Tweeters,

This afternoon 42 Red Phalaropes vigorously fed in the surf within a few
meters of shore near 3 Crabs Restaurant, on the south shore of Dungeness
Bay. An additional Red Phalarope fed in the tidal ponds inshore of the
restaurant, and Norma Marshall, the owner of the restaurant, found a dead
Red Phalarope behind the restaurant. I've had two other reports of
phalaropes visible from shore in the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the last
week.

Considering the Red Phalarope story shared by Sherry Hagen earlier this week
-- about the weak phalarope in the field by Ridgefield Refuge -- perhaps
we're witnessing a "crash" of these birds. Something to look for on CBCs.

We've only had Red Phalaropes on the Sequim-Dungeness CBC two times in the
last 27 years, with a maximum of 23 birds in 1995, so something seems amiss.

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim