On the evening of the 16th a report came across the South Carolina Rare Bird Alert of a Red-necked Phalarope in Spartanburg County. That’s a great bird for the upstate of SC! But with a quick check of my SC list I realized that wasn’t one I needed for the state. Then a bit later there was another post on the RBA saying that review of the Phalarope photos suggested it might actually be a Red Phalarope. That’s even rarer, and this one I needed for my SC state list. There were lots of posts on the RBA that evening including several from birders who planned an early morning trip the next day to confirm the ID. That is assuming the bird was still there.
Early morning on the 17th I watched the RBA anxiously for
updates. Finally in mid-morning came the
update I was hoping for – the bird was still there and it was indeed a Red
Phalarope. The bird was being seen in a
runoff retention pond at the Dollar Tree Distribution Center just outside
Spartanburg. That was just an hour away
so certainly close enough to chase. I
was free to go by mid-afternoon and left the house at 2:45 to start the drive.
I had never been to the Dollar Tree hotspot so I researched
the site a bit on GoogleMaps. The pond the
Phalarope was likely foraging in was between the road and the large warehouse,
which was very obvious as I pulled up.
As I was parking on the grassy shoulder right next to the
pond I took a quick glimpse of the open water.
Even before the car had come to a stop, I spotted a very pale (almost
white) shorebird feeding out in the middle.
Did I have my target? With a quick
binocular look I confirmed I had the Red Phalarope! The bird fed cooperatively right in front of me,
allowing me to get this phonescoped shot
That’s certainly much easier than looking for a Red Phalarope from a rolling boat on a pelagic trip! Also foraging in the pond were a Sanderling and a Stilt Sandpiper – more rare shorebirds for the Upstate. But none as rare as the Phalarope.
Red Phalarope was #313 for my SC state list, and the 14th
state where I’ve seen this species. In
my statebird map below, the light blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen
it within its regular range – mostly on pelagic trips. Cross-hatched Oregon is the last state where
I can still see Red Phalarope relatively easily from shore. And the 8 dark blue-shaded states are those
where I’ve seen this species as a rarity, all as inland sightings.
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