Cold but no snow

I spent Tuesday evening looking for birds and fishing for perch at Mud Lake.  The fishing was slow with only three perch, and even the birding was slow.  It has been very cold with no snow and the winter birds have not showed up yet.  I did find this Northern Shrike that posed for me.

Then as the sun was getting ready to set, the ice started popping and cracking, forming pressure ridges on the lake.  The last open water had frozen over the day before.

Trumpeter swan looking for open water to sit on for the night kept coming in, but had to land on the slick ice.  What a funny show I watched with my binoculars as the inexperienced swans would slide across the ice crashing into each other or taking a tumble.  I wish I would have been closer and with more light to get some pictures of the skating party.

What a great way to spend another wild evening in the wilds of Idaho.