About the most fun I have had birding this year was a sighting of Red-necked Phalarope at Austin Springs, a local birding spot on the Watauga River in Johnson City, Tennessee. It was a Monday afternoon, and I was at work when I received a call from a friend alerting me the bird had just been found. Earlier that day three Snowy Egrets, which are rare in northeast Tennessee, had been reported at Austin Springs. Tom McNeil and Cathy Myers went to see the Snowy Egrets, and Cathy noticed a small bird swimming erratically upriver from the bridge. It turned out to be a Red-necked Phalarope, also rare in northeast Tennessee. Word went out.
By the time I got off work and out to Austin Springs bridge, all of the local birders had already left and apparently so had the phalarope. As I was viewing the Snowy Egrets through my spotting scope, I saw my wife and daughter in the distance around the bend in the river. They have a milk weed plot along the river that they monitor for Monarch butterflies. As I was pleased to see them, I called them on their cellular phone. My daughter answered and immediately asked, “Dad, where are you? The whole bird club is over here looking at some bird.” Needless to say, I rushed right over to find the local birding community enjoying the rare sight. We celebrated with high-fives all around to the embarrassment of my daughter. I am heartened that, although sometimes competitive, birding is not a zero-sum game.
Another Red-necked Phalarope, AK, June 2013
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