Hey,
I've just had a call from Gaz Melville, who has what sounds like a breeding plumage female GREY PHALAROPE about 5 miles off Kaikoura on an Albatross Encounter trip.
A British birder on board has photos which can hopefully be posted later.
12th record for NZ and the first since July 2012.
Since it is hardly twitchable, I haven't put out a Priority Alert.
cheers
MEGA - GREY PHALAROPE @sea off Kaikoura
- sav
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Re: MEGA - GREY PHALAROPE @sea off Kaikoura
Did Gazza say which way it was going? We had one at Lake Ellesmere in the 2000s that stayed all summer. Hope it comes this way.
- sav
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Re: MEGA - GREY PHALAROPE @sea off Kaikoura
Hey Jan,
Pretty sure that was a Red-necked Phal at Ellesmere.
cheers
Pretty sure that was a Red-necked Phal at Ellesmere.
cheers
- sav
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Re: MEGA - GREY PHALAROPE @sea off Kaikoura
Hi all,
Here is the best photo of the Grey Phalarope. It is heavily cropped.
What a bird!
Taken by Richard Crossley/Crossley Books.
Here is the best photo of the Grey Phalarope. It is heavily cropped.
What a bird!
Taken by Richard Crossley/Crossley Books.
- RussCannings
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Re: MEGA - GREY PHALAROPE @sea off Kaikoura
Great to see this bird taking "phalarope pheminism" to a new level. Taking a year out for an OE before picking out a doting husband to look after the kids while she day trips around Nome or Barrow.
Like RN Phalaropes they can be pelagic as well as connoisseurs of alkaline puddles. Still worth looking out for her around coastal wetlands and WTPs though sadly a beach after a big storm might be more likely.
Russ
Like RN Phalaropes they can be pelagic as well as connoisseurs of alkaline puddles. Still worth looking out for her around coastal wetlands and WTPs though sadly a beach after a big storm might be more likely.
Russ
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Re: MEGA - GREY PHALAROPE @sea off Kaikoura
Wow, that's a bird. Sav is correct about the one that stayed a long time but a Grey P did turn up on a wader count one summer earlier than that at Lake Ellesmere. It only made a brief stop at the spit tip near Taumutu.
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Re: MEGA - GREY PHALAROPE @sea off Kaikoura
What a story it must have to tell.............