First Sand Martins of the Year and a Sunset

Today has been one of those days that I like to call ‘none’ days. I was busy for most of it but don’t really feel like I have achieved much beyond a hair cut and having a go at some more DIY. The situation wasn’t helped much by the day being dominated by wet, windy and foggy weather conditions. I did have time for a quick walk around Sandy Water Park near Llanelli at midday and was very pleased to find my first Sand Martins of the year. A group of nine were flying over the lake and nearby fields. Who knows what they must be thinking after arriving from Africa to this. Also out on the lake were a good number of Tufted Duck along with a couple of Pochard and a Little Grebe.

Just as I was settling down for the evening the sun finally decided to put in an appearance. As the valley was lit up with a lovely orange glow we headed up the hills at the back in the hope of catching a decent sunset. The walk up provided a rather nice opportunity with some sheep in the foreground whilst the view from the top offered some interesting variation in the lighting of the clouds.

Sadly the actual sunset itself was behind the headland so didn’t light up the Burry Inlet. Nevertheless it was a very enjoyable end to the day and certainly helped to blow the cobwebs away. Even the Moon came out to say hello.

The walk back down was absolutely full of birdsong with the Robins and Blackbirds going at it full tilt. There were also a couple of haunting squawks from Buzzards which were hidden from view. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day in terms of weather as I am on the look out for my first Wheatear of the year after todays success.