I know some more details about this bird, so here’s a short story.
A flycatcher had been present in Lappeenranta in southeastern Finland since April 18. After seeing a photo of the bird (the first one in the link posted by mäkpe), I decided to try to twitch it, as it seemed to show some features pointing towards Semi-collared Flycatcher (although the photo was overexposed). At least it didn't look like a Pied Flycatcher, the only common black and white flycatcher in Finland. I managed to see the bird (together with only a few tens of other people), and study it in the field from a distance of about 30-40 m with a telescope. All the photos on Tarsiger (those linked in Jan’s first post) look clearly underexposed on my screen, you can see more detail if you lighten them.
Here are some points regarding the identification:
1. The white patch at the base of the primaries is very large, generally speaking too large for any standard Pied Flycatcher. From the photos it can be seen that
-the base of the outer web of P6 is clearly white
-there’s a somewhat indistinct whitish blotch at the base of P7
-there’s a very weak, pale blotch at the base of P8.
The primary patch is very large even for a Semi-collared Flycatcher (more in line with a Collared), although there's apparently a lot of variation regarding this feature (BWP mentions that the patch should extend 0-5 mm beyond the primary coverts on a Semi-collared).
2. On most photos you can see only one clearly white tipped median covert per wing. However, in the field you could see several white tipped median coverts on at least the right wing, forming a white wing bar. You can perhaps see this in the last photo on Tarsiger, in the other photos the inner median coverts are hidden by the scapulars. In the field the colour of the tips looked purely white. I assume that the inner white-tipped coverts are fresh ones originating from the winter moult (they have also darker centres), whereas those lacking white tips might be older. A clear moult contrast can be seen on the greater coverts.
3. The white edges on the tertials were narrow and distinct. On at least the vast majority of Collared Flycatchers the white edges of the longest and median tertial are much broader at the base, merging to a solid white patch. Additionally, on many Collared Flycatchers the white edge on the shortest tertial is less distinct, especially on those individuals that have a bit less white also on the longer tertials. Pied Flycatchers sometimes have similar narrow white edges on the tertials (I believe more frequently than Collared Flycatchers).
4. The colour of the upperparts looked rather plainly brownish grey, without a clearly contrasting grey rump or nape. Depending on the light, the nape and rump could still look a bit greyer than the back or scapulars. The upperparts were clearly not as brown as on a typical Pied Flycatcher (the bird looks too brown in the first photo in mäkpe’s link). The eyebrows and the forehead were paler than the rest of the face.
5. We tried to specifically focus on seeing the tail pattern. At times when the tail was especially well visible, many people clearly saw how the white outer edge of R6 continued past the tip of the feather deep towards the base along the inner edge. This can partly be seen for example in the second photo on Tarsiger (especially if you lighten the photo). We weren’t able to see whether the inner webs contained any pale blotches at the bases or not, it is generally too difficult to see it in the field.
Pied Flycatcher is an abundant breeder in Finland. However, it arrives pretty late, this year only a few birds had been recorded before the subject bird was found. Collared Flycatcher is a rarity, with about 1-10 records per year. Most are seen in the southwestern archipelago, there are no records from the region where the subject bird was seen, i.e. Southern Karelia. The earliest record is from April 21 and the second earliest is from April 26. In southern Europe, Semi-collared Flycatcher is an earlier migrant and breeder than Pied or Collared, but it is an extreme rarity outside its regular range, and I’m not aware of any records from northern Europe.
Due to some unfortunate events the bird couldn’t be trapped on Thursday, and it hasn’t been seen since that. Personally I’m not sure whether even a spring female Semi-collared Flycatcher can be safely identified in the field clearly outside the normal range. However, I have studied photos of about 50 spring or summer female Collared Flycatchers, and not a single showed such narrow white edges on the tertials or such clear white tips to the median coverts (1cy birds can show rather clear white tips). On the other hand, I’m not sure whether the size of the primary patch is within the limits of the variation of Semi-collared or not. Collared and Pied Flycatcher hybridise in Sweden, which probably makes matters even more difficult. I guess we have to wait what experts like Krister Mild say.
The French RC has accepted a female Semi-collared Flycatcher (from the island of Porquerolles) that apparently wasn’t trapped (at least I would interpret the abstract so):
http://www.eurobirding.com/birdingmagazines/artinfo.php?id=9669
Here’s the abstract of a rather fresh article regarding the identification of spring female black and white flycatchers (probably related to the French record), I haven’t seen the full article:
http://www.eurobirding.com/birdingmagazines/artinfo.php?id=9666
One of the photographers (SC) took more than a thousand photos of the bird, but unfortunately it wasn't especially close and the light was bad.
![Ficedula[1].jpg](/data/attachments/170/170771-70172e50834faf9a63abc53e16b52d26.jpg)
