#419 Red-necked Phalarope in Two Counties
This was one of those tricky lifers. You’re not quite sure when you saw it first because you’re not quite sure about the first sighting. I think my first Red-necked Phalarope was at San Joaquin Wildlife Refuge on April 27. However those birds weren’t in breeding plumage, and I didn’t have a scope. I can’t say with absolute certainty that they weren’t Wilson’s Phalaropes (though I do think they matched Red-necked much more closely.)
Fortunately just a few days later I was in Santa Clara County on business, and as I like to do I went to Mountain View Shoreline before work. Usually I start out at the end of San Antonio road and walk around the lake. However, today I decided to take a different route and explore the area to the north along the 101. About halfway to the next exit, I found some ponds, and in one of them a flock of about 20 Red-necked Phalaropes were feeding. This time most of them were in full breeding plumage so even without a scope there was no doubt. I even got some recognizable pictures:
Total species count for that morning was 28:
- Canada Goose
- Gadwall
- Mallard
- Cinnamon Teal
- Northern Shoveler
- Ruddy Duck
- Pied-billed Grebe
- American White Pelican
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Snowy Egret
- White-tailed Kite
- Common Moorhen
- American Coot
- Killdeer
- Black-necked Stilt
- American Avocet
- Red-necked Phalarope
- Ring-billed Gull
- California Gull
- Forster’s Tern
- American Crow
- Marsh Wren
- Northern Mockingbird
- Common Yellowthroat
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Bullock’s Oriole
- House Finch
- Lesser Goldfinch
I saw still more Phalaropes the next weekend back in Orange County, but that will have to wait for the next entry.
