The Northern Phalarope 
Taken in Santa Barbara Photo by the Author 
ATTENTION! 
NORTHERN PHALAROPE IN AUTUMNAL PLUMAGE 
little provocation as that afforded the bursting bubble of foam, its late 
brother. We who dwell by the sea wait eagerly for the reappearance of 
our confiding little voyageurs, in April or early May, and though our hies 
are already bursting full of “negatives,” we shall not cease to pursue this 
dainty apparition as often as he condescends to visit our brackish pools 
and shallows. 
Truth to tell, the enthusiasm of photographic pursuit often leads 
the camerist into sorry places. Accustomed though it be to gleaning a 
living from the surface of the ocean, where everything is “clean,” a 
Phalarope’s interest in backwater lagoons or interior waters is directly 
proportioned to their impurity. Here at Santa Barbara we have a most 
conspicuous example in the “Estero,” which is a stretch of low-lying, 
flooded barrens near the car shops and the beach. This wmtery waste 
receives not only the contributions of ancient springs now polluted by 
civilization, but also the frustrated waters of the city’s outfall sewer, 
when the tide is over-high. The combined result is a culture medium of 
a potency to daunt any but the most hardened human explorer, as well as 
to compel the attendance of even the most wary of avian gourmets. Here 
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