The sun was out bright today but sunny days in the winter can be very deceiving as they normally mean cold days. Even the sun wasn’t strong enough to melt the ice off the tree limbs in the below freezing temperatures. Some of the limbs sparkled in the sunlight while others rattled in the breeze. Birds would have trouble eating this ice crusted berries.
Icy Berries
The trees were covered with ice and snow this morning. The sidewalks and roads were slippery with the ice too as winter continues to hang on.
Icy and Snowy Trees
The ice mixed with the snow made some slippery conditions today. I rather see ice on a planned event, like visiting the ice caves and formations along Lake Superior, than on the sidewalk and roads. This year the surface ice of Lake Superior near the Meyer Beach sea caves still has not been stable for visitors to walk on to view the ice formations. The strong winds keep pulling the ice layer away from shore.
Frozen Steps
A few days ago there was a pretty pink and purple sunset but I was too much of a chicken to go out in the cold wind to take a picture. Today the temperature was above freezing but the sunset was rather dull looking, unlike this sunset from an earlier winter day.
Winter Sunset
This weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count, which started yesterday and goes through Monday, where people from around the world count birds and submit their data for research. But counting my finches and redpolls seems like an impossible task with them coming and going so quickly to the feeders and back to the trees.
Counting Birds
I had some spots of slight rippling water on my cement today, although it wasn’t flowing water since it was frozen ice instead causing me do some unplanned sliding. I would rather wade through this little creek during a summer day than playing in the cold.
Gentle Flowing Creek
There was a frosty layer on my cement this morning, but no pointy frost on the trees today. When it does get frosty and it starts to fall off the trees, then it looks like it is snowing. But it sounds like snow is coming and will cover the trees with snowflakes instead of frost crystals.
Pointy Frost
The sunny day finally allowed temperatures to get above freezing on this Valentine’s Day, at least for a few hours this afternoon, but there are no flowers to find outside so the men just can’t pick a few last minute flowers from the yard for their sweethearts.
Bright Bleeding Hearts
An odd formation on the side of a large oak creates an interesting texture to look at. And I wonder at the history of what caused that formation like maybe a deer rubbing his anthers on the tree, breaking off a limb eighty years ago.
Tree Texture
With a long string of sub-zero nights, there haven’t been any warm days to melt snow or the ice on my pond so it will be a while any ducks will land there. These blue-winged teals have only visited my pond and haven’t nested there.
The Teals
