Last night was certainly windy, we heard it surging round the houses; there was plenty of rain too. By

breakfast time the storm seemed to have blown itself out as blue skies had returned, it was quieter all round. Out on the roads the results of the storm were clear, dead wood, twigs and occasional branches lay everywhere. Few cars had ventured out so the road surface was littered in debris.

Every spot where the drainage was poor was flooded, especially along the lane to Apuldram. Needless to say the entrance to the small car park by St Mary’s church was flooded which had it’s advantages as it deterred other walkers on a busy day. The horses in the little riding school looked a bit dejected as much of their field was waterlogged and they ended up huddled in a damp but not saturated corner.

The water level in the harbour was quite high, it was after all only an hour or so after high tide.  Many of the wildfowl and waders had gone elsewhere, probably inland to escape the worst of the storm. Only wigeon were left, about twenty of them huddled around an island looking very smart in the circumstances and in good voice. As we watched about twenty other wigeon came flying across the harbour in several groups, one circled, flared and dropped down amongst the others sitting on the surface of the water. Quite what had prompted so many to fly about at that time is another of those mysteries, they’re meant to do that in the early morning!

The fields were particularly muddy, the storm had washed away all the footprints that had been there

earlier leaving a path that was smooth and slippery. Only one person had passed along earlier than us that morning, he’d slipped up a couple of times too!

On the way back the water level had dropped turning the islands into large banks of grass where the wigeon now spread out and had been joined by some gulls. The Lavant was still surging out through the outfall, it was easy to see as the current ran against the stiff easterly wind providing the same waves as you’d get with wind over tide. For some reason the birds liked it, staying in the choppy water accompanied by a cormorant that was repeatedly diving for fish.