Golden eagle, juvenile

It was a fantastic eagle day - we saw three! This one had been sitting in a field with some crows. I stopped the bicycle to have a better look, and it flew up. Amazing! I need a bigger lens to capture the birds better, but this will do as an eagle shot I think.

We had an eventful start to the day when the key to the bike lock snapped off when in the lock. We of course were gently scolded by the owners of the Port Askaig hotel: 'You don't need to lock your bicycles on Islay - no one's going to steal them!' But the habits of Londoners die hard, and so we had locked our bicycles. Oh well. We discovered that there are no locksmiths on Islay, and so borrowed a hacksaw from the ferrymen. Luckily, F managed to fiddle the broken bit in the lock mechanism enough so that the key turned and we could go our way. Phew! A huge thanks to the hotel staff, and the ferrymen, who did their best to help.

We cycled up the hill and over to Loch Finlaggan, once seat of the Lords of the Isles in the Middle Ages. We explored the ruins on the loch and found it to be a most interesting place.

We then cycled to Loch Gruinart, where we sheltered from the rain in the very fine RSPB visitor centre (which had hot chocolate) and tried to spot birds from the hide, but we didn't see any. They were probably all under the hide! When the rain stopped, we carried on to the lovely sandy beach at Saligo Bay, where we spotted some curious choughs.

On the way to Port Charlotte and our bed in the Youth Hostel, we spotted the eagle in the field. We also passed the distillery of Bruichladdich, but we were too late to go in and taste the distillery's wares (boo, hiss, boo).

Some links to pictures of the day:
Loch Finlaggan
choughs