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| Hey! Which Way??? |
The Phalaropes are back! These zippy little birds (7-9 inches in length) make a "stop over" in the San Juans during their migration from the summer breeding grounds in northern Canada or the Arctic...enroute to...South America and / or tropical ocean locations! Little bird. Long trip.
From mid-August through the beginning of September I have the pleasure of watching them zip through the air, often in flocks of a dozen individuals, or appear bobbing on the water's surface. I guess like everyone on a long trip, refuling stops are a necessity.
The Phalaropes find areas in the ocean where currents collide (lots of those around the Salish Sea) and upwellings occur. That provides the delivery of small bits of food to the surface of the water. Sometimes they even demonstrate a spinning behavior on the surface of the water, meant to create their own personal whirlpool, and then use their long slender beaks to pluck food off the edge of the vortex.
Clever!
The beginning of the migration finds mostly females enroute. In Phalarope society, the females are the flashier dressers (colored breeding plumage), very agressive and protective about nest sites. After the eggs are in the nest, they take off for warmer climes. That would leave the males to incubate the eggs and tend the nest for about 20 days after the chicks hatch. Hum....
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| I know there's a snack around here somewhere.... |
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| Sliding down the waves in Cattle Pass |
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