St Kenneth's Chapel

We had a day out at Lochbuie today. We got there in time for lunch, bought something to eat at the Old Post Office cafe and sat outside to eat it. Fortified by a very yummy lunch we walked first to Moy Castle, then continued along the footpath to Laggan sands. I remember playing on the sands as a young child, but have only been back once or twice since, so it was lovely to visit again. We continued past the beach, up to St Kenneth's chapel, which is a medieval chapel now converted to a mausoleum. It was restored in the 1970s. The small graveyard surrounding the chapel is interesting and, inside the chapel / mausoleum, the roof is scattered with coloured stars (see extra), which is quite pretty. It is a beautiful location (see extra) and, after a cloudy start to our walk, the sun shone as we turned back.

We stopped briefly on the beach and, just as we were turning to go, I spotted something large soaring above us. It was a golden eagle. Not just one, but three eagles. We think it must have been a pair and a juvenile. We stood for a while watching them, as two displayed to one another and as all soared over us and then off into the distance. Wonderful!

We arrived back to our car in time for an early packed tea and stood for a bit trying to see if we could spot any divers (the birds, not the people! We thought we had heard one calling when we were on the way out to the chapel). And we did. We saw two, which we think were red throated divers, but it was hard to make out from such a distance. At one point they called very loudly to one another, and then all was quiet. Together with the hen harriers we spotted on the drive home, we had a very good bird spotting day, and a great day out overall.