Holes in beach sand explained

From Naturespeak, a detailed explanation of why one sometimes sees a line of holes in the sand at a lakeshore...

In places where the shorebird and hieroglyphs met, a third type of marking evidenced where the birds were working these wiggle marks with systematic thrusts of an open bill. They were starting at one end and poking millimeter by millimeter down the line until – whatever it was – was found, escaped, or the hole turned out to be dry.  I opted to try the same tactic...

Taking my finger and collapsing the tiny ridges, I became a giant sandpiper on this day. Many of the tunnels yielded nothing except, well, collapsed patterns in the sand. A fascinating few of the tunnel investigations resulted in a tiny explosion near the terminal end. In a motion quicker than the eye could catch something would erupt out of the tunnel – spreading a small shower of sand grains and leaving an opening.

Not only were they micro-sized but also cryptically colored to blend into the speckled sand... Their surprising trajectory took them well beyond expected range to about 4 or 5 inches from their starting point...

If this were an ocean beach I’d be talking about “sand fleas” at this point but this was an inland sea beach [Lake Huron]. These things looked like grasshoppers but nothing about this scenario, except the jumping, smacked of grasshopper...

Those interested in the identity of this burrower-in-the-sand can find the identity and a drawing of the creature at Naturespeak.