Eastern Wood Peewee

It wasn’t until I heard him sing, that I finally realized which flycatcher I was seeing. It was easy to tell he was a flycatcher from the way he flittered up and out to catch an insect, looping back to his perch. I’ve heard peewees often but never seen one until now. I wasn’t expecting him to appear so fluffy and big or have such a bright orange beak. The song sounds like his name stretched out, ‘peeee-weeeee’ and there is a another shorter note that swings up and down that sometimes follows, ‘peeeoooo’. It’s fun to listen to these songs and try to figure out who’s singing, even if you can’t find the artist. It’s even more fun to take a break and pull up a chair under the canopy and listen until the songster takes a new perch. Then you can hone in with binoculars or your camera and get a good look. Nature springs alive when you do this. It comes closer and you find yourself more deeply connected to all your busy neighbors.