‘Bad’ Phalarope

A long-overdue report from BirdingPI.com’s national affairs correspondent in Washington, D.C., with ‘breaking news’ of a beautiful (and rarely seen at this location) Red Phalarope spotted in the Capitol Reflecting Pool yesterday afternoon:

Unfortunately, these are bad iPhone pictures. Fortunately, this bird was very tolerant of human presence = the iPhone pictures could have been worse.

ID: immature/non-breeding plumage, rather gray overall (this species called Grey Phalarope in Europe), fairly large for a phalarope, black bill wider at base than tip, eye/ear patch w/ ‘eyebrow,’ etc. (Other possibility is Red-necked Phalarope, but the kindly eBird folks weighed in for the Red Phalarope identification – thanks.)

Normally these are ocean-going birds, but migratory activity could occur down the U.S. eastern seaboard, hence this bird’s appearance here.

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[Editor’s note: Not sure what the ‘national affairs correspondent’ has been doing all these years to only file a report today. Management will be reviewing employment records.]

[Editor’s note to staff: ‘capitol’ (with an ‘o’) is the building, ‘capital’ (with an ‘a’) is the seat of government generally, e.g., “People enjoy visiting the U.S. Capitol building in the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C.”]