In the buff

Day 3 of our trip to Raasay, the second full day on the island.

Gus on the pebbly shore at Ayre Point.  Wifie was concerned that he had toothache and hence he was wearing his buff to protect him from the cool breeze.  He wasn't looking at me but keeping an intense eye on the surrogate sheep Rowan who was having a great time running in and out of the sea to recover thrown sticks.  

It was a gentle walk along the shore beach-combing, and looking for scallop shells for Wifie.  Perhaps it wasn't the best place to look, where a scallop shell would most likely soon be pulverised by the shingle rolling in the ebb and flow.  Though Sue, who was wandering up and down collecting shells and pebbles and looking like a cross between a hobbit and a bag lady, did find an intact one.

We had stunning and close views of a golden eagle flying up and down parallel to the shore, and eventually perching in a dead tree about 100 metres away (see Extra photo).  Sightings of golden and/or white-tailed eagles were to be a more or less daily occurrence during our week.

After the beautiful weather of the first day, this was damper, and after the rain started we retreated for a coffee at Raasay House.  It was to be the only rain until the end of the week despite the earlier predictions of a direly wet Wednesday, and a hurricane on Friday.

First thing, on my walk with Gus along the road from the house, I saw three otters swimming close to the shore.  They turned out to be a mother and two kits, and a walk out at the same time every day thereafter yielded sightings of them or of the lone otter (presumably male) that I had seen on Sunday.