by Judy Lehmberg, BioPics Photography, www.vernelehmberg.com
I love Yellowstone. I have spent most of the last 40 summers in Yellowstone and now we are here about 6 months a year. But one of the things I really don’t like is the number of people there now. We have learned over the years that sometimes it is best to get out of Yellowstone for a while. There are some absolutely gorgeous areas around Yellowstone that are relatively human free, especially as compared to the park. We have a wonderful friend who died recently and we are going to his memorial celebration tomorrow on the Missouri River. We decided to make a slight detour on our way and go to Bentsen Lake Wildlife Refuge. We were there for about 4 hours today and saw 1 other person the whole time. We also saw over a hundred marbled godwits and more phalaropes than I have seen in my entire life.
Phalaropes are not your average bird. They are shorebirds that have done a complete role reversal as compared to other birds. Female phalarope’s are slightly larger and more colorful than the male. They also do the courting and mate selection. Female phalaropes do lay eggs like other female birds, but once they do they leave the eggs for the male to incubate. He also takes care of the chicks. It is really a very practical way to do business. The female can lay the eggs, and while the male is taking care of them, she can go start another family. That is an idea I could get used to.
I can always count on smiling and having a good chuckle when reading your posts. Thank you Judy, yo brighten my days. Take care this weekend.
The liberated females of the bird world! Learned something new. Thanks for sharing this information.