It felt like a real winter morning; dark, frigid and windy as I explored this area which runs along Black Creek in Downsview. Wearing 3 pairs of socks did not prevent my feet from becoming cold. I thought of an Antarctic cruise co-worker who had special boot insoles which he plugged in every evening.

I had two birds; a distant Red-bellied Woodpecker and this Song Sparrow which is probably braving the winter here rather than being in early northward migration.

Otherwise I had a good look at plants as they are in winter:

NATURE POETRY

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago. – Charlotte Church

Miles Hearn