Find the right stretch of rocky coastline in winter - typically one lashed by spray and slippery with seaweed - and there’s a fair chance you might just come across a very special shorebird: the Purple Sandpiper Calidris maritima. Dumpy, dark, and (whenever I see them anyway) cold and wet, Purple Sandpipers got the rough end of the deal when winter habitats were doled out (“European Swallows? You take sub-Saharan Africa, Enjoy. Dendroica? You lot on the right take the Caribbean, you on the left…how about Panama? Have fun. Purple Sandpipers? Ah, sorry, what can I say…take something warm - and you’ll need towels, plenty of towels…”) heading south from breeding sites in the northern tundra (on Arctic islands in Canada and coastal areas in Greenland and northwestern Europe) to spend what must be quite uncomfortable days and nights shuffling along boulders and jagged rocks from Quebec to South Carolina and the coasts of Greenland and Europe looking for snails.

The nearest site for me to see them is down at Portland Bill in Dorset, a normally benign enough sort of place of rocks and azure seas, bunnies and ice-cream, lighthouses and stinky french fries, and staggeringly over-priced beach huts which cost more than a small car but are less roomy. Come the winter, though, and the sea turns nasty, shakes a frigid fist at Dorset, and buries the coastline in wave after wave of spray that is hurled inland with the force of shotgun pellets. I don’t go very often.

Still, when I do I always find myself drawn to the sea, and spend far too long trying to get into a decent position to photograph the small flock of ‘Purp Sands’ without slipping into the English Channel and being dragged down to Davy Jones’ locker by the weight of a 400mm lens and the knowledge that this was bound to happen one day…

Very occasionally I manage it, and the images below are proof of that. I have no doubt that there are better photos on the web where the sun is shining and the air is almost warm (I know because I’ve seen them) but these are the best I have, so these are the best I can post. If you want an authentic viewing experience, by the way, try perching dangerously on the edge of a bathtub with cold water up to your ankles and have someone splash you to the rhythm of an incoming tide. It’ll be fun - if you’re definition of fun includes being miserably cold and damp of course…

Pulpit Rock, Portland Bill, Dorset. A lovely winter’s morning (not)..

 

Two non-breeding Purple Sandpipers (upper)
and non-breeding Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres (lower)

 

Non-breeding Purple Sandpiper (upper) and non-breeding Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres (lower)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Status Summary (from BirdLife International):
This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 1,000,000-10,000,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 170,000-220,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2002). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.