A fresh overnight 5-6cm snowfall, plus several bouts of snow earlier, made for a winter wonderland of sorts.
The spruce, and other evergreen trees, were topped with snow
Although some felt a little overwhelmed....
A fern seemed to be standing its own
Queen Anne's Lace has a natural cupholder for snow if upright
Some of the grasses were still standing upright, but the goldenrod and asters seem to be giving in (or up)
A tiny beech tree seedling was sticking its head up above the snow
Beech trees hold their leaves well into winter, and their leaves hold the snow
And the occasional confused maple leaves can be found imitating the beech leaves
I think this might be a "cone" on a young yellow birch tree
The fallen tree trunks acquire a snow cap
At quick glance, I thought I was seeing a headless person....
There were very few birds around. Ravens flew overhead making sounds that only ravens can make. I did spot and catch a male hairy woodpecker, a long way off, looking for breakfast
Moss and lichen on trees
A large tree blown down a few years ago made a long ribbon of snow
A newly naturally felled (dead) tree was one that produced some dark red bracket fungus a few years ago. For the past 18 months or so the woodpeckers had been working on its base and had in one spot, created a hole right through part of the base. The first photo is how the base looked a year ago. The back of the trunk looked about the same. It was no wonder the tree finally came down
The beaver pond is an open area of snow covered ice. Hoops of fine reeds extended through the ice
The swamp however was full of reeds, grass and cattails
My favourite tree trunk full of bracket fungus is looking a little the worse for age, but I suspect it has a few more years left in it
The biggest maple tree in the woods, more than 150 years old, is looking a bit sad with broken limbs up top and invading fungus down below. Not too sure how many years are left in it
Two pine trees, over 225 years old, are looking healthy. A multi-branched cousin, who died a good number of years ago, is still a sight to behold in the woods
Two "bumps" on trees. The first is a burl on a maple tree, the second I can't put a name to
I am always looking for deer when walking through these woods (I've seen one in 28 years, but hundreds of fresh tracks). The first set of tracks I spotted couldn't have been a deer as the evergreen branch was undisturbed, but as I was almost back to the start of the walk, two sets of very fresh deer tracks were in the snow. Of course the deer were no where to be seen. (It's difficult to show the individual hoof tracks due to lack of contrast on a very cloudy day)
On the way back home I stopped to check out the waterfall
