| The Purple Sandpiper breeds in the Arctic Tundra and is a
winter visitor to our shores except for a couple of nesting pairs in Scotland.
It has bluish-grey upper-parts, whitish under-parts, a downcurved bill with
a yellow base, orange feet and legs. They can be seen on rocky coasts in
winter but are more common in the north of the United Kingdom or in Devon
and Cornwall. We have seen them regularly in Plymouth Sound scavenging on
the rocks for their diet of small fish, insects, crustaceans, shellfish
and plants. You have to look carefully though as their bluish-grey plumage
can make them hard to see against rocks and seaweed. |
