Phalaropes
Phalaropes are exquisite little waders, that spend most of their time on the water rather than wading. We have two species in Britain, neither of which are easy to see. The females are more brightly coloured than males and leave it to the males to incubate and raise their chicks.
Red-necked Phalarope. Beautiful little waders. You'll be very lucky to see one in Britain without making an effort. They are very rarely seen anywhere but their breeding grounds. Their breeding territory only just extends far enough south to include the UK. A few pairs breed on the most northerly isles of Shetland. I'd been desperate to get up there for many years to see them. I finally achieved it in 2019 and was lucky enough to see this pair on Unst.
Unusually for birds, the female takes pride of place in the plumage stakes (left). June on Unst, Shetland
Grey Phalarope. Breed in the arctic but pass our shores on migration. Most often seen in the autumn. Sometimes they will drop in on inland waters but are usually seen on the coast. A delicate looking little bird but are obviously pretty hardy. They can be incredibly approachable.
This bird was found off Scilly in August. An early sighting. The boat skipper attempted to slowly draw up close to it. We didn't get quite as close as we'd have liked but as it was my first sighting of one I certainly wasn't complaining.