It was a little tricky walking this morning in -1 temperature and a surface combination of light snow, freezing rain and ice.

Here is the group in front of frozen Grenadier Pond:

To the north of the pond, there is an unfrozen area in the stream which has attracted several hundred mallards and a few wood ducks and black ducks:

Here is our bird list and a few photos:

Species list: mallard, American black duck, wood duck, red-tailed hawk, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon, mourning dove, hairy woodpecker, downy woodpecker, black-capped chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, house sparrow, northern cardinal, swamp sparrow. (14 species)

A hungry squirrel:

Some photos of what is left of the fruit of the Pride of India tree:

and some park views:

COMING UP: February 10 in Friends of Miles: Bats: Milos Radakovich

February 13 in Articles: Mallards

NATURE POETRY

Janus am I; oldest of potentates;
Forward I look, and backward, and below
I count, as god of avenues and gates,
The years that through my portals come and go.  

 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82)

Miles Hearn