#turnstone

If you haven’t seen these little guys in person, I highly recommend it. Darling little mice with wings with the cutest peep of a voice! Turnstones are wonderful. It’s hard to find art of these guys for some reason and I plan on changing that! A rare glimpse inside my sketchbook!

I have a new favourite birb. As part of falling in love with Norfolk, I have also discovered and fallen head over heels for the turnstone. These are the tiniest of birbs that sound like squeaky toys, hang out on the beach walls and are just so utterly delightful! I have never seen these guys before coming here, and they are just so quintessentially “seaside”. And so beloved in Norfolk.

Turnstone @ Brancaster Staithe in 40mph Wind! Norfolk by Adam Swaine Via Flickr: Turnstones have a mottled appearance with brown or chestnut and black upperparts and brown and white or black and white head pattern, whilst their underparts are white and legs orange. They spend most of their time creeping and fluttering over rocks, picking out food from under stones.

Turnstone @ Brancaster Staithe Norfolk by Adam Swaine Via Flickr: The turnstone can be spotted fluttering around large stones on rocky and gravelly shores, flipping them over to look for prey. It can even lift rocks as big as its own body! Although a migrant to the UK, it can be seen all year-round as different populations arrive throughout the seasons.

This is a Ruddy Turnstone and the first one I’ve gotten to see this winter out on this beach. There were a few of them dispersed but I did see a few hanging out with a little flock of Piping Plovers up the beach on the warm dry sand and looking extra cozy.

[Nikon D500; AF-S Nikkor 500mm F5,6E PF ED VR]