Out at last!

The recent couple of very cold days has made me reticent to move far but this morning I did make it even though the outside temperature was -7 degrees when I left home.  I was making my way to Kidwelly but on the way just past Idole I spotted a Woodcock feeding on the grass verge.  I had to turn round, drive back a bit, turn again and get level with the bird.  There was no place to pull off so I put on the hazard warning lights and got a shot or two off before traffic began to appear again.

I then moved on to Burry Port Harbour.  No divers or grebes but a Little Egret and Kingfisher in the yacht basin.  Three Cormorants were posing beautifully hanging their wings out to dry and a Grey Heron by the harbour wall looked ready to succumb to the harsh weather.

I turned round and went back to Kidwelly Quay.  A Red-breasted Merganser, 3 Goldeneye and a few Tufted Duck were surrounded by about 800 Teal.  A Spotted Redshank obligingly flew by and Lapwings and Redshank were more approachable than usual.  The nearby filter beds at the Sewerage Works had three Chiffchaffs feeding amongst large numbers of Starlings, Robins and Pied Wagtails.

Before returning home I checked out the Tywi Valley near Cilsan Bridge where I counted 30 Whooper Swans with about 50 Mute Swans.  Under the bridge a female Goosander, Snipe and 100 Wigeon were discovered and 10 Fallow Deer were feeding on a hillside field.

Returning home I was delighted to see that my Siskins had grown to flock proportions with 3 on the niger feeders.