Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Wilson's Phalarope

Normally, I rarely get to places where there are shorebirds, and when I do see them, they are way off in the distance. More recently, though, I've driven to Frank Lake, SE of the city, a number of times and have been able to get photos of a few shorebirds. For the most part, I can't tell one from the other, and almost gave up last night, trying to find a photo of a bird that looked like the one in this photo, which was taken on 28 July 2014. The closest I got was a juvenile Phalarope. I would really appreciate it if someone is able to confirm or correct my tentative ID - many thanks! On 28 July 2014, I drove along some of the dusty, gravel backroads SE of the city. It was another really hot day, so I just had to get out of the house and into the air-conditioning of my vehicle. Birds seen that afternoon/evening included a Barn Swallow, a young Marsh Wren that was enjoying a dust bath, a single young Sora, several Coots including one young one, two or three different species of shore bird including the one in this photo, American Avocets, a couple of Swainson's Hawks, and a Meadowlark.

I couldn't decide last night if this was a male, female, juvenile - I think perhaps a female? Taken at a slough (pond) SW of Calgary on 14 May 2013. I find them a challenge to photograph because of their habit of swimming in small rapid circles (see info below)! Sometimes, it is placed in a monotypic genus Steganopus rather than Phalaropus. "The Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) is a small wader. This bird, the largest of the phalaropes, breeds in the prairies of North America in western Canada and the western United States. It is migratory, wintering around the central Andes in South America. It is a unique, dainty shorebird with lobed toes and a straight fine black bill. The breeding female is predominantly gray and brown above, with white underparts, a reddish neck and reddish flank patches. The breeding male is a duller version of the female, with a brown back, and the reddish patches reduced or absent. When feeding, a Wilson's Phalarope will often swim in a small, rapid circle, forming a small whirlpool. This behaviour is thought to aid feeding by raising food from the bottom of shallow water. The bird will reach into the outskirts of the vortex with its bill, plucking small insects or crustaceans caught up therein. The typical avian sex roles are reversed in the three phalarope species. Females are larger and more brightly coloured than males. The females pursue males, compete for nesting territory, and will aggressively defend their nests and chosen mates. Once the females lay their eggs, they begin their southward migration, leaving the males to incubate the eggs. Three to four eggs are laid in a ground nest near water. The young feed themselves." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson's_Phalarope -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------