On the shoreline near the French Basque resort of St Jean de Luz, several turnstones were active. Some were prospecting for food by the harbour: there’s still a small fishing fleet as well as some pleasure yachts. Others were hunting in the grass among the dunes on the foreshore.
We visited the area several times over the years, and never noticed them there before. Perhaps this time they were on their autumn migration, following the Atlantic coasts of France and Iberia.