Wednesday was a completely different sort of day. Firstly, we got up incredibly early to leave for Kessock Bridge where we hoped to see otters. This is what we saw, in my case from the relative comfort of the bus:
No otters. We felt we had earned the breakfast we returned to.
For the rest of the morning we listened to a couple of talks, on the wildcat project, and moths, each fascinating. The braver souls – it was still raining, though not as hard – went out into the grounds to indulge in a bit of pond-dipping. I’m afraid I chickened out, being very ill-equipped for bad weather.
The afternoon was free to spend exploring where we were living for the week rather more than we’d been able to hitherto. (Some joined a small group going a very long way, for a very small chance of seeing a ring ouzel or two. Sadly they had as much luck as we had had in the morning over otters.)
I did indeed spend a lot of time outside exploring Aigas – it had stopped raining by now, and here is a selection of the pictures I took then and at other times during the week, both indoors and outdoors.
It had started raining again before I was safely back in the house.
susanpoozan said:
What an absolutely splendid place to stay though sorry about all the rain!
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Musiewild said:
Wonderful hosts – nothing is too much trouble.
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Deb said:
The place is beautiful!!! So enjoy the brief tour!!
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Musiewild said:
I’m sure that the beauty of Aigas itself was one of the reasons I felt I had to make a second visit.
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maryhutton2 said:
Great pictures. It was most interesting to see details of the splendid house and grounds. The lodges look very scenic and comfortable. Hope they were warm enough.
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Musiewild said:
The lodges were certainly warm enough. They put the heating on at key times. I was astonished – June! – and there were log fires in the main house.
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Olive Simpson said:
It looks like a really beautiful place to spend some time, wet or dry!
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Musiewild said:
A really special place. The story of how Sir J L-C restored the house and set up the Centre is remarkable.
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tootlepedal said:
What a fantastic venue.
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Musiewild said:
Indeed. And you can just go and stay there without booking on to any organised group experiences, or sort of à la carte.
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Lavinia Ross said:
What a magnificent place to visit! If I ever make it over there, this one is on my list.
It is too bad the wildcats are being persecuted by gamekeepers. Hybridization with closely related species is also a problem with many wild animals over here, including the eastern timber wolf, coyote, bison and bobcat.
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Musiewild said:
There were two US citizens who had come over specially to have the experience that week. They seemed to be delighted.
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