That was the sad news during the migrant season of 2006/2007 here at the coast. It concerns a small shorebird from Ellesmere Island, Canada, and here is his story. His species, the Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres, is about 30 cm long, from the slightly upturned black bill to the end of his black tail feathers and he walks swiftly and purposefully on bright orange short legs. One finds them mostly at water’s edge on rocky beaches, where they feed on small creatures among the kelp and under stones, which they deftly move from their site in their own manner, giving them their name. Turnstones are still in rich brown, black and white plumage, their courtship gown, when they arrive here to spend their non-breeding months on our beaches. They moult during this time and when they leave around March/April their plumage is even more beautiful than when they came. This very special turnstone, Mr Ellesmere, was first noticed in March 1999 by my friend, Sandra Dantu, during a stroll on the beach near the saltworks north of Swakopund. "That one has four rings – and colour rings, look!" she exclaimed. And indeed: it had the metal ring on its right leg and above that a white flag ring and above the ankle a yellow one – to top it all, there was a blue ring on its left leg! I had never seen four rings on one single bird, let alone so many colour rings.