Winter beauty

With our winter weather being comparatively mild (-10C warming up to -2C), I decided to join friends yesterday morning for a local walk. Usually, this walk goes eastwards but yesterday my group walked west. I haven't been in that direction for many years and couldn't even remember what the area looked like. Came home with practically no photos and certainly no decent shots. However, it was good to get some fresh air and much-needed (but very painful) exercise, in the company of good friends.

It turned out to be a long walk, with practically no birds being seen in the first part. However, we did see a very distant Northern Goshawk juvenile down on the ground, feeding apparently on a Ring-necked Pheasant. We had seen six of these Pheasants in flight in the same area.

The other highlight for me, was seeing the ice formation along the creek. I don't remember ever seeing this before, so it took me by surprise. I don't drive in the mountains in winter, so I never see any of the amazing frozen waterfalls that some people see.