Birds eye view

Another day on holiday in Wales, and today it’s noticeably colder and it’s cloudy. We spend the morning in the ancient woodland of the Pengelli Forest hoping to see woodpeckers, but in fact both the forest and the woodpeckers are tricky to find - and we fail completely with the woodpeckers, although I’m all for a bit of forest therapy..
We have lunch at Newport Bridge by the water, a greedy magpie hovers round while we’re eating, and lunch for photos feels like a good deal, when I look at the photos I see in the magpies eye reflections of a tiny tree - I love that, after we’ve spent our morning forest bathing with the trees. Taking a walk up the estuary to see the sea we come upon the shell ducks feeding at low tide. Driving out of Newport we stop enroute at another burial chamber, Careg Coetan, it’s in an unassuming plot behind a new housing estate. Oh and I’ve completely missed the remains of the 12th Century Norman Castle which stands on the side of the estuary and is completely overgrown- I imagine that would make a wonderful archaeological dig.
Strumble Lighthouse has it’s own particular brand of wilderness, bleak and beautiful- the coastal landscape is spectacular, and it’s here we see the free roaming Welsh ponies, and walking down to the beach where we’ve been told there are seals, the sandpiper. As we’re walking away, just briefly the sun and the seal make an appearance- it’s an uplifting end to the day