Turnstones

Just a very brief blog post to enthuse about Turnstones. You have probably seen them, in the winter, brown, unassuming and very confiding little birds, often happily tucking in to left-over fishing bait on wind and rain soaked piers, which sea anglers are often happy to provide. They can also be found on the beach, turning over stones as the name suggests, hunting for invertebrates and whatever has been washed up by the sea.

Arenaria interpres, seaside ghoul and fisherman's companion.

These angler’s companions tastes are not limited to fishing bait, and are not always so benign, historically they have been recorded feeding on the remains of deceased seafarers who became washed up on beaches. They need to retain cosmopolitan tastes, however, to survive in the harsh environments in which they spend the winter, and resourcefully will dine on almost anything it can find on the strandline, from small crustacea and shellfish to decomposing cetacea.  Birds which winter in Britain can come from as far afield as Greenland and Canada, as well as Scandinavia, and the winter can find them all around the British coast, though summer is short in many of their breeding areas, meaning in reality they can be found for most of the year, birds arriving in August and typically remaining until May. Small numbers of non-breeding individuals, resplendent nevertheless in the plumage that gives Arenaria interpres its international common name, Ruddy Turnstone.

handsome and summery looking Turnstone, Herne Bay, Kent, 6th May 2014

It is not clear whether this little crowd of Turnstone, found on a gorgeous day in May during a trip to the seaside at Herne Bay, in Kent, represents a non-breeding flock, indeed many of the individuals appear to retain juvenile plumage, or just some stragglers getting ready to head back to some remote, sub-arctic or arctic rock for their brief and frantic breeding season.   They balanced unassumingly cute and splendid very convincingly, especially those which had moulted into their summer plumage, and were confiding enough to permit photography. Indeed, they were so charming, they warranted their own blog post.

Turnstone, Herne Bay, May 2014

Turnstone in non-breeding plumage, Herne Bay, May 2014