Wide Wednesday

Thanks to BobsBlips for giving me some creative inspiration today.  Although this isn't in the "about the house" theme, it's still wide.  

I joined two of my birder friends for a very cold walk on the wetlands at the Refuge this morning.  We didn't meet until 11, hoping that it might have warmed up a bit by then - wrong.  But, we still had a lovely 3 hours walking in about 1 1/2 inches of fresh snow.  We counted 21 species of birds and had the great fun of watching several little meadow voles zooming around through their under-snow tunnels.  The snow was so shallow that some of the "tunnels" had big sky roofs which allowed us to glimpse the voles as they hurried about their important vole-business.

Towards the back of the marsh we found a small open patch of water with this single mute swan - the light was so ethereal looking that I found myself snapping quite a few shots.  The water was edged with ice, which you can see here, and was reflecting the overcast skies and snow-covered banks - all giving the image a soft, almost pastel palette.  Very little editing was needed on this, other than toning down the whites a bit and, of course, giving it a wide crop.

I'm getting ready to curl up in front of the fire now with a hot cup of tea.  I'm still chilled from the walk, not to mention that my back is feeling a little twingy (3 1/2 miles in the snow will do that).

Stay safe out there and be kind.  I may have the market corned on dark chocolate, but do your best...

xo
Debbi