Birds just want to have fun

Back from our ski vacation I was delighted to find snow in the garden - the first time I've seen it with snow. Admittedly not much, since our warm part of the Rhine valley was not as badly hit by storm front "Daisy" as other parts of Europe. But enough to get out the camera!

In this view from just behind the espalier fruit trees along the border of the allotment you can see our garden cottage and the green tarp winter bonnet on the wooden swing. If you enlarge you can see one tiny corner of my fledgling boxwood hedge enclosing the planned potager.

On the ground various animal and bird tracks could be seen, including my favorites (click to enlarge):

I know that birds do not necessarily have an easy life in the winter months, and that snow on the ground doesn't make it any easier. So please excuse my anthropomorphic fantasy that this bird was having fun prancing in the snow, making an angel with its wings, and perhaps even twirling around with what might have been a rabbit, to judge by the tracks in the lower picture.

Speaking of birds: thanks for all the comments and guesses on my last post about the mystery animal. I've come to the conclusion that the walnuts must have been hidden by one of the large ravens that hang out on the roof across the street, on a level with our balcony. Magpies (= Elster in German) are also a possibility, since they do live around here, but I haven't seen any recently.