Turnstone

Charadriiformes | Scolopacidae | Sandpipers, snipes, phalaropes

A dark, busy, shuffling wader of weedy rocks and stony beaches, well-camouflaged among seaweed but striking when it flies up, flashing unique patterns of white and calling with sharp, staccato notes.

Always close to the water’s edge, Turnstones search busily for food among rocks, seaweed, and the strandline of debris thrown up by the tides on sandy or shingle beaches. At high tide they fly to secluded places to roost with other waders, often mixing with Ringed Plovers and Dunlins.

Winter visitor and passage migrant of the Basin, usually more than 100.