Icy Woodland Sights, and the Cutest Chickadee Ever

I visited Southford Falls State Park this morning, where I was happy to find a couple of inches of snow still on the ground, and a lovely iced-up pond:

We probably won't have scenes like this for long, since it looks like we'll have 50-degree temperatures and rain in a few days.... So these wintry sights will have to last me until our next snowfall!

One of my favorite things about this park is its big rocks in the woods -- the results of ancient glacial activity:

These blocky structures are quite imposing, but the moss and snow soften their edges a little:

I love this rock's shelf of greenery under its snowy blanket:

Snow and ice are pretty, but some parts of the path were downright trecherous (don't go this way!):

In another spot, the snow preserved a fascinating footprint (my foot provides a size comparison):

Dinosaur?! Well, I guess probably not, although that actually was my first thought. (We recently visited Dinosaur State Park, which features hundreds of preserved dinosaur footprints that look remarkably like this one -- so I had dinosaurs on the brain.) Barring a prehistoric visitor, then, I'm guessing this is the mark of a vulture, or possibly some other large bird of prey. [Edit: Or a Wild Turkey! Thanks to Quodlibet for the suggestion.]

The park's stream brought some cool sights as well, including this icy skirt beneath a large rock:

And myriad ice-islands centered around smaller rocks in the water:

Towards the end of my walk, I was admiring some dangling Alder catkins (which will bloom and turn orangey-yellow in the spring):

While a couple of extremely obliging (i.e., fearless) Black-capped Chickadees foraged just a few feet away from me. These guys must've been finding some tasty morsels in these twigs, because they were digging into the wood with woodpecker-like intensity:

I actually saw bits of wood flying as they worked away:

One chickadee came especially close for a few seconds, so you'll have to pardon a brief burst of pictures -- these creatures are just way too adorable, and I can't resist them:

Goodness, but you're gorgeous:

I really just want to snuggle this creature and its fluffy, fluffy belly:

The world is definitely better with snow and woods and chickadees. :)