Brisk morning by the coast.

A hard frost greeted us this morning and I set off for the coast in temperatures well below freezing.  The sun was glorious so I made for Kidwelly Quay in the hope of finding the Water Rail again and improving my photographs.  The frost must have moved him on because there was no sign.  I did find a nice group of Reed Buntings and a single Linnet feeding on phragmites seeds.




Male Reed Bunting at Kidwelly still showing some breeding plumage


I moved off as it was really low tide and most species were way out.  I headed down to the beach at Cefn Sidan near Pembrey and walked out to the tide edge.  It was an amazing walk with the spectacle of several thousand Oystercatchers and smaller numbers of Sanderling and Dunlin feeding along the tideline as far as the eye could see in both directions.  On the sea itself there were at least 500 Common Scoters. The sensation of sheer space and isolation is hard to find in the UK today.




Oystercatcher

Exhausted but very stiumulated I headed for home but stopped off at Cilsan Bridge in the Tywi Valley to look for Whooper Swans.  I was not disappointed because there were 18 feeding amongst a much larger group of Mute Swans.




Whooper Swans

A great day made better by the Canaries beating the Magpies 4-2