A white bird with feet like a coot finds shelter from Storm Lilian

 

The very strong westerlies that came with Storm Lillian brought a lot of anticipation amongst birding folk.  What rarities would the summer storm leave in its wake? That was the question many Twitchers had in their minds.

On Sunday 25th August 2024 news broke of a nice find by a keen eyed lady called Sian of a Grey Phalarope on Marine Lake that is at Cold Knap in Barry, near Cardiff.

Phalaropes are a relatively rare sightings in the UK and are classed as Marine birds so they spend much of their time out at sea far away from land. Severe Storms however can force them closer to the shore and sometimes they end up taking shelter on inland lakes, ponds and reservoirs.

I have only ever seen Grey Phalaropes at considerable distance but on this occasion according to the reports the bird was very close and had very little fear of humans.

The sighting had been publicised on various social media and some wonderful pictures had been posted.

I was unable to travel on Sunday but if it continued to hang about I was thinking of paying it a visit.

Previously I have seen Grey Phalarope and Red-Necked Phalaropes and I know that they rarely stay put for long and as soon as the weather clears up they will return to their ocean habitats.

Fortunately for me Monday was a UK Bank Holiday and I had the time to travel to Barry.

The weather remained windy and quite changeable after Storm Lilian had passed through. Clouds would roll in with the wind and a light shower would start and then blue skies would follow and some welcome sunshine.

Once I had arrived at Marine Lake at Cold Knapp it was not very difficult to find where the Phalarope was as there was a row of birdwatchers taking pictures of the little seabird.

The Grey Phalarope had been identified as a juvenile that had fledged most likely in the last couple of months. It may have been on its migration from the Arctic where it hatched enroute to its winter quarters off the shores of North and South America in the Atlantic ocean.

The phalarope was incredibly confiding and it came in within a foot of people. It was more concerned with the Mute Swans and Tufted Ducks which occasionally bullied it.

I could not get over how small and dainty the Phalarope was and to think its normal habitat is the ocean and far from any land. The small waves the wind caused on the lake seemed huge compared to this small seabird and I marvelled at the thought of it riding the oceanic swells and waves of the Atlantic ocean.

The Grey Phalaropes latin name is Phalaropus fulicarius - which translated means "The coot-like white foot" . Phalarope sound so posh and a lot of people who were non-birders who took an interest in why us photographers/birders were so excited found the name quite a unfamiliar and strange sounding. 

In fact in the countries where this bird resides in the summer months its called a Red Phalarope (not to be confused with the similar Red-Necked Phalarope) because in summer plumage this species has lovely brick red plumage.  Its winter plumage which is grey is why in the UK we call it a Grey Phalarope.

 Females of this species are different to many other birds in that they are the sex that is more brightly coloured than the males. The females also leave the male Grey Phalaropes to incubate the eggs and fledglings.

The Phalarope was constantly on the move and they have a "jizz" of spinning around whilst pecking at the surface of the water for food ( likely to be small invertebrates and plankton).

Occasionally when disturbed by the Mute Swans and ducks that picked on it the Phalarope would take to the air for a small flight and return to almost the same part of the Marine Lake and start feverishly pecking at the surface again.

I took thousands of pictures of this beautiful bird that was a real poser for myself and many other photographers.

 There was a really good friendly atmosphere at Cold Knapp and it was good to catch up with friends and have some banter and laughter.

Big thanks to Shaun Evans for the picture of me photographing the phal.

The Phalarope was starting to preen and I formed the impression as the weather improved that this little mariner was getting ready to depart for its oceanic home again and perhaps continue on its migration.

I eventually said my good byes and hoped of the thousands of pictures I had taken at least one of them would be in focus :)

Farewell little Phal, I wish you good  luck on the high seas.

There was also on the same day a second sighting of a Phalarope - this time at WWT Lanelli and it was reported to be the other similar species a Red-necked Phalarope. A good day for sightings of the "Storm Birds" that sometimes they have been called.

A great book I would like to attribute as my reference for this post is the "Waders of Europe a Photographic Guide" by Lars Gejl, published by Helm.

This is a great resource for any birdwatcher and has fantastic pictures.

Camera Kit used

I used my Olympus Om-1 and Zuiko 100-400mm lens to take the pictures. I am really impressed with OM-1 system.