Rubha Hunish and Elgol Beach 13 Feb

I woke up about 8.00am, will few ill effects of yesterday - surprising! Outside our front door was all iced up - not just the ice we could see but with black Ice as well!

We had discussed it previously and decided my leg is not up to the 5 mile trip out to Rubha Hunish just now, so Vince would go on his own with the drone - but take the Spot Tracker - just in case.

I stayed home and caught up on exciting things like household chores, and my blog from yesterday (pretty much always a day behind). I had hoped to do some genealogy stuff on the laptop - but before I knew it it was time to go and collect Vince from the end point of the walk near Duntulum Hotel. I wasn't exactly clear on where the pick-up point actually was so it was a bit hit and miss, but amazingly I timed it perfectly to see him hiking down the hill.

We are running low on wood but have arranged with Lorraine to get some more by the end of this week so I brought the last of it inside and had the fire on to warm Vince when he got home (at the temperature outside is literally freezing even though the sun is out today.

I made us some cheese and tomato omelettes with the fresh farm eggs from our friend's Ian and Gill which were delicious.

Then it was out the door again and off to Elgol, I wanted to try to get a good sunset there and maybe see those free ranging Highland Cows again. We had only just got to Balmaqueen when I spotted a "Plank" in the Sky. We had seen them at the Falls of Rha the other day but by the time I got my camera sorted with a long lens, I think I just got a buzzard instead! But we did see them! And today I got out my binoculars to be sure - and YEP! NO DOUBT THIS TIME, it had a white tail and gold on it and was definitely and eagle. Vince couldn't stay where we were on the single track road and by the time we move the car and I put on a long lens - you guessed it - it was gone! We hung around the lookout for a while just in case it came back - but it didn't.

The white-tailed eagle commonly known as the ‘Sea Eagle’ is the largest bird of prey in Britain and is mainly found on the west coast of Scotland.The cliffs around Skye are the best place to see them in the wild. The adult Sea Eagle has a wing span of 8 foot and eats fish, rabbits and other small birds. The species went extinct due to persecution by farmers and game keepers. In 1975 the Sea Eagles were reintroduced to the Isle of Rum (just south of Skye) from Norway. Since then the Eagles have gone from strength to strength now with hundreds of birds around the west coast of Scotland. A true success story.

We had a two hour drive to Elgol so just gunned in through to get there. On the approach, just past the Hairy Lake (where we did stop for some photos) we saw two more "Planks" in the sky - but they were off before we could get to the car to change lenses.

We briefly stopped at the loch below the Torrin and took a photo, then we headed up to where we had previously seen the Highland Cattle on the road, but alas "not today Josephine" they were nowhere to be seen.

We got to Elgol beach and took some photos of the back of the Cuillin but the sunset was an non-event unfortunately!

A bit disheartened we headed home in the blue hour as darkness fell, but again I got Vince to stop the car, I'd spotted a Dow (a Red Deer I think) just looking right at us from the moor, only a few feet away from the road. We pulled over but she had gone over the hill. A little further on we were surprise to see a sheep running as fast as a dog down a steep hill - not sure if it meant to go that fast or not but it was hilarious to watch!

We stopped off briefly in Portree at the Co Op to pick up a few bits and pieces and I made Spaghetti Bolognese with Garlic Bread for dinner.

Then it was a battle for the laptop - we are sharing mine - to try to get our photos backed up and for me to finish my blog off. I did get some exciting news - the Librarian at the Clan McDonald Centre on Sleat sent me an email that they have some information about my ancestors - so I've booked and appointment for 10.00am Monday 2nd March - my date with history!

We were both weary after a long day, especially poor Vince who had a big walk in the morning and then 4 hours of driving. So we relaxed with a dram and watched the rest of Field Of Dreams.