Snow with a touch of hoar frost

This is a reminder of the new snow that had fallen overnight, seen on a morning walk on 19 November 2015. Various friends had seen a family of three Bobcats two days earlier, and, though I knew it was highly unlikely that they would be seen again, I didn't want to learn later that I had again missed seeing them. Needless to say, there was no sign of them. Also, I had missed the walk last week, so didn't feel guilty about going on two mornings this week. As it turned out, there wasn't much of anything to be seen during this three hour walk in Weaselhead, but the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day, despite the temperature being -6°C to -2°C. There was a fair amount of new snow, but it had been packed down and so was reasonably safe for walking.

This is the leaders' list of the 21 bird species seen:

Canada Goose-300+
Mallard-8
Bald Eagle-2 (1 ad/1 juv.)
Downy Woodpecker-5
Hairy Woodpecker-1
Northern Flicker-4+
PILEATED WOODPECKER-1
Northern Shrike-1
Blue Jay-3+
Black-billed Magpie-12
Common Raven-2+
Black-capped Chickadee-40+
Boreal Chickadee-2
Red-breasted Nuthatch-1
White-breasted Nuthatch-3
Bohemian Waxwing-150+
Dark-eyed Junco-3
Pine Grosbeak-10
House Finch-6
White-winged Crossbill-100+
Common Redpoll-20

The temperature this morning, 23 November 2015, is -2C (windchill -5C). We were supposed to get snow today, but it has been postponed till this evening. The sky is dreary and overcast, though, so I will stay home and get on with writing "early" Christmas letters. My overseas letters have already been sent, as I still hadn't told some friends and relatives that my older daughter had died in January. Didn't want them to receive this news right at Christmas time. Also, I know I won't feel like writing the closer it gets, so this is something I must get done in the next few days. How my daughter loved Christmas - it will be a sad time for all of us.