New signs and sightings

Today was a dreary day.  The temperatures have been hovering just above freezing.  Warm enough to thin the week-end blanket of snow noticeably.  Some places have no snow anymore at all.  New signs have been posted at the park in preparation for the inevitable drop in temperature not too far in the future.  Seems kinda silly right now with no ice currently on the water.

The truth is, there are springs in various places that make for thin ice through the coldest parts of winter.

On the bright side, I was pleasantly surprised to catch a small family of muskrat.  (Tentative identification - if you know otherwise PLEASE comment so - I'll make the change with many thanks for the correction!)

Did you see them?  Here is a closer look - they are circled in red:

They are very shy and slipped out of sight into the water with a "kerplunk!" after they spotted me.  I got only a few pictures.  This was as close as I could get.  I actually spotted a third that was smaller, perhaps a juvenile.

Hope you enjoyed!

~ Robin