Sanderling
Calidris alba

Sanderlings are common waders around the UK coastline in winter and are easily recognisable from their light plumage and habit of running up down beaches following the wave fronts. They can often be found in winter flocks with Dunlins and Common Ringed Plovers. Sanderlings are small birds at 18-20 cm in length, slightly larger than a House Sparrow. They breed in the Northern hemisphere in the high Arctic and winter to the south, reaching as far as Australia and southern Africa. Their diet is mainly invertebrates and small crustaceans, as with many other small waders.
 

1-2: Ryde, IOW, 27/03/2014.