Frozen points

The Line at Strichen remains heavily iced, making walking very difficult. The hard core on the path is completely glazed by a sheet of solid ice so we had to pick our way carefully along the frozen edges of the path. A buzzard flew noisily overhead as we walked.  The Line and the fields close by are under a thin layer of frozen water and there are many temporary ponds, all of which are iced over to the apparent consternation of a heron which flew ponderously about the field near the Stone Circle path. Such difficult  conditions for wildlife, we saw far fewer small birds than usual in the woods. As I write this there is a report on the radio of the 'biblical floods' in Queensland, Australia, their extent and devastation are unimaginable.

The lake in Strichen is also iced over,  these mallards were slipping about on the ice near the small area of open water near the inflow.  Encouragingly daffodil shoots are showing through the frozen ground by the lake.