Henderson County

["Wayne Forsythe" <wforsythe@a-o.com>]

Folks,
        At about 9:00 AM this date, Bob Olthoff, Marilyn Westphal and I were
birding in the Mills River area of Henderson County.  At the end of Old.#191
and the French Broad River, we observed a large flycatcher at the top of a
dead snag.  This bird was clearly larger then a Phoebe or Pewee and due to
haze and distance,  I thought it may be a Great-crested F/C.  The bird made
several flights off the snag and I was finally able to put the scope on it.
To our surprise, it was an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER.  We could clearly see the
dark vest on the breast and the white tufts on the back.  I believe my
earliest date for this species is September 3.  This was my 6th Henderson
County sighting for this species, never an easy bird in the mountains.
Since this appears to be very early, one has to wonder if there aren't a few
of this species nesting in the nearby mountains.  We had received reports of
possible nesting  Olive-sided F/C near Lake Logan in I believe Haywood
County a year or so ago but were never able to confirm this. We went up to
Lake Logan this spring and were told by a local resident that the dead trees
that the bird was frequenting had been cut down while he was on vacation by
the maintenance staff, and he has not seen or heard Olive-sided F/C there
this year.
        At Lake Julian in Buncombe County we had 6 Forster's Terns.
Best regards,
Wayne
Wayne K. Forsythe
Hendersonville, N. C. 28791
828-697-6628
wforsythe@a-o.com