Turns out that on 18 December, it was Lauren and David themselves who had heard what they thought was a Nutting's Flycatcher in a nearby riparian area, but they could not find the bird.
On the 19th the bird responded with prejudice to a recording of a Nutting's Flycatcher. The bird was photographed and some sound recordings were obtained by Lauren and David.
At about 8:20AM (MST) on 21 January, SDVO went to the same area, where we ran into a nice couple from out of town who had hustled down to get the NUFL.
After a bit of wandering about, we heard a distinctive and repeated "reeep" which matched perfectly the 33-second recording on xeno-canto.org by Nick Athanas. And this even after the two other rarity-chasers on scene had set off their car alarm accidentally!
The Nutting’s Flycatcher was first found on December 18, 2011 by Lauren and David Vander Pluym. Previously, there were only four records of Nutting’s Flycatcher in North America, three in Arizona and one in California.
Somewhat dated (2003), but extensive analysis of Nutting's Flycatcher ID by Don Robertson, can be found here.
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| 19 December 2011, photos by David Vander Pluym |
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| 19 December 2011, photos by David Vander Pluym |
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| 19 December 2011, photos by Cole Wolf |
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| 26 December 2011, photos by Philip Kline |
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| 26 December 2011, photos by Philip Kline |
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| 09 March 2012, photo by Tom Johnson |
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| 09 March 2012, photo by Tom Johnson |
09 March 2012, photo by Tom Johnson
This photo does not show the diagnostic field marks, but does show some supporting marks like the brownish face and shape compared to an Ash-throated Flycatcher.
20 December 2011, photo by John West
