A Tiny Visitor on a Big Adventure


My Red-necked Phalarope experience at Kingsbury Water Park 31st August 2026

There are some wildlife encounters that you know you will remember for a very long time.

And then there are the ones where you find yourself thinking, “Wow… I actually got to see that!” 31st August 2026 was one of those days.

I had heard that a Red-necked Phalarope had been found at Kingsbury Water Park, and this wasn't a bird I was going to ignore. These tiny waders are not something you get the chance to see every day in the UK, so I decided to head to Kingsbury Water Park with the kids in tow, in the hope that it would still be there.


Finding my tiny target

Kingsbury Water Park is a huge waterside country park, with 15 lakes spread across more than 600 acres, so finding one tiny bird amongst all that water might sound like quite a challenge.  But on this occasion, I was lucky.

The bird had been favouring Bodymoor Heath Water, and when I arrived, there were other birders already watching.

And then I saw it. A tiny bird sitting quietly on the water. The Red-necked Phalarope.


At first glance, it almost didn't seem possible that something so small could have caused so much excitement. But when you realise just how unusual a sighting this is, suddenly that tiny bird becomes incredibly special.


What a little beauty

This was a juvenile Red-necked Phalarope, and I was fascinated by its beautiful markings.

Its plumage was a mixture of soft whites, browns and buff, with those striking dark markings around the eye. Sitting on the calm water, it looked almost delicate — yet this little bird has an extraordinary life ahead of it.

And the best part?

It was so close. Rather than disappearing into the distance, it was swimming around in front of us, feeding and seemingly completely unfazed by the people watching. For a photographer, it was a dream.

I could concentrate on watching the bird rather than desperately trying to find it through a huge distance with my lens.

And, of course, I took photographs!

Probably more than I needed to…

But when you're looking at a bird you've travelled to see, there's always that little voice saying: “Just one more photograph…”


A tiny bird with an incredible journey

One of the things I love most about wildlife photography is that it makes you stop and think about the story behind the photograph.

This wasn't just a little bird swimming around on a lake in Warwickshire. It was a migrant, travelling enormous distances as part of its life cycle.

Red-necked Phalaropes breed in the northern parts of Europe, Asia and North America, with a small British breeding population in Scotland. They spend much of their non-breeding season at sea, making an inland sighting like this one particularly special.

And suddenly, looking through my camera at this tiny bird, I found myself thinking about just how incredible nature really is.

Here was this little creature, temporarily stopping at an inland lake in England, completely unaware of the excitement it had caused.


It was definitely one to remember.