Many birders keep lists of the birds they’ve seen — birds in their yards, birds in their county, birds in their state, and their “life list” — a list of all of the species they have seen over their lifetime. I managed to add one to my list this past Sunday thanks to a post on Facebook by Laurie Sheppard. Laurie found an interesting shorebird at Hagerman NWR on Lake Texoma, and knew it belonged to a group of birds know as Phalaropes, but didn’t know which one it was. She posted to a Facebook group asking for help, and it clearly wasn’t our common migrant, the Wilson’s Phalarope. A quick check in Sibley’s guide led me to believe it was a Red-necked Phalarope, and several other experts quickly confirmed my suspicions. My wife and I drove up later that afternoon, and we were quickly able to find thanks to Laurie’s directions. This bird is an Arctic breeder that spends its winters off the east and west coast of North and South America. Very rarely, they fly overland and can be spotted in the interior of the country and can be seen at places like Hagerman. Most of these overland migrants are juvenile birds that hatched this year and are making their first trip south. My photos aren’t great due to the distance, but they are identifiable. Coupled with the Red Phalarope that stopped at White Rock Lake in Dallas last year (another rare visitor to the area), and our common Wilson’s Phalarope that I see every year, I have now seen all three species without leaving North Texas.
