A  few weeks ago a Mute Swan and it’s ‘flock’ – 2 or 3 Canada Geese and a similar number of Mallard Ducks – moved onto about the only open stretch of water on Peters Lake. As the ice receded they stayed along the same shoreline, just spread out a bit. As the ice cover grew they retreated back into a small inlet close to the trail which circles the lake. At one point the open area was scarcely the size of a bathtub. The swan floated in it and some of the other birds stood on the ice nearby. But as the other birds joined the swan in the water the open area slowly grew to a small room size.

This morning, Wednesday, I took Frodo for a very short walk along the opposite shore where we had some protection from the trees. Looked like the swan &  some of his buddies were still there so after the walk I drove thru the neighborhood to the opposite shore. There’s no roadway around the lake.

I  drove around the parking lot to the point nearest the birds and took this shot through the car window.

It was 3F outside & I was cold enough from the walk so, OK, I wimped out. I think you can see the ice coming in on the right side and the shore is immediately on the left. So this is a pretty small patch but, without a doubt, the only open area on the lake.

I took this second shot & you can see one of it’s companions stretching it’s wings.

I think I figured out what’s going on here. Above the shore on the immediate left is an old service road dating back to when this was a water company reservoir. On the opposite side of that road (now part of the walking trail) are 3-4 small springs coming out of the ground. They flow together, and then through a old concrete culvert several feet below the road surface, before flowing into this small inlet. That spring water will be much warmer than the surrounding ice. The birds paddling and feeding is probably mixing it more thoroughly with the surrounding water, raising its temperature and keeping the water open. Their purely physical  activity is probably helping also.

It’s not exactly a warm spring spa but I’m sure that’s what is keeping the birds there. There’s water to drink and the roots etc. of plants reachable in shallow water. It certainly looks a lot more inviting than a nearby lake where dozens of Canada Geese were huddled together, perched on the ice, in the middle of a frozen lake.

We’ll see how they do when the temperature drops below zero tonight. If they can tough that out, and I think they will, they’ll be seeing much warmer temperatures over next 7-10 days. Hang in there guys.