A big thank you to Mike Wright who emailed me last night about a possible Red-necked Phalarope and a Marsh Wren at the Minor Clark Fish Hatchery. Well, I couldn't find any Marsh Wren but I sure did find the Phalarope. I believe that it is a Red-Necked Phalarope. It was terribly foggy there and the fog got worse before it got better. It cleared around 10:30 so I stayed to get some better pictures than the ones in the fog. The Phalarope has an injured left foot/leg. However, he is actively feeding, flying from one end of the pond to the other, and preening. Oh.....and the occasional twirling in water deep enough. He was still in pond #39 when I left at 11:30. There was also a Wilson's Snipe, Spotted Sandpiper, Pectorals, and Killdeer in the pond. In pond #68 in the back there were 4 pectorals, 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper, 1 Least Sandpiper, and more Killdeer.
I wanted to get this post out before working on the images. I should have some up in about an hour so please let me know if you think it is a Red-Necked Phalarope. I'm pretty excited as this is my FIRST Phalarope of any kind.
Lana Hays www.lanahays.com
