In the eye of the storm!

From the sea wall.
So, it is Saturday morning again, and the remnants of Storm Erik are passing through. It was cold and very windy and what a great opportunity to stay tucked up in a warm bed - no, not if you are an avid bird watcher.  It was off to Goldcliff for me come rain or shine, or anything else in between.  Actually, upon arrival at around 0700 it was fairly clear cloud wise, but that wind was biting, and strong.
I knew I wasn't going to be the only brave (or daft) soul there, as I had sent a text to Blair Jones who confirmed he would be present. There was no stopping at the platforms en-route to the sea wall as the wind was too strong, so with my hood up I made my way straight headlong into the wind, and I could feel myself working hard against the head wind. I wasn't surprised to see Blair not on the seawall - either that or he was now out swimming in the Bristol Channel. In fact, I wasn't going to go onto the sea wall either as the waves were lapping against the rocks and the sea spray was blowing right over onto the path below. I made my way straight down to hide 3 where inside was a cold looking Blair.

Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler. 

Thankfully, inside the hide was wind free as it was blowing against the side as opposed to straight on. Most of the ducks had come onto the lagoon in front of us, and there were some good numbers including 20 Gadwall (the most I have ever recorded here), 4 Tufted Ducks, 103 Shelduck, 162 Shoveler (also my highest count here), 52 Teal and a male Pintail. A Coot was also present and 5 Greylag Geese appeared but there was no sign of last weeks White-fronted Geese. A female Marsh Harrier appeared but she too was struggling in the high wind, and not surprisingly she had moved on almost as quickly as she had appeared, and the male Peregrine was doing what he does best (well second best after hunting), staying put on the island and sitting out the wind.

Small groups of Starlings raced past and a Lesser Black-backed Gull also passed with a number of Herring Gulls. The gulls never seem to be put off by the weather, I guess when you live on the coast and spend the bulk of your time at sea they get used to it - they are certainly skilful filers in such conditions. A single Cormorant was perched on a piece of wood in the lagoon and it too soon moved on, and 6 Common Redshanks sneaked in under our radar to feed along the waters edge, and three Ringed Plovers lifted the spirits a little.  The wind was relentless and so with no sign of the Glossy Ibis that had been showing usually by now, I cut my losses and decided to head for Red Farm Barn where my logic was that that area would be more sheltered, stopping off along the way for an irresistible photo of the sea spray from the sea wall.

Red Farm Barn. My hunch was right, upon arrival I could actually hear birds singing, albeit Great Tits, a Wren and some House Sparrows as the wind was indeed lower. From the viewing hide I could see a pair of Grey Herons at the edge of the damp field with a Greenshank, and close by, several groups of Mallards shared some water with a pair of Mute Swans. In the distance a group of 300+ Lapwing rose up and flew around for some time. Something had spooked them although there were no raptors to be seen. After a while, they regained some confidence and dropped back down behind the seawall.

A Common Buzzard appeared and sat briefly on a hedge before making its way across the fields, and on the bank in the distance was a pair of Redwing and one Fieldfare - their numbers have dropped off considerably now.  I was hoping that the Glossy Ibis (if still in the area), would be here as it is quieter and it certainly had less wind than on the exposed Goldcliff reserve - but not today.  But that didn't matter, birding is always hit and miss. What was important to me was that I had made the decision to come down here and enjoy a mornings (very windy) bird watching, listening to some bird song, taking in the cold but fresh air and enjoying the scenery. Maybe us birders are not so daft after all?