Red-necked Phalarope, Upton Warren

Yay! A text from BirdGuides sent Dave and me scurrying over to Upton Warren for this cracking bird. I think it was a female but people in the hide kept referring to it as “he”. No matter, she finally moved my British list up a notch from its stalled position since last October’s shore lark, also at Upton. In fact, my Western Palaearctic score also moved on. I have seen the species eleven times in California and once in Oregon, of which all bar one were in the autumn and hence in non-breeding plumage.

Thanks to my scope mishap, I was restricted to binocular views but the phalarope flitted around and fed close enough to us to make some of those good. We couldn't have crammed another tripod into the hide anyway. The visitor had brought the hordes out from their quiet June.

As a bonus a couple of green sandpipers also showed and nudged my world year list up to 542. Fantastic. Especially after running cold at the poker tables recently. I was beginning to despair (again).