Leaden Skies!
21st January 2023
The mild air arrived today. Although the skies leaden and grey all day, there was only a small amount of rain. At higher levels the surface of the snowpack has become wet, but it remains sub-zero at depth. However, I suspect that the forecast overnight rain tonight might change that.

A ptarmigan standing out a bit on snow slope. If you are a ptarmigan it must be hard to know how white to turn for the winter, this one stands out as by being darker than the surrounding snow, while at this time last year it would have stood out being too white against the grassy background (if you remember there was not much snow this time last year). I remember hearing somewhere that over the decades ptarmigan winter plumage is getting less white as the climate warms and the winters get less snowy.
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