On thin ice

I went to Blackford Pond today for the first time in months - I don't know what kept me away for so long. The pond was mostly frozen but there was one area without ice where most of the birds were congregated, particularly when being fed, or hopeful of being fed. There were just two cygnets with their parents, many mallards (including this handsome fellow), the odd black-headed gull and one moorhen sitting in a tree.