Two dumps of snow over a few days totalling 70cm (2.25 ft) had kept us away from Mud Lake as the paths would have been impassable for those not on skis or snowshoes. But after giving those visitors properly equipped to break the paths a few days head start, we headed out.
The snow off the trod paths was uncomfortably deep, knee deep or more in places. There was lots of evidence of the two snowfalls with snow on stumps, logs, bushes and almost buried plants.
The turkeys must have been having a hard time finding enough food, but obviously they had as we counted all 19 when we met up with them. They were having no problem maneuvering on the human packed paths, but once off the paths, walking was difficult. Where a turkey followed an earlier turkey track, they weren't having too much trouble, but venturing into undisturbed snow to look for food was a challenge.
The usual small birds were quite anxious to see what seeds we might have brought...
The pileated woodpeckers had been busy on one of the pine trees
The squirrels, while always happy to have a handout, seemed more "attentive" than other times
I saw one squirrel possibly gnawing on some bark and wondering if it was the squirrels that had stripped a number of small tree branches for food.
There are always some lichen and fungus around, but this branch with snow capped fungus caught my eye as I walked by.
Two pairs of common mergansers were in the bay on the east side of the yacht club. (Although one female was too shy to pose with the group)
I tried playing with some slow motion video with the mallard ducks.
Yes that is a goldeye male duck behind them, they usually stay out in the channel but this guy was finding easy pickings near shore.
The goldeneyes were also recipients of my slow-mo attempts.
Except for the one mentioned above, they normally float with the strong current diving for food as they drift east, at various points along the way, they fly back west to the bay by the yacht club, and then drift back down the river again.
While not very exciting, the pattern and sound of water lapping under the shore ice, caught my ears' attention. One piece of ice seemed to be marooned on a piece of ice that was stuck on a tree root.
