Not a long visit to see the red-necked phalarope but just a bird that I wanted to see as a life tick - frustratingly work has been very busy meaning that I hadn't been able to get down to Cleeve Hill to see the two dotterel over recent days - as would be expected they were gone before a weekend opportunity to travel. This was a perfect antidote.
I was able to wrap up in the office by 4.45pm and checked with home that I could be later for dinner - pass stamped. It took just 50 minutes to reach the small car park to the south of Little Marlow. There had been quite a bit of rain over the last week and so I popped on some walking boots and within 5 minutes was standing beside a birder looking through his scope across the Gravel Pits. In an instant the phalarope could be seen on the far side of the tern rafts busily working right then back left – 90m out - it didn't seem to be feeding as much as I had expected, and was much further from the shore than the grey phalaropes I've encountered.
For the entire visit the bird simply repeated this behaviour (to and fro) - the light decreased and photos always distant. A kingfisher flew past, returned but always stopped out of view. A black swan cruised on the water over on the very opposite shore. A family of great-crested grebes fed close in front.
Before long I had to leave and make the journey back up the M40 to join the family for a late dinner. Short but sweet.
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