Officially settled

A change in the weather overnight. A cold wind from the north east blew cloud back into the bay where it stayed for the rest of the morning. After breakfast, I walked up to the hide with different cameras to see if I could get some better photos of the swallows' nest and the parents' comings and goings. I've counted three chicks in the nest, confirmed by photos. Occasionally both mother and father birds perch by the side of the nest, but it's not been possible to get good quality pictures, as the low light levels and variations in contrast seem to confuse the sensors in auto-focus mode. I daresay I could get better pictures using manual settings but that's something I have little knowledge of unfortunately.

I walked on from the hide, following the coast path signage to the point where it reaches a large patch of wooded wetland, fenced off separately. It's an area I've never explored before and on times it's been fenced off. This time the path was open with the entrance flanked by a large sign saying 'Oxwich Nature Reserve'. The path narrows as it runs alongside a long freshwater pond, sections of path are made into a board-walk with platforms overlooking the water accessible to wheelchair users. There's a second bird-watching hide too, which looks as if it's been constructed fairly recently. It's wonderful that a stretch of wetland has been opened up in this way. We've been visiting here for over twenty years, and to find a new area with another ecosystem so different from the dunes, is a great credit to Natural Resources Wales and the Penrice Estate.

When I returned, we had a snack lunch followed by a siesta again, then I took Clare to visit the hide and watch the swallows for a while. On the way back, I had a message from Basma showing me her official letter from the Home Office granting her leave to stay for the next five years. That's taken three months to arrive, since the immigration tribunal judge ruled in her favour. Now she has to find herself another place to life, and obtain her UK Travel Document, to enable her to visit her parents in Jordan safely. And she's in a position to find work. It's great news after so many years of insecurity.

We had supper in the restaurant and went to bed even earlier, both of us very tired, Clare hit hard with a virus which results in an energy sapping cough, day and night.