The last couple of days have seen the South Wales coast experience its highest tides of the year so far. Due to the calm weather there haven’t been any instances of flooding but the views have been very impressive as the waters reach right up to the edges of our defenses. My destination of choice to watch from yesterday was Penclawdd on Gower. Not only is this an ideal location to watch the Burry Inlet fill up from, it also offers one of the best locations for photographing sunsets. Despite a few showers the skies cleared in time to put on a spectacular show.

22403 - Sunset at Penclawdd, Gower

As per usual several of the free roaming Ponies had decided to stand their ground against the oncoming waters. I was a bit concerned as they appeared to be panicking slightly but they soon settled down in their battle of wills against the sea. I have seen this spectacle on numerous occasions now and am always left wandering why they don’t just walk to safety before it is too late? Surely they are intelligent enough to notice the pattern and realise what is going on by now.

22389 - Penclawdd Ponies

The rising waters pushed the local birds into ever smaller areas of dry land which meant that it was unusually easy to see just how abundant certain species are on the Burry Inlet. Apart from the hundreds of Gulls I spotted a flock of at least 150 Redshank which is the largest group that I have seen anywhere in the UK. Amongst them was a single Greenshank and a couple of Black Tailed Godwits.

With the sun sinking ever lower it was time to put the binoculars down and watch the sky for any interesting shapes and colours. At one point a very small section of Rainbow became visible which provided an interesting composition with some parked road maintenance vehicles. I accept that they aren’t particularly natural but they were certainly catching the sun very well.

22391 - Partial Rainbow, Penclawdd

The last fifteen minutes or so of the incoming spring tide coincided perfectly with the final descent of the sun. The cloud cover was spot on and I got some brilliant shots. I will leave you with a couple of my favourites to enjoy.

22402 - Sunset at Penclawdd, Gower
22407 - Sunset at Penclawdd, Gower

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