This morning at about 10:00, I saw two Wilson's Phalaropes at the prison
farm pond north of Duvall. They were 5 or 10 feet offshore on the far side
of the main pond, toward the western end. I didn't see them do their
whirling act, but they were actively feeding and swimming around. One looked to
me like a male transitioning into breeding plumage (the back of its neck
was reddish), and the other one was pretty much in winter plumage still.

I looked for the Yellow-headed Blackbirds that have been hanging around
there this past week, and I only saw one ever land on the power pole they have
favored, but I did see about a half dozen of them at one point, on a lower
wire/pole to the east of that favored pole. I've seen them several times
in the last week, and I have yet to see one I would call a mature male.
The males I have seen have varying amounts of yellow, but all have had black
on the back of their necks still, which to me means they hatched last year
and have yet to come into their full breeding plumage. Maybe that's normal
for mature males, though, at this time of year.

Barry Brugman
Kirkland