My plans for my days in and around Weymouth last week didn’t quite go as I expected due to the weather: we had a lot of heavy rain showers, and the westerly winds, especially on Thursday, were gale-force and relentless. Luckily, I had gone prepared, with full wet weather gear – I wasn’t going to let rain spoil my birding plans.

I knew from previous visits that the area in front of the Wild Chesil Centre, at Ferrybridge, on the causeway between Weymouth and the Isle of Portland, was a good place to look for birds, especially as autumn migration is well underway now in Britain. I checked that area on Tuesday afternoon, but the tide was already well out so the birds were too distant for me to see with binoculars.

So, on Thursday, after spending the morning at RSPB Lodmoor, I caught the bus to Ferrybridge around noon. Though I could barely stand up in the wind, my tide timing was perfect; as I walked from the bus stop to the Wild Chesil Centre, water was just starting to recede from the mud flats below the footpath, and already a little flock of 12 Turnstones and 2 Sanderling were foraging for any tiny sea creatures that were being exposed by the receding waters.

I admit to being a big fan of waders, which I seldom see in my local area, and I find the Sanderling (Calidris alba) especially attractive, both in looks and in habits; they forage by scurrying rapidly back and forth across the sand and mud. Though photographing these birds was a challenge – I had to wrap my arms around the railing adjacent to the footpath for stability, I managed to get some reasonably decent images of this pair and, though I was very close to them and they were certainly aware of my presence, they were intent on feeding and my photography didn’t disturb them. I clung to those railings for a good 15 minutes, watching their antics, their interaction with the Turnstones and each other, their feeding methods. It was quite magical!