Red-necked Phalaropes

On a trip to St. Paul Island, Alaska, two years ago, I saw many Red-necked Phalaropes in breeding plumage.

Here are a number of Red-necked Phalaropes in their winter plumage (without the red necks).

For some reason, there was a great number of these phalaropes at Hollister Pond, in Chula Vista, in September of this year. Hollister Pond is one of a number of ponds formed by the Otay River in its course to the San Diego Bay.

They swim about erratically to-and-fro in the water, making them a more difficult photographic subject than I had imagined them to be!

Here is one in the fading evening light:

The following morning, trees in the warm morning light were reflected in the water:

A few minutes later that morning: