A few warm sunny September days spent on the Dorset coast afforded me an opportunity of seeing a delightfully quaint little wading bird aptly named turnstone.

Slightly larger than a starling with mottled brownish-black upper plumage, cream underparts, bright red legs and a short stout beak, the bird does exactly what it says in the title, spending much time on the beach literally turning over stones, seaweed and shells searching for food.

With cryptic plumage blending perfectly with its pebbly surroundings, turnstones can be overlooked unless wading along the shoreline silhouetted against the water scampering along in short rapid bursts reminding me of clockwork toys.

When foraging on shingly beaches, often the only clue to their presence is the clicking together of stones, sometimes surprisingly large ones as they lift them to peer underneath. The resulting sound is like someone playing the old-fashioned game of fivestones.

Turnstones keep together in sizeable tight flocks (see picture) and the one I watched consisted of about 30 birds and they would wait for low tide to begin their quest for food.

In Britain, the bird is a passage migrant in autumn and later in spring, moving to and from its summer breeding locations which include Canada, Greenland, Siberia, Russia and other northern European sites.

Some turnstones do spend the winter here while others fly even further south.