ML95025931

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Rare. Third Morris County record. A scan of the lake following my observation of the Tricolored Heron picked up a swimming shorebird. The very slight size eliminated Lesser/Greater Yellowlegs. The bird spun around several times plucking items off the surface of the reservoir. A Phalarope species came to mind and I alerted Alan Boyd who was standing next to me. The bird was very far out but we could see it was a winter plumaged Phalarope with a needle sharp bill eliminating Red Phalarope. After five minutes of observation, the bird made two short test flights and then departed. Flight observations picked up black head and neck, dark spot behind the eye and marked wings, a white stripe, as it flew around the lake behaving like a swallow. The bird lacked the unmarked warm brown hue or continuous grayish hue of a Wilson’s Phalarope in flight, eliminating that species. Bird was not relocated. Bad photo for documentation included.

Technical information

Model

iPhone 6

Lens

iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm f/2.2

ISO

32

Focal length

4.2 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/2.2

Shutter speed

1/265 sec

Dimensions

2048 pixels x 1536 pixels

Original file size

245.66 KB