This afternoon my wife, Sharon Burton, and I decided to enjoy the warmth
of the day by getting out and doing some paddling. We headed over to
Harwood Mills Reservoir in York County. The water was well down and on
the north side, our favorite, the algae was already taking over. So we
portaged to the south side close to the airport. On our return leg I
nearly ran over a red-necked phalarope. We were paddling into the sun
and I was focused on getting the kayak to track where I wanted it.
Suddenly, there was a small bird in the water not 6 feet from my bow. It
really seemed unconcerned at the close encounter and just kept on
feeding off the surface. Sharon coasted up and the bird swam probably
only 3 feet from her boat. Close enough she couldn't focus her
binoculars. The bird showed bright breeding plumage. It never
demonstrated the typical spinning but slowly drifted in the water
occasionally leaning down to pick a bug off the surface. We drifted with
the bird for probably five minutes until the wind pushed us away. It
cleared surpasses the previous highlight of the day which was a common
gullinule on the north side. We did not see the anhinga that has been
seen there in past years but maybe it is too early in the summer.
Bryan Barmore and Sharon Burton
