March 26, 2022
Several months back a Nutting’s Fly was reported in the mountains east of Lake Havasu. I considered the trek, but it was about 6 hours including a long stretch of 4×4-only road. I procrastinated. Mañana is usually just fine. Yesterday, reports again began to come in of a Nutting’s. I just assumed that it was the same bird way, way off. It turns out that the bird was much closer, ~1 1/2 hours off, north of Benson, with about thirteen miles of good graded dirt road. The reports all said that the bird was hanging out with Ash-throated, and was giving its “weep” call often. The bird is so similar to the Ash-throated that without hearing the correct call, one cannot claim Nutting’s. Another thing… the bird was reported to have a bit of its upper mandible broken off. I arrived at the site at ~8;20 am. Brian Nicholas and Nate Peterson were already there and had located the bird about 1/4 mile west of the spot that it had been reported earlier. I worked my way into the area where it had been seen/heard and soon caught the call of both Nutting’s and Ash-Throated. The birds were moving east, back toward the original location near the Paige Creek cattle gate. I bushwhacked a bit through the wash from the gate and was rewarded with a Myiarchus flycatcher sitting more-or-less out in the open. Then it spoke – bingo… a loud “weep” repeated several times, but not did not give me a chance to record it. I did get photos before it called. It was seen again a bit later at the gate.
Nutting’s Flycatcher Paige Creek 3-26-2022
Some additional birds from Southeast Arizona
This Ovenbird is at the area near the DeAnza Trail gate at Clark Crossing for at least its third year. This year its been harder to find, being first seen for one day back in November, the again for a couple of days in January, and for three days this week.