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Christmas Day 2010 was the day the sun shone. The snow, which fell the previous weekend, was still there. Not exactly a proper White Christmas, since no snow fell, but much more like what people dream of: deep snow sparkling in cold winter sunshine making for some spectacular scenery, and generally very pleasant to be out and about in |
| Thrupp Lake was mostly completely frozen over and looking alluringly pristine except for a smattering of bird and small animal tracks. The birds were all still there, crowded around the far edge of a patch of unfrozen water adjacent to Sandles, but looking more animated and less unhappy than a few days earlier. |
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Thrupp Lake, mostly covered with ice and snow, as seen from the SE corner. Note the new shelter just right of centre.
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The lake, a sheet of snow and ice, quite pristine except for a few animal and bird footprints.
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The SE corner where patterns on the ice are indicative of varying thickness.
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A group of mute swans in a patch of unfrozen water by the shelter.
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Part of a flock of several hundred tufted duck flying over the lake. |
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Just some of the many wildfowl packed into the small area of unfrozen water by Sandles. |
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Wildfowl on Thrupp Lake: coot, ducks, gulls and geese all sharing the same patch of ice and water. |
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Wildfowl on Thrupp Lake. The gulls present at about this time included some rarities, though not necessarily present in this photograph, such as Caspian and Yellow-Legged Gulls. |
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Thrupp Lake, looking towards the northern shore. |
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A prominent track winding across the ice from the SE corner to where all the birds were gathered. |
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Making tracks for home: The byway alongside the lake. |
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Related Links
Snow clearance advice from Oxfordshire County Council BBC In Pictures: Stories of the Oxfordshire Snow, December 2010 Practical information on local services etc |
