British Wildlife Photography: January 2014

Thursday 16 January 2014

Grey Phalarope at Hove, East Sussex England January 2014

We visited Hove Lagoon twice and were lucky enough to see the Grey Phalarope on both occasions. I say 'lucky', but in fact the little bird was residing in a children's paddling pool and was extremely confiding. Many photographers got 'up-close' and were within feet of the bird, and at times probably inches from the Grey Phalarope. The bird didn't seem to be phased by the presence of photographers at all, and in fact may have used them as 'cover' from the nearby gulls and crows. Some people had put food in the pool, which looked to be only inches deep, which doubtless led to the bird being quite content to stay. It isn't for me to say the rights and wrongs of feeding the bird.

On Tuesday 14th January - early afternoon - we saw the Grey Phalarope 'attacked' or at the very least chased by a crow, leading to the Phalarope flying out towards the Lagoon, although shortly after (30-45 minutes) the Phalarope returned. Within about 5 minutes of the Phalarope returning, the crow returned, and sat on the fence (that surrounds the pool). We had only seen one crow there so we assume it was the same crow. At the sight of the returning crow, the Grey Phalarope didn't appear to be happy and flew off, with the time at 3.00pm. That may well have been the Grey Phalarope's farewell from the paddling pool as I am not aware of it returning or being sighted since.Here are a few photographs of the lovely little bird.

Tuesday 7 January 2014

Grey Phalarope East Sussex January 2014

Grey Phalarope East Sussex 7th January 2014 - This lovely little visitor had decided that the sea was a bit rough and was taking it easy on a Paddling Pool which is situated less than 100 yards from the sea.... the paddling pool - probably not much more than 6 inches deep... had rain water and some tasty 'worms' that had been keeping the Phalarope content for a few days...
Photo taken with a Nikon D300S and a 70-300mm Lens