Winter holiday in Cleethorpes

For most, Cleethorpes might not seen the ideal winter holiday destination, but one Canadian visitor has been coming back for three years now.


Turnstone 1313-59558 (above, showing off its four-winged approach to flight!) was ringed at Alert, on the northern coast of Ellesmere Island in Canada in July 2001. This is incredibly far north (82 degrees north!) as can be seen on Google Maps here.

It was first seen on Cleethorpes beach on 4 December 2007, and again through subsequent winters - 1 January 2008, 23 November 2008 and lastly on 12 November 2009. It may well still be there, wandering round the beach feeding on scraps, so if you're in the area why not go and have a look at our foreign visitor! If you do, don't forget to report it to us via www.ring.ac


We have fewer than 30 records of Canadian Turnstone in Britain, and all have come from Ellesmere Island. Interestingly, birds from Alert there have also been seen as far south as the Canary Islands and even Namibia!

Thanks to Colin Smale and Chris Atkin for the photos and to Guy Morrison for the ringing details.