Red Phalarope in Lakeside
Red Phalarope in Lakeside
By {authorlink} – 8:36 am
Dear friends,
Seeing this story
in the MSN news feed last night reminded me to share a more local story about the Red Phalarope. On 2 January 2023 Phil Lambert, resident manager at San Diego Audubon’s Silverwood Wildlife Sanctuary, was driving down Los Coches Road in Lakeside. He saw a Red Phalarope running frantically across the road, then hit by another vehicle. He retrieved the specimen and brought it to me at the Natural History Museum last week. I prepared it as a study skin for the research collection, finding that a hole ripped in one flank and on the side of the head did not prevent a successful preparation. A surprise for a Red Phalarope to be blown so far inland, but by no means unprecedented: we have previous specimens from Alpine 20 August 1928, Jamacha 11 May 1930, Barrett Reservoir 26 October 1940, and from the intersection of Home Avenue and Federal Blvd. in San Diego 1 November 1978. When Maria Gonzalez of Project Wildlife was in the museum yesterday I asked her if she was receiving an influx of Red Phalaropes found on local beaches, but she said no. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if that changes after the storms of the last few days.
Good birding,
Philip Unitt
San Diego