From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Fri Oct 31 16:03:47 2003 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id hA100t6W026674 for <[[email protected]]>; Fri, 31 Oct 2003 16:00:56 -0800 (PST) Received: from rtjones.nas.nasa.gov (rtjones.nas.nasa.gov [129.99.19.30]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h9VNxYMU026632 for <[[email protected]]>; Fri, 31 Oct 2003 15:59:34 -0800 (PST) Received: from rtjones.nas.nasa.gov (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by rtjones.nas.nasa.gov (SGI-8.12.5/8.12.5/NAS-6n) with ESMTP id h9VNxTLF055297 for <[[email protected]]>; Fri, 31 Oct 2003 15:59:29 -0800 (PST) Received: (from mrogers@localhost) by rtjones.nas.nasa.gov (SGI-8.12.5/8.12.5/Submit) id h9VNxTfM055130 for [[email protected]]; Fri, 31 Oct 2003 15:59:29 -0800 (PST) Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 15:59:29 -0800 (PST) From: "Dr. Michael M. Rogers" <[[email protected]]> Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> To: [[email protected]] Subject: [SBB] Red Phalaropes in Alviso X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.2+ Precedence: list List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Unsubscribe: , List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Errors-To: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] All, After hearing about Red Phalaropes "deep into Monterey Bay", at several locations along the San Mateo Coast, and even inside the bay at Oracle in Redwood Shores, as well as hearing about a Red/Red-necked Phalarope Jack Cole found at the Palo Alto Baylands yesterday, it became clear that the phalaropes Mike Mammoser and I saw yesterday were more likely Red Phalaropes rather than lingering Red-necked Phalaropes (which dwindled from 1190+ birds on 9/28/03 to 13 on 10/16/03). This would certainly explain the rather pale mantles of these birds. So today 10/31/03, Mike Mammoser and I headed back out to the Alviso salt ponds, determined to get better and closer looks at these birds. We succeeded in finding 9 RED PHALAROPES, including one that provided a very nice study not far off the dike. None of these birds showed any yellow at the base of the bill - perhaps this is more characteristic of our spring birds, which may be starting to acquire alternate plumage. Even the very close bird today showed no obvious pale at the base of the bill, although when it turned its head sideways just at the right angle so that the sun illuminated it there was just a hint of lighter brown visible at the base of the mandible. Careful study of the feathers of the upperparts revealed rather uniform, very narrow pale fringes on the gray feathers. There were no white mantle lines and no broad white edges to the scapulars. Several of the birds still showed a few dark feathers (likely wing coverts) between the gray scapulars and the fluffed up flank feathers. Even though juvenile Red-necked Phalaropes molting into basic plumage can show similar black and gray markings, they also show tan (juvenile) or white (basic) mantle stripes, which today's birds lacked. With fresh eyes and different expectations today, the more distant birds seen were also clearly Red Phalaropes, as the birds reported yesterday undoubtedly were as well. Mike Rogers _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]