A frosty walk by the icy river

Weather cold and frosty, odd patches of snow still lingering in shady places. We were pleased to see the sun shining this afternoon and took advantage of its brightness to go and visit the river.

The grass was frost covered as were the bushes and trees. The river was very still, from its edge the bottom was clearly visible and large areas of water were still frozen. Frosty trees their bare branches silhouetted against the wintry sky were a delight to behold.

The alders looked particularly pretty, with their last autumns dark cones and this years hard immature reddish catkins. I shall enjoy watching the development of the catkins, seeing them slowly lengthen and change colour until they are almost the same shade as primroses and ultimately a darker brownish shade, still accompanied by last years cones. Ultimately the cones will gradually fall from the tree and in time be replaced by tiny new green cones. There is a small window of opportunity when it is sometimes possible to see both old and new cones and catkins all still on the same tree.

Wildlife was scarce, but we did manage to spot one lone female mallard and later on there was a small group of both male and female. I wished I had thought to bring some bread with me.