The road to Wales is like a river of gold

 

"The road to Wales is paved in gold"

Late Friday evening I had been sat at my computer planning a visit to the Prince of Wales Bridge to photograph a lovely sunrise. I was in serious need of some phototherapy to get over a busy week. I had all my equipment ready and after some checks on the various weather forecasting websites there appeared to be a good chance that the skies would be clear on the eastern horizon at dawn.

At 6.45 am the following day I was stood near the banks of the Severn Estuary in Caldicot Newport , the huge architectural wonder of the Prince of Wales Bridge stretching out before me, over the dark expanse of the Severn Estuary. The noise of the traffic on the M4 was quite deafening. I was quite a distance away from it setting up my drone for a flight but there was this constant thunder of  vehicles hurtling over the bridge.

Staring up to the eastern sky I cursed. It was like a great big duvet cover had been thrown up over the English side of the estuary and there appeared to be absolutely no chance of the solar fireball that makes all the magic happen lighting up the heavens. There was just a hint of orange out there amongst the clouds,  but otherwise the sky was quite notable by its relative blandness.

I wont't lie I was a little disappointed. I had got up early and had even passed on having one of my early Greggs bacon rolls, so my tummy was grumbling as well.

Nevertheless I thought , every cloud has a silver lining, I had my drone with me and at least I could do a test flight at a safe distance from any hazards - a straight up and down affair at this location and see what kind of view I could get.

Up the drone went and to my great joy revealed everything in all its glory. The M4 flowed like a river of gold from England to Wales ( or visa versa of you prefer).

"The flames of the passing dragon"

In my minds eye I envisaged it was the trail left by the flames of the roaring Welsh Dragon on its way to Twickenham for the Wales v England six nations rugby match.

Unfortunately, on that subject Wales would narrowly lose to England 16 -14, an exciting game and the youthful Welsh side were impressive against an experienced English side. Well done to my English friends on the result.

Big panoramic of the Prince of Wales Bridge before sunrise ( View large)

After sunrise I stayed in the area of Caldicot Pill and did some more landscape photography and a spot of birdwatching

Despite the light getting brighter the sun never really put on much of a show so the sky was devoid of a great deal of colour. I always think it is amazing, how just in a matter of hours ( sometimes minutes) a place can change so much with the weather and time of day.

A view of the Prince of Wales Bridge after daybreak.

The view from the waters edge.

The tide was really high during my visit and it was quite unnerving seeing it creep in steadily around my feet where I had set up my tripod. As the waters flowed in over the grass it made the land appear to ripple.

Whilst enjoying the scenery I had the company of a pair of Kestrels that were perched up on posts and small trees for good vantage point. There were lots of small birds - Stonechats, Reed Bunting, Robins, Chaffinches and Goldfinches. 

Pintail ducks fly upstream towards Sudbrook

Stonechat (female)

A Kestrel scans the pill for potential prey.

A flock of Pintail Ducks flew up the estuary and Shelduck bobbed about on the incoming tide. I was disappointed not to see a single wader.

So after a spot of scouting around and surveying the land for wildlife my stomach was churning and that was my signal to move on and find a Greggs for my well earned bacon roll.

Kung Hei Fat Choi - Happy Chinese New Year to my readers and followers - may you have good health and happiness.

Its Year of the Dragon.

I used Adobe Firefly to create the AI Image using text prompts.