I had the pleasant surprise this morning of finding a pair of Red-necked Phalaropes in an agricultural pond this morning. They appear to have adult non-breeding plumage. Scope views were great. My digiscoped photos are not great, but are documentation worthy. B236P221

John Hebert is who showed me this pond. He also found a Red-necked Phalarope in the Union Gap Costco pond this spring, and a Semipalmated Plover. Uncommon birds in a very easily accessible spot.

John promptly phoned local bird listers and posted on BirdYak. Plenty of listers chased the bird, but none credited John in their eBird list or on BirdYak. (Karen Zook & Richard Repp almost always give such credit, but it shouldn't always be left up to them.) When I posted a sarcastic note about the lack of decency of the (other) listers, Andy Trespasskey, Scott Downes, and Luke Safford posted lame retorts on BirdYak. Shame on them. Listing isn't shameful, but chasing a bird without giving due credit for another's find is morally weak. Local Audubon meeting mentions are nice, but face it schmucks -- few birders are there, and there's no record of such mentions. Andy himself has talked at several of those meetings about uncommon birds that I've found without giving me any credit. Mentions in the local Audubon chapter newsletter, Calliope Crier, have had errors in virtually every "Bird Sightings" article I've read that either Denny Granstrand or Luke Safford has written. When I've pointed out their mistakes, they've both been loathe to correct their errors, never once correcting their errors. So that's an unreliable record.

Problem bird listers: please don't trespass here, or anywhere. The landowner welcomed me to bird from the road's shoulder. He also ranted about Andy trespasskey. Speaking of whom, please don't park in the middle of the road like Andy (and don't trespass like him).

Good birding,
Kevin