ML126109961

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

Heavily cropped photo. Unstreaked gray back evident.

Observation details

Ran into Shirley Reynolds at Huntington Central Park who asked for help identifying a phalarope she photographed on Nov 30 at this park. Her photo showed a stubby, thick billed phalarope that could only be a Red, so drove over to Harriet to see if it was still around. Easily refound it in the pond below the playground. Kept mostly to the far side of the pond where views were distant and somewhat unsatisfactory but I was able to see enough detail via a scope to confirm it was a Red Phalarope. Phalarope seen swimming around in the deeper water of the pond jabbing at the water for food. The bill was short and thick and mostly black. My sense was that the bill was paler and somewhat yellowish basally but the bird was too distant to see fine details well. Face, neck, and underparts entirely white except for a black patch behind the eye. The crown was white toward the front but black at the rear. From what details I could see the black crown appeared to extend down the back of the neck in a thin line. The back was an even medium gray color showing no pale or dark streaking that Red-necked would have. The bird flew several times to different spots on the pond and while in flight I could clearly see white wing stripes on the gray wings. Red Phalaropes are largely pelagic and rarely ever seen onshore or from shore so this bird is very rare for the location. A strong Pacific storm blew through the area on Thursday, November 29th so this bird was likely came ashore at that time. It was actively foraging all morning and into the early afternoon on December 1 and flew across the pond a number of times so appears to be in good health. What is remarkable is the bird seems comfortable being on a shallow brackish pond in a wetland when it could have easily flown back out to sea during this morning's calm weather.

Technical information

Model

E-510

ISO

200

Focal length

500 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/8.0

Shutter speed

1/640 sec

Dimensions

900 pixels x 675 pixels

Original file size

143.19 KB