Another Rarity

This has been an insane month. Migration kept be occupied, and I made a few trips that really took it out of me. A Kansas road trip and Big Bend were a ton of fun, but I really didn't have a ton of energy in their wake. With Alaska coming up I really just want to rest. But the travel wasn't over yet. I went to a wedding in San Antonio on June 1, and the late night was enough to discourage me from looking for Golden-cheeked Warblers or visiting the Alamo the next morning. I hauled it back to Houston early Sunday morning and settled in my apartment with an episode of the classic King of the Hill. I was ready for a nap and lazy afternoon after a Chipotle burrito.

I opened Facebok on my phone to a flurry of notifications, all from Texas birding groups. Uh oh. A Red Phalarope had been seen in Jersey Village, a neighborhood in northwest Houston. This is a TBRC review species and it was only a 22 minute drive from where I live. My exhaustion and hunger disappeared. Time to get after it. I didn't even change clothes into something more birder friendly.

I arrived around noon and the heat was stifling. Everyone in range had descended on this small retention pond across the street from the golf course to see this bird. The wetland is not a great birding destination but I'm glad someone went out and took a gander at the local birds because a Red Phalarope is fantastic find. They breed high above the Arctic Circle and winter along the Carolinas and West Coast, although they are scarcely found in the Gulf of Mexico. This was the 49th record in the state and a lifer for me.

First look at the lifer Red Phalarope. What an unbelievable start to the summer, 

There was a large group of birders still there when I arrived, but the bird was not present. We spread out around the pond, and eventually it was spotted! I raced over to some of the closest views of a bird I've ever had. This bird didn't have a single problem being around people. Normally I'm one to enjoy views of a rare bird, but hungry, tired, and pouring sweat I had to head back.

I'm really hoping no rare birds show up this weekend. It's time to study and prepare for the Last Frontier.

Slate-throated Redstart and Red Phalarope?! What is happening!

Absolutely mental