Snow on the loch

A light fall of snow looking pretty in the sunshine and luckily not enough to hinder progress. I did a few mono shots of this view but felt they looked too cold, that the distant colours and reflection have some semblance of warmth.

We had a pleasant start to the day, it was half light when John looked out onto the snow and noticed a dark 'thing'. It was a woodcock in front of the window with its beak - about 6cms in length - prodding the grass we hope in a productive way. It gradually moved away and by the time it was light had moved under the juniper bush.

From the Internet:
The woodcock is a large bulky wading bird with short legs, and a very long straight tapering bill. It is largely nocturnal, spending most of the day in dense cover. Most of the birds in the UK are residents; in the autumn birds move to the UK from Finland and Russia to winter here. The breeding population has been falling recent years, perhaps because of less habitat as conifer plantations become too mature for woodcocks to find open enough breeding areas.