This morning when I was leaving home for Brightwood Park, I was happy to see two bird friends greeting me from a tree.  Likely because of the sub-freezing temperature, we all wrapped ourselves in down jackets.

In the park, a red-bellied male woodpecker was working hard to build a new home.  A female bird (identified by being less colorful) came occasionally to pat on the shoulder of the male.

Near the two ponds, the root of a fallen tree appeared like a statue of a brown bear, stretching its two arms and dancing under the morning sun.

The geese seemed to be using the pond as their dining table.  The female one occasionally dived into the kitchen to check if breakfast was ready.

A squirrel was enjoying a time of meditation, in no hurry of rushing to eat or work.

 After a rainy day and hearing the chilly wind roaring last night, I was curious what the park would be like, and decided to check it out shortly after 7 a.m.

The Prospect Street entrance was covered with a layer of ice.  On the trail most of the accumulated water was gone and the surface looked surprisingly dry up untill the junction of the two ponds.  The small pond was frozen, and the ice formed patterns near the shore. The large pond was not frozen but ice crystals could be seen on the ground near the shore.   After passing the dam I took a walk toward the two-bridge trail.  Here multiple areas were covered with a thin layer of ice. Spiky ice crystals could be seen in several places.  

The patterns of these ice crystals are relatively new to me.  Growing up as a fan of war movies, to me these looked like an ammunition depot from ancient time.

Instead of drying out, the wood-ear mushrooms were frozen and preserved reasonably well.  Compared to yesterday, the helmet-shaped one changed its camouflage, reminding me of a contrast between those used in the North Africa battlefield and those used in the Battle of the Bulge.  

With some creativity and imagination, the shapes of the mushrooms can appear as faces of humans and animals, and even with facial expressions.

While I was examining the mushrooms, I saw fresh animal tracks on the trail along the fence on the west border of the park.  As there were no human footprints accompanying, I suspect a coyote left his or her signature shortly before I arrived.