Nearly all red phalarope records in Ohio come from the fall season, when they have the latest schedule of migration among the phalaropes, with one Ohio record of over-wintering. In fall, their plumage is not always easy to distinguish from other phalaropes' drab colors. In spring, however, red phalaropes are even more splendid in plumage than their congeners, especially the females [check your field guide--these birds are polyandrous, with reversed sexual roles and plumages]. Peterjohn (p. 214) calls red phalaropes "strictly accidental spring visitors" anywhere in the state. He cites five spring records in Ohio, and this is the first for Franklin County. There is only one known spring *specimen* of red phalarope in Ohio, from Ottawa County on 5/22/1964, and it's in the OSU Museum. The only time I've seen the striking female red phalarope in breeding plumage was out off the Maine coast years ago. The bird at Battelle Darby MP is nearly unique here, so I hope nobody spooks it. There are plenty of excellent photos on the Web already... Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ 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]