I'm The Baby, Gotta Love Me

Day 303 (Part B): That's it. I'm going to rewrite the dictionary. As of this photograph, there is a new definition for "adorable," and this is it.

Since I had to go in town anyway today, I swung past Ohop Valley on my way home to check for Warblers. Either they were in hiding or have moved on because I neither saw nor heard them, but the Flycatchers were definitely about, if perhaps not quite "out" in the open. I wish my identification of this little fellow could be substantiated. His call and habits strongly suggest Willow Flycatcher, but in the back of my mind there is that niggling possibility that I've labelled him incorrectly. Time and again, I play the recordings of the different possibilities, closing my eyes so that I can't be influenced by the photos, and each time, it is the Willow Flycatcher's single "Whit!" which makes me say, "That's it. That's the one." But am I 100% positive and without a doubt? No. His tail seems too short...but then Mama shows up and feeds him, and her tail is longer. Her bill is longer as well.

No, I don't think I'll rewrite the dictionary after all. I'll rewrite the field guides instead. Here you see the Western Adorable Flycatcher, Empidonax adorabilis. I can definitely check THAT off on my Life List!