A small group of carrion crows regularly dispute the pickings along the beach just to the south of Golspie, arguing with the resident gulls, particularly the herring gulls, so if we see the crows congregate at a spot along the beach we investigate.
Their interest the other day was a small ray, about two foot long, which had a pair of very distinctive 'eyes' on its dorsal surface. A quick search on the internet identified it as a cuckoo ray, one of thirteen rays found in British waters, including the common skate, thornback, small eyed, undulate, common stingray, electric, blonde, common eagle, starry, bottle nosed and sandy. I had no idea there were so many species.
The cuckoo ray is not common in the northern North Sea, so we were fortunate to see it.
No comments:
Post a Comment