Arctic Bound

In what has been a poor week weatherwise opportunities for getting out and about have not been good. So I am posting some more images of sanderling mostly in summer plumage taken recently on the Lancashire coastline.
The sanderling has to be one of the most delightful of our shorebirds as they scurry about the beaches looking for food.They eat small crabs,shrimps,shellfish,sandhoppers and marine worms that live in mud and sand or are washed in by the tide. On the Arctic breeding grounds they eat insects and some plant material,including buds,seeds and shoots. The birds shown above were very busy probing in the sand for food and came close allowing some nice portrait shots.
Hopefully next week may bring more settled weather.The birds above may by then be on their way to the breeding grounds. These lovely little waders breed high in the Arctic tundra - on the closest land to the North Pole - in Siberia, or in Arctic North America. The birds I saw are quite possibly heading for breeding grounds in Eastern Greenland. I wish them well and a safe journey.