Photos from the latest snowstorm!

Yes, that is a snowflake on the orange lichen!

Lovely piles of snow on gorse were quite a feature.

The 'Fairy Bridge', Swincombe

The blizzard over the River Swincombe 

John Bishop's house: Lower Swincombe Farm

A lovely place to be in such conditions

Hungry sheep, hassling us to be fed.  

 I've never seen snow settling on the horns of sheep before!

It stuck to everything - even the smallest twig.

The West Dart at Huccaby Bridge

Snow on the stepping stones at Week Ford

More snowcaps on gorse

The slopes of Yar Tor from Brimpts Farm.

One of my favourite local views, especially good today.  The East Dart valley, looking towards Dartmeet.

More cold snap snaps

A cold pony at the O Brook

The West Dart at Huccaby Bridge

Nearly frozen over - the first time I've ever seen this

'Ammil' - ice glaze on blackthorn.  It coated everything.

Even lichen

...and rushes

One of many struggling redwings encountered during the cold weather.  Also found two dead song thrushes, two wrens and a goldcrest.  Harsh times for small birds at the end of winter.

Ice and fire

 An atmospheric evening during the recent cold snap, watching the swaling on Corndon Ridge while pink snow clouds rolled by to the south.

Ice formations

The late winter cold snap produced some extraordinary conditions - most notably some ice formations that may never be seen again.  Most of the photos below are of what I presume to be a burst underground water pipeline near the O Brook.  The prolonged sub-zero temperatures resulted in a remarkable ice feature, with layer upon layer of gravity-defying ice and surrounding vegetation coated in a bulbous glaze.

The photos of hanging icicles were taken at the double waterfall on the Venford Brook.

More to come!