Species Spotlight-Turnstone

There is no more enigmatic species of wader than the Turnstone (Arenaria interpres). It is very aptly named - after its habit of turning stones to look for invertebrates, which live under and between rocks on the coastlines of Britain.

It is an extremely attractive species of wader with short bright orange legs ideal for scrabbling around on seaweed covered rocks, short stubby bill - perfectly suited for turning stones, and brightly marked upperparts giving the Turnstone its new name - ‘Ruddy Turnstone’. In summer its black mask stands out more and it is a very beautiful bird indeed.

Turnstones winter on and around Hilbre, which along with Middle Eye, is ideally suited to the Turnstone’s needs with plenty of rocky shoreline for feeding. To say that Turnstones only winter on Hilbre is actually incorrect. They leave Hilbre in April/early May heading northwards to their breeding grounds in Greenland and Arctic Canada and adults begin to return in July (3 of our colour-ringed birds from previous years were spotted on 11th August this year), with young birds following on. So they only spend about 2 months of the year away from Hilbre. Some years the only month of the year you don’t see Turnstones around Hilbre is June.

Between August and April they can be found all around Hilbre and Middle Eye, but the favoured localities are along the East Side of either island and at the North End of Hilbre.

On Hilbre the Bird Observatory has been ringing Turnstones around the island since 1957. This is done in the hope that they are either seen elsewhere, if the bird has been fitted with a colour ring sequence, or recaptured elsewhere, if the bird has been fitted with a BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) ring, then it can be specifically identified if captured again or, unfortunately, found dead.

The reason we believe that Hilbre’s Turnstones are from Greenland and/or Arctic Canada is that we have caught a bird that had been ringed in Iceland and we have alsohad a recovery of one of our birds also in Iceland. The first was ringed at Midnes in south-west Iceland on 26th May 1957 and was trapped on Hilbre on 6th December the same year. The second was ringed on Hilbre on 30th August 1964 and was recaptured at Snaefellsnes, Iceland, on 18th May 1972 presumably on its way to its breeding grounds.

Turnstones do not breed in Iceland, but pass through on their way north or south from their breeding grounds in Greenland and Canada (see map below). Furthermore, one of our colour-ringed birds was spotted at Seaforth Nature Reserve - not that far you might think! But it was accompanying another colour-ringed bird that had been ringed in Canada!

Hilbre Bird Observatory also had the first foreign recovery of a British Ringed Purple Sandpiper in Greenland way back in 1964; perhaps another indication of breeding areas of some of our wintering rocky coastline waders.

Turnstones also breed in Feno-Scandanavia and East to Russia, but it is has been found through ringing that those birds winter in North and West Africa, some of these birds however, pass down the East Coast of Britain (as you might expect), but some have been recorded on the West Coast as well.

The best places to look for Turnstones in the Dee Estuary are at Hilbre itself, but also around the Marine Lake at West Kirby and any rocky outcrop along the North Wirral Coast - such as Dove Point (Meols) or Fort Perch Rock (New Brighton).

The graph below shows the daily counts of Turnstones made by Hilbre Bird Observatory during 2001. The figures are clearly affected by high tides, in other words when there is a large tide Turnstones congregate on Hilbre, which also makes them easier to count, as they tend to roost over the tide in one place. The histogram clearly shows the month of June being the only true quiet month.

At Hilbre Bird Observatory and Ringing Station, we look forward to our next recovery of a Hilbre ringed Turnstone; perhaps it will be from Canada.

Please report your sightings of any colour-ringed waders at Hilbre to the Bird Observatory or via email.

Steve Williams - Hilbre Bird Observatory