Arctic Comes Knocking

I am a winter person. It's my favorite time of year for many reasons, but mainly I love it because so few people are out, especially on the coldest days. Having spent some time in northern New England, tough winters taught me that it's really mind over matter, with a lot of preparation! So when the much talked-about Arctic Vortex spun wildly south this week, setting all-time low temperature records in much of the East, what's a winter naturalist to do but go out and enjoy it!

The night before the arctic system arrived, a beautiful fog lifted from the
melting snow as a warm rain fell. The next morning everything was
encased in ice as the cold air arrived.
Joe Pye in ice.

A killdeer flies over the frozen cove at Swan Harbor Farm
on the Chesapeake Bay.

A seep flash froze overnight. Ice patterns resemble the shapes
of the leaves that frame the small springhead.
Fractals?

Low winter light illuminates the underside of a yellow-shafted
flicker's wing. Birds seemed unaffected by the cold blast.

Sweet gum seed pod frozen into cove ice.
Swan Harbor Farm.

A day of rain washed away eight inches of snow, but when the arctic air mass
arrived, the few drifts and banks that remained held tight to their treasures.
Tulip poplar leaf.