Sanderling

We had the pleasure of spending some time in the company of a small flock of sanderling this morning, watching them do what sanderling do - scamper to and fro feeding on whatever the waves were washing up onto the beach.

There must have been twenty or more of them in the flock which was probably on its way north towards the birds' breeding grounds in the Arctic. As with so many waders, sanderling are great travellers: one has been logged doing a 32,000km annual round trip.

With their black beaks and matching black legs, they're a very smart little bird, the males even smarter when their darker upper parts develop an orange courting plumage, though sadly we don't see that as by that time they're far to the north of us.

Sanderling are my favourite wader, partly because of their energetic, almost clockwork movement but also because they're relatively tolerant of close approach. We haven't seen many this winter so watching this flock was a special pleasure.