Turnstone

Above: Turnstone (summer)
Below: Turnstone (winter)

The turnstone can be found around the coasts of North West England and North Wales all year round but are noticeably fewer in summer than in winter. Normally these birds breed much further north in the arctic and return to Britain and other areas of Europe for the winter. They have a preference for rocky areas or stony, shingle beaches rather than sandy beaches, but do occur on the sand albeit much less frequently.

In winter the birds are much less colourful as you can see in the lower picture on the left. They are a dark grey/brown on their back and wings, have a dark grey, streaked cap and a dark grey breast band. Below the dark grey cap, they have a mixed dark grey, light grey and white face, nape and chin. The beak is dark but not usually as dark as the summer bird, whilst the breast below the dark breast band and the vent are all white. The legs are orange.

In summer the bird looks completely different in it's breeding plumage. Birds in this outfit are common in Britain during August and September. The back and wings are now an attractive mixture of black and ginger. The vent and lower breast remain white with a thick black breast band that sweeps from each shoulder to meet in the middle and travel up the front of the bird until it splits into two main areas that extend around each side of the neck but don't meet at the back. Two further black stripes cross the face, one through the eye and one to the base of the black beak. The rest of the head and nape are white except for the crown which is white with a series of narrow black stripes proceeding from front to back. The legs remain orange but appear slightly brighter.

Turnstones are not difficult to find. My favourite places are Pwllheli beach between the golf coarse and Llanbedrog, Hilbre Island, the rocks at high tide below Wallasey lifeboat station and the area around the marine lake at West Kirby. Any of these are likely to produce good photo opportunities and the good thing about turnstones is that they are fairly confiding, allowing you to get a lot closer than most other waders would tolerate before they fly off. Don't forget that if you want to photograph them in their more colourful plumage the best time is late August and early September. Also have a go at photographing them in their low flight, where the prominent white wing bars show and make them attractive in either plumage.