Rock Pools and Rock Pipits

On the 1st of September we went to a beach called White strand.  The rock pools there were crystal clear, and had Hermit Crabs, Fish and huge Shrimp. Bird-wise, there was a Pied Wagtail and a Common Gull (which personally I don't think are that common!). My cousin and I walked out over a large rock formation, which was like a small pier.  As we were nearing the end a bird banked past, a Fulmar! Before I could get a decent picture it had unsurprisingly flown off! A Gannet was also present in the distance.

As we were planning to leave, my cousin called me over and pointed at a bird perched on a rock. He said "I know its probably something common, but look up there", the bird was a Rock Pipit!

On the 5th we went back to that beach, before heading to Derrynane beach. This time the tide was in, so the rock pools weren't accessible. But we did see Rock Pipits, a juvenile Meadow Pipit, Linnets, a distant Oystercatcher, Cormorants and Great Black-backed Gulls.  We then headed to Derrynane beach. As we were walking along the beach I wondered if you got Sanderlings here, as I was reminded of a post by the Wanstead Birder (it is a great blog), which had Sanderlings in it. When I looked round, there was a flock of thirty or so tiny waders, they were Sanderling! There was not much else of note for birds, except for a few Rock Pipits, a small flock of Redshank and a little Egret.  There were a few Rock pools here, and in one my cousin pointed out a Starfish!

As I had never seen either Fulmar or Sanderlings before I'm quite happy with the wildlife at these beaches.
I'm looking forward to being back in England though. No doubt there's been all sorts of rarities near were I live.