Well what a difference a day makes! The weather today was fantastic compared to the last few days and you have to admit everything looks that little bit better in the sunshine.
Being in work most of the day, I kept looking out of the window and couldn't wait until 5.30pm when I could swap my computer for a pair of binoculars.
We didn't want to travel far to spot some wildlife and I am very fortunate that I live near a lot of woodland and a lovely canal. So we took an evening walk down the canal to see what wildlife was around.
The canal looked beautiful with lily pads.
So many bull head lilies on the canal right now.
There are some old industrial buildings near the canal and we were treated to the sight of a family of goldfinch. It was so sweet to see the adult feeding the fledglings.
Goldfinch with fledglings
The canal was full of different flowers, from the lily pads in the water to irises on the banks - it just looked so beautiful and thriving with plant life.
The plants around the canal
Yellow Iris
A purple orchid
We walked down the canal and were greeted by swallows that skimmed the water for midges (but were impossible to photograph).
A little further along the canal we could see a bird perched on a electric pylon cable - it was quite far away, but when we zoomed in on our cameras we were amazed to see that it was a kestrel! This was the first time I have ever seen a kestrel in Briton Ferry, Neath and was so excited when it started to fly and hoover over its prey. I managed to get a picture (sorry its a bit blurry) and some video.
A kestrel!
We were so happy with what we saw that we started to make our way back home (plus we didn't want to miss Springwatch). On the way back we saw some more birds including a moorhen camouflaged in the reeds, a few mallards and a juvenile robin singing it's little heart out.
The canal is on the right hand side, the river Neath is on the left
Moorhen
A juvenile robin
A female mallard
So what a fantastic day 3 of our 30 Days Wild - to think there's a kestrel literally a quarter of a mile from where I am sitting now has just made me ecstatic and can't wait to venture back down to see if I can get better photos.
The weather is still looking good tomorrow, so roll on day 4!
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