Lake covered with snow - Greene County, Virginia 

Sialia Sialis

The snow storm that moved up the Atlantic coast on Christmas passed to the east of us here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We got a few snow flurries on Christmas Day, and the next morning we had about an inch of snow on the ground and in the trees. Enough to be pretty but not enough to cause problems.


The lake has been frozen since early December, and the snow on top of the ice painted the entire lake white. The picture above was taken while standing on the earthwork dam that forms the lake. There was no sound, and all was still and cold. As I turned to continue my walk, an Eastern Bluebird flew across my path and lit on some thorns a few yards in front of me. Bluebirds are not very numerous in this area and I was surprised to see one in winter. I barely had time to get the camera up before he flew away. I did not see him again.