Sunshine At Last!

Went down to Singleton Park this afternoon, and the sun actually shone! Even some blue sky could be seen for a while, but it was still quite cold and windy. The Ring-necked Parakeet briefly appeared in the Ornamental Gardens again, but flew off before I could capture it on camera. Another bloke said he had also seen it flying around with crows. I was able to photograph this, one of numerous squirrels:

Brynmill Park was still full of Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers,

and three or four Swallows graced us with their presence after a while. The local Mallard drakes looked resplendent in their breeding plumage:

All in all, a much nicer day than of late.

First Swallows

Visited Brynmill Park again today. Was delighted to see my first Swallows of the year today - a flock of six flying over the lake. Later, up to a dozen or so were hawking over the water, often in heavy rain, and even in a hail shower. There were still large numbers of Willow Warblers flitting about in the bushes, along with some Chiffchaffs - some of the latter of which were singing. They sometimes came so close that I could have reached out and touched them. Also saw six Tufted Ducks (3 males, and 3 females), and a Sparrowhawk flying overhead.

Here are a couple of shots of the warblers: