"The calm before the storm......."

With Sunday forecast as a total washout with high winds I thought I'd get out on Saturday and first thing visited Park Wood in Talgarth again hoping for Wood Warbler,no such luck I'm afraid,the woods were very quiet in the blustery and cold conditions,not even last week's obliging Marsh Tit was around.
I did however come across a nice group of four Yellowhammers in bracken on the edge of the wood and managed a couple of shots.

On my way back to the caravan for a spot of lunch I called down at the lake hoping that a few passage terns may have been feeding.
The water levels were incredibly high and although there were no terns around there were hundreds,probably a 1,000+ hirundines feeding over the water.
They were mainly Swallows with some Sand Martins and fewer House Martins.
I spent an enjoyable 3/4 hour trying to photograph a few which was not easy to say the least but I managed some reasonable "record" shots ("toggers" term for photos he's not that happy with !!).

I thought I'd check out a couple of woods in the afternnon and first of all visited "Youth Hostel Wood" opposite Craig Carrig Gleissad again where my main target was Common Redstart and immediately found a distant pair on a hawthorn bush in a field on the edge of the wood,disappointingly they didn't hang around and I failed to refind them or any others in the hour or so I was there.

No sign either of last week's Pied Flycatcher.
I moved on to Llandefaelog Wood nr Cradoc which was even quieter the only birds of note being a pair of Common Buzzards and a Chiffchaff.

I thought I'd finish off the day at the lake with a walk from Llangasty to the new hide and got a very pleasant surprise when a Hobby flew from a tree near the gate entrance to the hide and hurtled past me towards Llangasty,what a sight !!
The lake was still littered with hundreds of hirundines and a few Reed Warblers sang in the reedbeds,a pair of Coot with two young swam past and on the way back to the Jeep I picked up a Goldcrest,Blackcap and Tree Pipit.
Not the best of days but at least I managed to get out which is more than I can say for today !!