Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 11:53:48 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: On phalaropes and plumages we don't normally run into MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi All, I had no idea my little swimming sandpiper might prove so controversial. = I didn't realize how pale it was when I saw it Friday morning due to = opposed easterly lighting. Nancy and I watched the bird in good light = Friday afternoon for some time and we realized the bird was surprisingly = pale for the "standard" Red-neck. I waffled a bit over Wilson's too, but = I finally came back to Red-necked. Why? Because the bird was too small = in comparison to various birds including Lesser Yellowlegs which is only = slightly bigger than Wilson's; after much scrutinizing I judged the bill = too short; the back had hard-to-see white streaks on a medium gray = mantle - Wilson's is solid lead gray above; the swimming behavior was = more typical of Red-necked with a high bow and low stern, Reds float = like gulls and Wilson's tend to have a low prow and high stern; Nancy = saw the bird flap a couple of times and noted the pale panel at the base = of the primaries rather than the more uniform darkness of a Wilson's = (unfortunately the angle was such she did not see the upper surface with = its clear-cut wing stripe); and the eye patch, while small, was far too = black for Wilson's. I have changed my mind on the age of the bird. I now = believe it is an adult almost entirely in basic plumage, there is still = a trace of reddish brown on the sides of the neck. It's rare to see = basic plumaged Red-necked Phalaropes away from their pelagic wintering = areas. For what it's worth that's what I think right now. If someone = sees no wing stripe, a white rump, or yellow legs I'll be happy to = change my mind, I genuinely enjoy birds that teach me something new - = but I suspect the problem with the bird is that it's in a rarely = encountered plumage. Good Birding, Walter Ellison 23460 Clarissa Road Chestertown, MD 21620 phone: 410-778-9568 e-mail: rossgull@crosslink.net "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast" - E. B. = White (in "Stuart Little") =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =========================================================================