Blue Grosbeak at Wallkill NWR - 27th June

A quick visit to a new site for me on the New York/ New Jersey border. Bird of the day was undoubtedly a juvenile Blue Grosbeak. Also present were a nice selection of marshland birds including a lovely Green Heron, lots of Indigo Buntings, Common Yellowthroats etc. An Empidonax flycatcher actually sat still long enough for me to get decent pictures, and to experiment with calls it might react too. After some internal debate I've decided it must be Willow Flycatcher.

Green Heron

Lack of eye-ring and moderate primary projection lead me to suspect this is Willow Flycatcher. I tried to identify the bird by seeing if it got excited by a specific call. It responded immediately to calls of Acadian, Willow and Alder Flycatchers. Not helpful, though I suppose it cuts out Least (which has strongest eye-ring, and short primary projection anyway).

The habitat (marsh with scattered low bushes) seemed a little wrong for Acadian (mature lowland forests...larger trees...forest canopy...). That leaves Willow or Alder.

Alder is said to average more olive than Willow...

...and the near total lack of an eye-ring is striking.

Common Yellowthroat