curious pond ice

Not exactly a pond question except this was found on my pond. I've just noticed today a number of these frozen images in the ice on my pond surface. I can't say that I've noticed them in previous winters. There's a number of them on my 1/3 acre farm pond and I'm curious what might cause them. They are rather beautiful and obviously so organic looking. Anyone seen this before or have a clue? Thanks!

Looks like just a warm spot under the ice.

But there is a ton of different ice out there, from Frazil Ice, to Grease Ice, to Anchor Ice, all have unique characteristics that make them different.

It was cold the last few days so I saw about everything. A lot of grease ice, new ice (looks like Lilly pads on a stream) and of course the awful, dreaded Frazil ice (it looks like a slushy from a convince store)

I kind of like the different types of ice but water and ice is my life now.

Looks like a lightning strike, but I imagine it's too small and the odds of there being so many are slim. It definitely has a neat Mandelbrot set pattern to its tendrils.

I can think of all sorts of creative things that could have started the pattern. The big thing I'd imagine is someone in your area likes tossing rocks into almost frozen ponds! It would shatter the thin ice and then the pond would re-freeze in that way. Similarly if you have small fish in the pond that come to the surface that are visible through the thin ice, I can imagine some of our birds deciding to try fish for dinner (particularly our local Ravens who are smart, curious, are frequently very hungry and have sharp, pokey beaks.)

Alas, these are just guesses, but you do have something interesting going on - and beautiful!