I read the article and I think that the authors confused just what a rarity is and what draws people to an area. Having been to Patagonia, and the Rest Stop, there are essentially resident birds in the area that are found in few other places in the US. The Beard, and it's nest, the Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Five-striped Sparrow, and Violet Crowned Hummingbird were all in the area and at generally known locations. Having lots of good birders around allowed things like the Sinaloa Wren to be detected. And one was only a modest drive away from a number of other hummers and the Flame-colored Tanager, and other very localized rarities.

This is very different from sighting, say, the Siberian Accentor last year down by Ridgefield. That was a bird which one would normally not even anticipate; a true "rarity" in the sense that folks would immediately flock there to see it.

I see Neah Bay as a migrant trap where uncommon to rare migrants funnel through. Given its location as a trap, like the Farallones, oddballs show up. You don't go there specifically looking for the rare bird, but the configuration allows a higher probability of seeing one than say Green Lake.
Hal Michael

Olympia WA
360-459-4005
360-791-7702 (C)
ucd880 at comcast.net


> On 02/06/2021 2:06 AM dick <dick at dkporter.net> wrote:

>

>

> Maybe Neah Bay is over-rated?

>

>

> https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/news/birdwatching/patagonia-picnic-table-effect-is-a-myth-study-says/

>

>

> Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

>

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