Jan 1 morning; ice cantilevered over the Boys' Dam and, at the base of Boys Dam, round ice floes scattered across the surface of the Portage River like white water-lily leaves. All melted away when the sun hit, but ice remains at the top of the dam.
Goldeneye! The first of the year, courting on Hoffman Pond. The male dipped his beak in the water, stretched his neck and beak up to the sky. The female held herself low in the water, even dipping her head under a few times, and then stretched her neck and beak up to the sky as well.
Addition -- on the 5th I saw a brown creeper (Certhia familiaris) walking up the trunk of a maple by the river. Only the second one I have seen in two years.
