The four of us (Sue, Stew, Sarah and Dave) set out on one of our usual early starts, around 11.30, which taking into account the previous nights late BBQ, was indeed an early start. This time we were bound for the West coast and sunny Isle of Gruinard (a.k.a. Anthrax island) Sunny? - at least according to Stew's ledgendary weather forecasting skills. He also predicted a travel time of 1 hour 15 mins and when pressed he informed us the sun would arrive at 13.30. Exactly one hour and fifteen minutes later we were looking across the water to Gruinard and, a short while later, 13.30 to be precise, the sun came out, is there no end to this man's talents. We pulled up in a lay-by opposite the island in the hope of spotting a white tailed sea eagle, as opposed to the odd dead sheep. During the next half hour we had seen not one but a pair of sea eagles plus a chick. We also saw one of the adults attempting to snatch a gull from the sea but a small army of gulls, aided by a heron, drove the eagle back to the island, a meal opportunity gone. For good measure we also saw a large number of black throated divers plus Gannets diving at  full speed into the sea, with considerably more sucess than the eagle. Sue showed her skills on the trip with photos as diverse as a Highland cow and a shrew - but I am not sure she knew which was which. We carried onto the beach at Mellon Udrigle with the sole intent of causing serious to the picnic the girls had produced, not quite Egon Ronay, but not bad for experienced amateurs. The beach has beautiful white sands and an ever changing collection of rock art built from the flat stones that abound, crocodiles and dinosaurs were the order of the day, along with numerous precariously balanced rock piles - great fun for very elderly kids! We finished our wildlife adventure with some good views of seals quite close to the beach. Finally it was back to Home Farm for evening refreshments. The road home gave us a further and somewhat surreal view of the stunning landscape - the An Teallach ridge floating in the mist. Must go now as the amateur picnic supremos have just read this blog.

Bye for now.

Dave