MEGA - GREY PHALAROPE @sea off Kaikoura

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sav
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MEGA - GREY PHALAROPE @sea off Kaikoura

Postby sav » Wed Jul 17, 2019 11:29 am

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
Sav Saville
Wrybill Birding Tours, NZ
Great Birds, Real Birders
Jan
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Re: MEGA - GREY PHALAROPE @sea off Kaikoura

Postby Jan » Thu Jul 18, 2019 11:27 am

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.
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sav
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Re: MEGA - GREY PHALAROPE @sea off Kaikoura

Postby sav » Thu Jul 18, 2019 11:57 am

Hey Jan,

Pretty sure that was a Red-necked Phal at Ellesmere.

cheers
Sav Saville
Wrybill Birding Tours, NZ
Great Birds, Real Birders
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sav
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Re: MEGA - GREY PHALAROPE @sea off Kaikoura

Postby sav » Fri Jul 19, 2019 9:25 am

Hi all,

Here is the best photo of the Grey Phalarope. It is heavily cropped.

What a bird!

Taken by Richard Crossley/Crossley Books.
_DSC9193.JPG
_DSC9193.JPG (262.48 KiB) Viewed 2189 times
Sav Saville
Wrybill Birding Tours, NZ
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RussCannings
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Re: MEGA - GREY PHALAROPE @sea off Kaikoura

Postby RussCannings » Fri Jul 19, 2019 11:44 am

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
Jan
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Location: Christchurch

Re: MEGA - GREY PHALAROPE @sea off Kaikoura

Postby Jan » Sat Jul 20, 2019 10:58 am

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.
andrewcrossland
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Re: MEGA - GREY PHALAROPE @sea off Kaikoura

Postby andrewcrossland » Mon Jul 22, 2019 9:00 pm

What a story it must have to tell.............

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