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This phalarope must be one of the most photographed birds in the UK this week This phalarope must be one of the most photographed birds in the UK this week
(5 days later)
The traffic splashes along the glistening sea front at Hove. The black rain clouds move east, and the sun rises up into the sky. Light reaches around the walls surrounding the children's paddling pool, where the grey phalarope is already feeding when I arrive. Blown off-course by recent storms, this small, slender, white and grey water bird, about the size of a starling, has found shelter among the blue mosaic tiles.The traffic splashes along the glistening sea front at Hove. The black rain clouds move east, and the sun rises up into the sky. Light reaches around the walls surrounding the children's paddling pool, where the grey phalarope is already feeding when I arrive. Blown off-course by recent storms, this small, slender, white and grey water bird, about the size of a starling, has found shelter among the blue mosaic tiles.
The phalarope is swimming fast up and down the pool. It turns and spins round and round like a top, then stops and stares intently into the water. It plunges its head below the surface, upending its tail. The bird comes up again, splashing little droplets of water, which glint in the low sun and run down its waterproofed feathers. It holds a red bloodworm in its slim beak, quickly gulps it down, and moves on, turning and spinning again and again. These characteristic feeding movements stir up the tiny invertebrates, which often hang lifelessly in the water, making them easier for the bird to see and catch.The phalarope is swimming fast up and down the pool. It turns and spins round and round like a top, then stops and stares intently into the water. It plunges its head below the surface, upending its tail. The bird comes up again, splashing little droplets of water, which glint in the low sun and run down its waterproofed feathers. It holds a red bloodworm in its slim beak, quickly gulps it down, and moves on, turning and spinning again and again. These characteristic feeding movements stir up the tiny invertebrates, which often hang lifelessly in the water, making them easier for the bird to see and catch.
Grey phalaropes breed around watery pools that are rich in small flies and their larvae on coastal tundra in the high Arctic. The birds are mostly red in the summer – hence their American name of red phalarope – and the more brightly coloured females breed multiple times, leaving the males to bring up the young. Phalaropes can travel a long way. A similar bird, a red-necked phalarope, which breeds in Shetland, has just been found to travel as far as Peru. Unbelievably for such small birds, phalaropes spend the autumn and winter on the open seas, before returning in spring to their breeding grounds.Grey phalaropes breed around watery pools that are rich in small flies and their larvae on coastal tundra in the high Arctic. The birds are mostly red in the summer – hence their American name of red phalarope – and the more brightly coloured females breed multiple times, leaving the males to bring up the young. Phalaropes can travel a long way. A similar bird, a red-necked phalarope, which breeds in Shetland, has just been found to travel as far as Peru. Unbelievably for such small birds, phalaropes spend the autumn and winter on the open seas, before returning in spring to their breeding grounds.
This phalarope must be one of the most photographed birds in the country this week, attracting amateurs and professionals with its obliging antics. A dogwalker stops and asks me about it. "I did wonder what it was," she smiles, "because it's so pretty, such a special little bird."This phalarope must be one of the most photographed birds in the country this week, attracting amateurs and professionals with its obliging antics. A dogwalker stops and asks me about it. "I did wonder what it was," she smiles, "because it's so pretty, such a special little bird."
• This article was amended on 21 January 2014. An earlier version of the sub-heading and photo caption said that Hove is in West, rather than East Sussex.
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