We usually shared the beach with small flocks of shorebirds, most of which were Lesser Sand Plovers, Common Sandpipers and Kentish Plovers; occasional Greater Sand Plovers joined them along the tideline, where many feasted on the bounty of small crabs.
Getting close was a regular pleasure, the birds being apparently well adjusted to human disturbance, but the best way to get really close was to lie in the surf and allow the waves to propel you towards them (see below). No good for photography of course, but a faultless way for get eye-to-eye with all the above species - including a Greater Sand Plover, which unforgettably trotted to within touching distance, head cocked to one side.
