One Good Bird

When I started birding with Ruth Sullivan several years ago, if we hadn’t see many birds she would say, â€?”All we need is one good bird.” After seeing very few birds at Ocean Shores after four hours of walking, I was beginning to remember her saying.

â€?”One good bird” turned out to be a Red-necked Phalarope, and I first saw them at the sewage plant. There were several small flocks all swirling around, chasing insects, so many that it was hard to get a picture without leaving body parts on the edge of the picture,

and I never did manage to get a good shot of a single phalarope no matter how hard I tried.

Strangely enough, several hours later at Westport I spotted a small bird in the distance which turned out to be a single Rednecked Phalarope.

Since I had always seen phalaropes on small ponds, I was surprised to see one on the ocean (though it turns out a little research indicates that they’re more apt to be seen on the ocean than on ponds).

Long after I had given up getting a good shot, I started back the parking lot only to see the bird circling next to the dock and I got some great close-ups,

better than I’ve ever managed to get before. Hey, it made my day. And the day wasn’t even over.