David

A coot sitting on the frozen lake.

With the last few seeds remaining on the plants.

The first water to freeze on this stretch of the Staffs and Worcs canal was inside the historic lock at Compton. Minutes after this first picture was taken, a narrowboat  came through and the thin ice was broken.

Pictures two and three were taken several days later, after the heavier snow fall. There was no sign then of ice forming over those stretches of the canal I saw.

These hips were still festooning a bush at the edge of the barley field in Smestow Valley Park at the end of November.

Another picture from the cold spell.

One of the few fungi to be found when everything is freezing.

Yet another picture from the series taken during the recent hoar frost. The sloes are from the same bushes which have featured in posts here since the early autumn.

Another plant whose appearance is transformed by a frosty coating.

This is the same fly agaric fruiting body which was pictured in posts in November. The present picture was taken during the brief thaw in the hard weather earlier this month.