Hi Tweeters,

We stopped at Nisqually yesterday on the way home from Portland. Really
nice day with lots of birds.

At the Nisqually River Overlook there was a female Northern Shoveler
doing a Phalarope imitation, swimming around and around and dabbling at
the surface (rather than tipping up to get to the bottom.) I stayed and
watched for sometime. After awhile she moved about a duck length away
and began spinning again. I have never seen or read about this
behavior before. Is this common? I have seen Phalarope but thought they
were the only species that did this trick.

Puzzled in Cle Elum

Cricket Webb
birdnerd at inlandwireless.com