Duck, duck, goose.

Those are big (webbed) "footprints" to fill, likely made by a goose. Recent cold makes this one of the last bits of open water in the creek.

 

This high key experiment attempts to preserve back-lighted waterfowl and the shadowed edge of the creek bend without losing the detail of the footprints. A gradient mask was used on the foreground (compare to highlight, top right).

Done