Also see Plovers and Snipe

Turnstone 12b

Turnstone 15

Turnstone 13 (crop)

Turnstone  Arenaria interpres

Isle of Man, December 2010

Purple Sandpiper 13

Purple Sandpiper  Calidris maritima

The east coast of the UK is generally known as purple sandpiper territory.  They can be elusive, but are often confiding little birds when found.  Search for them near water level amongst seaweed covered rocks and crashing waves.  These photographs of Purple Sandpiper were taken in North Berwick in November 2005.

Sanderling 06

Sanderling 05

Sanderling      Calidris alba

Oystercatcher 2 (S)

Oystercatcher 2 crop (S)

Oystercatcher    Haemotopus ostralegus  (S)

Early dawn at Snettisham on the Norfolk Coast gives the scene a very cool blue light.

Phalarope Red Necked 02

Phalarope Red Necked 03

Red-necked Phalarope  Phalaropus lobatus (C)

A good twitch and photograph from Gloucestershire in October 2005 - usually found in the Arctic and Shetland.  A very active bird that feeds on invertebrates stirred up by its lobed feet.  Famous for the females being the unfaithful sex, the males being left to bring up the kids!  This tired male is on his way to the Arabian Sea for Christmas.

Wader Roost Southport Pier 01

Wader roost

A typical roost of knot, dunlin and godwit with Southport Pier in the background. January 2005.

Bar tailed Godwit 07 crop

Bar tailed godwit   Limosa lapponica

Looking out to sea this time, Southport, UK.

Knot 04

Red knot  Calidris canutus

Photographed at Severn Beach, my local wader spot, soon to be destroyed by the Severn barrage!

Avocet 02 crop

Avocet   Recurvirostra avosetta  (C)

One of the most annoying things when photographing from a car is that sometimes the bird flies off before you've braked, on with the handbrake, down with the window, up with the beanbag and out with the lens...  Avocet 02 was one such shot - it was taken by my girlfriend Jenka who was in the back of the car with the camera at the ready!  Photograph cropped off the top and bottom.

Dunlin juvenile 03

Dunlin      Calidris alpina

A juvenile lost and all alone on Douglas sea front, Isle of Man, 2005.

Ruff 1 (S)

Ruff  Philomachus pugnax  (S)

Common Sandpiper 07

Common Sandpiper  Actitis hypoleucos

Curlew Sandpiper 07

Curlew Sandpiper  Calidris ferruginea

Green Sandpiper 06

Green Sandpiper  Tringa ochropus

Little Stint 03

Little Stint  Calidris minuta

Redshank 06

Redshank   Tringa totanus

Godwit Black tailed 19

Black tailed godwit   Limosa limosa

An elegant and beautifully plumaged wader.  A hundred or so of these appear every year at Slimbridge in the Autumn.

Black Winged Stilt 2 (slight crop)

Black winged stilt   Himantopus himantopus

Sammy the Stilt was a regular attraction in Norfolk, and here we have an early photo of him (I think!) taken at Titchwell circa 1999.

Also see Plovers and Snipe

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