ML121893051

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Found earlier in the day by Matt and Bill Rowe. When we arrived, a large group was looking at a bird out in Ellis Bay. We had not seen the post about the sighting of the Red-necked Phalarope [now Red Phalarope] at that point. We stopped to ask Pat Lueders what they were looking at and she told us and pointed him out. He was flying around a lot not too far above the water and sometimes diving down and landing for a few seconds, but was pretty much non-stop motion. The best spot to watch him fly back and forth out in Ellis Bay seemed to be where everyone was converged at the intersection of Wise Rd. and Riverlands Way. When we first noticed him, we noticed he was a small bird with what appeared to us as a thin dark bill, narrow white wing stripes, and a streaked back, which seems to be one of the key features distinguishing him from a non-breeding Red Phalarope, which we thought should have had an unstreaked pale gray back in non-breeding plumage. This bird also had the dark ear patch, which distinguishes him from a Wilson's Phalarope in non-breeding plumage, among other things. However, we were a little dubious due to various things not completely matching up for Red-necked - particularly the fact that the markings under the wing were not dark as they should be if this bird were Red-necked. We kept looking at Sibley and trying to figure this out. Sibley shows a molting bird, but we were still confused. A Red Phalarope is supposed to have mostly white markings under the wing, which we felt was true of this bird based on our photos and seeing him in the field. Now that Bill Rowe has gone on record as saying this bird was a Red Phalarope, not a Red-necked Phalarope, we feel more confident now in stating this ourselves - and our agreement with his current assessement. As Bill Rowe wrote after rethinking the identification of this bird and determining this bird was a Red Phalarope, not a Red-necked as he initially called this bird: "1) The bill was not the ultra-thin, needlelike bill of a Red-necked. This is why field guides refer to it as 'thick' -- because it's thick compared to that of a Red-necked. I misjudged it. 2) Field guides also show Red Phalarope in basic (non-breeding) plumage as having plain light gray upperparts, while Red-necked is dark with pale narrow lines down the back.This bird actually did have some sizeable patches of plain light gray coming in on the back (unlike any Red-necked), but they were bordered all around by a good deal of dark feathering, with a dark line crossing through them, creating an overall dark impression at a distance. In other words, its molt to basic plumage was under way but incomplete." Bill's words convey much about what confused many of us with little or no experinece with either Red or Red-necked Phalaropes. Thanks to Bill's diligence, and the diligence of others behind the scene, we are confident this bird was a Red Phalarope, not a Red-necked. We mentioned Jim Malone's photos to Bill, who has obviously now looked at them and which help back up Bill's assessment of this bird as a Red Phalarope, not a Red-necked. Here is a link to Jim Malone's photos, which help with this determination of this bird as a Red Phalarope better than ours, in our opinion: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49657458. Before this, we had never see a Red Phalarope, let alone one molting. We are very grateful for all the help identifying this magical little bird correctly. For the record, we have only seen Red-necked Phalaropes 4 times in our life, so we have very little experience with them, too. What a joyous experience to get to watch him hunt for insects back and forth, back and forth. IDs are important, but the experience itself was truly reverential and one we will not forget.

Technical information

Model

NIKON D7200

ISO

400

Focal length

420 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/800 sec

Dimensions

472 pixels x 311 pixels

Original file size

77.72 KB