Hi Vanbirders!

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Are there any Empid experts out there who have noticed a lot of Dusky Flycatchers in the lower mainland this spring?

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For us as banders with birds in the hand, we can fairly easily separate Dusky from Hammond’s based on wing morphology. This spring, along with a good number of Hammond’s, we have banded multiple Dusky Flys and this morning banded two Dusky along with several Hammond’s.

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This is highly unusual for us; we normally catch the odd Dusky in Spring, and treat it as an uncommon if not rare bird here, but not multiple birds and never two in the same morning!

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I was just wondering if anyone has noticed an increase or had any thoughts?

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Thanks!

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Derek

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