The rain this morning cleared just in time for a walk along Golspie beach which provided plenty of interest as the recent slightly warmer weather and a northeasterly breeze had brought....
....a scattering of jellyfish ashore. This is a moon jellyfish, about 5" across, while, nearby, we found....
....the first of several lion's mane jellyfishes, some up to a foot across. I think this one is the right way up but, being pale, is showing off its internal organs and both a radial and spiders-web-like pattern, while....
....this is a much darker one which has ended up upside-down.
Several of the lion's mane jellyfish were large - this one, again, was about a foot across - and varied considerably in colour. Stranded like this they look fairly harmless, with the long filaments they drag behind them stripped off by the surf. They look so much more fearsome swimming in open water.
There was some variety in the moon jellyfish too, this one being much more globular and also showing its internal structures.
We did find other things of interest, including this small wader foraging along last night's high-tide mark, which seemed unconcerned when we approached to within a few feet. I think it's a purple sandpiper, perhaps a young one.
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