There was a very good turnout at Hoover Reservoir north of Columbus today,
both birds and birders.  In addition to the birders Ben Warner mentioned in
his post, I can add Larry Gara, Bill Kinkead, Joe Meara, Marsha Bowden and a
lady called Jennifer, plus several others whose names I didn't learn.  I
have nothing to add to Ben's list of birds, but I think I can nail down the
age of the Red Phalarope.  I believe it to be a juvenile well into the
pre-formative molt.

When we had the bird on the east shore at fairly close range and in good
light, we had good views of the bill and the legs.  The bill was yellowish
at the base and slightly swollen.  The legs were gray, or in some lights,
yellowish gray.  Both these marks are sufficient to eliminate the other two
phalaropes.  Our bird had obviously completed the head and body molt.  There
was a small area on the throat of orangish-pink that often occurs in the
formative plumage of hatch year birds, according to my references.  The
primaries, secondaries, tertials and at least some of the coverts were
retained juvenal feathers, but the most of the scapulars and some of the
mantle feathers were fresh and gray with narrow, lighter gray fringes

I got some digiscoped pictures, which when cropped and mildly photoshopped
substantiate these points.  I hope to incorporate them into my blog soon,
along with some expanded remarks.  In the meantime, here are pictures in a
public gallery.

http://www.photoshopshowcase.com/ViewAlbum.aspx?AID=51410&AT=1

Cheers,

Bob

--
Robert D Powell
Wilmington, OH, USA
[log in to unmask]
http://rdp1710.wordpress.com

Nulla dies sine linea

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]