movements. First came the rhubarb, followed by strawberries, raspberries and now blue- berries. Local summer fresh fruit is here and ready to be turned into the centrepiece of any meal. Blueberries stain easily but they're worth the cleanup. INGREDIENTS 4 cups fresh blueberries 1 cup sugar 1 cup water 1 ½ cup flour 2 tsp baking powder 2 Tbls grated orange peel ½ tsp cinnamon ¼ tsp salt ¾ cup milk PREPARATION In a large skillet or saucepan combine the berries, sugar and water. Bring to a boil and sim- mer uncovered for about 20 minutes or until the berries have thickened. Meanwhile, combine the flour, baking powder, orange peel, cinnamon and salt. Add the milk and stir until just mixed. Drop the dough mixture by spoonfulls over the blueberries. Cover the pan and sim- mer for about 10 or 15 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream. • • • Gail Marshall is a cook and baker with an interest in fast, healthy and low cost recipes. gail marshall gailmarshall58 @gmail.com. 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