The mink was not to be cheated out of its meal, and it chomped on the eel steadily, with four of us watching. When it had finished, it calmly set off along the shoreline, brushing off the slime from the eel on seaweed as it went.

I kept pace with it as it went, which it clearly resented, wanting to get to cover inland. As we progressed along the shoreline, the sandpipers, rock pipits and oystercatchers all recognised the menace in this diminutive predator and mobbed it loudly.

It took to water at one stage to get away from me, but it was spotted by a gull which swooped at it several times. Each time, the mink dived under water to avoid the gull.

Every now and then, the mink had a good look at us, apparently without fear, and then carried on along the shore. Eventually, it disappeared from view. After a while, we were alerted by the fuss created by an oystercatcher further down the shore as it scampered across the pebbles and into thick cover.