Thanks. I have quite a few more pictures of different views if necessary. They were pretty much exactly the same size as Red-capped Plovers of which there were a few around this same area.
I know I'm on the other side of the world, but they look very much like sanderlings to me, with most of them moulting out of their breeding plumage. The sanderling can be found on beaches almost anywhere in the world at some time of the year.
The key question is, were they pattering around in a rather hyperactive manner? The bird books always say that a sanderling moves 'like a mechanical toy' - but only old geezers like me, and bird book authors, now remember how mechanical toys used to move
I was thinking that from your original photo you probably wouldn't be able to get a proper ID, but with the additional photos I do agree with gentle lemur that they are probably Sanderlings. Like he says, they are pretty distinctive in real life because they skitter around hyperactively.
I went back to the Esplanade this morning and saw them again and looking at them with the field guide and Sanderlings in mind I'm pretty sure that's the right ID.
