Everything is Permuted

A slightly better day today. It was dry (mainly), and there were hints of blue sky above. Only hints, though. So rather than risk getting windswept on the Downs I headed over to Rottingdean Beach.

It was quiet, a few gulls overhead and some hardier locals enjoying the sea air. I wandered away from the main part of the beach to a narrow concrete walkway which stretches out over the sea for about 50 yards. I presume it's there for fishing, but I'm yet to see anyone use it for that. There was one small bird hopping about though, a tree pipit which had flown down from the cliff tops. It was kind enough to pose for a few shots.
Tree pipit

The beach at Rottingdean is in sections, divided by groynes which help protect against erosion. After the pipit had flown, I moved on to the next section which from the walkway had seemed deserted. As I walked across the pebbles I noticed some movement at the far end. A small group of turnstones were busy feeding by the edge of the surf. I've seen them before, but never a group; and never in a situation where I can approach.
Turnstone

This is their winter plumage, less vivid than their summer look which combines a piebald face with reddish wing feathers. But the orange legs are unmistakable.
Shaking out some sea food

Look before you leap

And we have take-off

Among the other birds seen down on the beach were cormorants sweeping along the horizon, and a trio of oystercatchers which settled briefly to feed with the turnstones. There are a few more shots in my Turnstones album. If I get time I'll add to it. I took a lot of shots (I got through three data cards ).

Camera note: As for the photos, I struggled with the light and played around with an ISO setting between 640 and 1000 in an attempt to get some usable shutter speed. Most of the time the aperture was wide open (f/5.6), and as well as using negative exposure bias (to increase the shutter speed above the dismal 1/60s it was offering) I also used some low level fill flash on a number of the shots. Oh, and I had a UV filter on the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens to protect against sea spray.