I arrived around 7:15 PM to find the phalarope had just flown off. Peter Post, Lloyd Spitalnik, and Harry Maas had seen it and said it had been flying off and returning. There was no water in the eastern flats, just damp spots. A tiny bit of water maybe a foot long remained in the western pond which is probably gone as I write this. Finally just before 8 the bird appeared (I didn't see it fly in) south of the blind. At one point it flew very close to the blind, then returned to the edge of the mud and grass on the flats, where it preened and seemed to settle in for the night at sunset. As noted this bird is a stunning breeding female, and is missing its left foot. It hops around OK, but once when it bent forward it lost its balance --
NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
