Well, OK, I'll take the bait. From what I can see, it's simply a matter of a fairly strong wind coming from an unvariable direction (from the right of the photo). As the wind picks up the sand grains, it hits one of the pebbles, swirls behind it in an eddy, loses its velocity, and drops the sand grains. The key factors are a consistent wind direction and enough speed to carry sand grains*.
The cohesion of the sand grains may be due to salt, as you suggest, or a relatively high concentration of clay minerals (micas).

*Cool geology word of the day: saltation. Sand is rarely caried very far by the wind; instead, a grain is pushed hard enough that it jumps (spanish: salta); upon landing, it hits another grain which then "jumps".