Bird, bug, butterfly and a wild variety of photos from Belarus, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland and Spain by Irish wildlife photographer Patrick J. O'Keeffe and invited guests

Sunday 23 June 2019

RED NECKED PHALAROPE (Phalaropus lobatus) female Broadmeadow Estuary, Swords, Fingal, Co. Dublin, Ireland


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The Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) is a small sandpiper type shorebird of the family Scolopacidae and is one of the three species of phalarope in the genus Phalaropus. It is a long distance migrant, breeding in the Arctic tundra regions of North America and Eurasia and wintering at sea on tropical oceans. The small British population, which has recently increase to c60 pairs, is mainly confined to the Shetland Isles and the Outer Hebrides as well as occasionally breeding on the Scottish Mainland. Formally up to to 50 pairs bred in Ireland then this population declined with no proof of breeding since the early 1970s, although breeding has been suspected on a number of occasions. Thanks to a program of habitat improve by BirdWatch Ireland, a handful of birds have recommenced breeding at one protected site in County Mayo.
There are three previous Co.Dublin records: 30-09-1954 (West Pier, Dun Laoghaire), 19-12-1956 (North Bull Island) and  08 to 10-09-1957 (Bootherstown Marsh)

Patrick J. O'Keeffe / Raw Birds
Reference:
A List of Some Rarer Birds in Dublin version 5.2 - Joe Hobbs (download pdf here)