Tweeters,

Just returned from Christmas vacation in Tillamook, OR. As a fairly novice
birder, I had planned to immediately inquire on tweeters about the many
phalaropes that I had seen on the bays, lakes, rivers, and flooded fields in
the Tillamook area because, after consulting four field guides, they all
appeared to be Red Phalaropes even though they were not supposed to be on
land in such numbers. However, I found the message posted on 12-30
concerning the sightings in California, which confirmed my suspicions that
they were Red Phalaropes and were on land due to storms. It was fantastic
to see them in large groups (between 10-150) on the Bay City sewage ponds,
with over 60 Great White Egrets in the small "lakes" created in farmers
fields each year just west of Tillamook, in other flooded fields and
ditches, on Bay Ocean "lake", and on the Tillamook and Kilchis rivers.
Unfortunately, there were many that were sighted singly, in ditches just off
the sides of rural roads, that didn't look well. All appeared unconcerned
with any human presence, and would come within 6-10 feet of observers. I
was surprised that I didn't see more folks out looking!

Other birds seen in Tillamook County the week after Christmas (*lifebird!!),

*Red Phalarope
Great White Egret (60 in one field!)
Great Blue Heron
Surf Scoter
*Black Scoter
Black Turnstone
Belted Kingfisher
Horned Grebe
*Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Pied Bill Grebe
Pelagic Cormorant
Double Crested Cormorant
Green Wing Teal
Common Goldeneye
Greater Scaup
Gadwall
Ring Necked Duck
Shovelers
Common Merganser
Mallards
Bufflehead
Coot
Common Loon
Bonapartes Gull
Western Gull
Canada Goose
Junco
House Sparrow
Chickadee
White Crowned Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
House Finch
Red Breated Nuthatch
Yellow Rumped Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Stellar Jay
Scrub Jay
Flicker
Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
Bald Eage
Osprey
Harrier
Kestrel
Red Tailed Hawk
White Tailed Kite
Crow
Robin
Starling :>

Anne Kizerian
Tri-cities WA