A southerly wind

Strong winds from the south today lift the temperatures up to just a few degrees below zero. The result is not a melt, but just the shedding of snow from the trees and the filling in of all the tracks with spindrift and pine needles. So no skiing today - but a snowshoe plod up the lee of a hill we haven't walked before. We put up half a dozen Capercaillie that whirred off through the trees - long before I could get any camera lens pointed in their direction ... of course. So you'll just have to take my word for it, but they are not uncommon here.