Weather Map May 23, 2019
We’ve had cloudy and sometimes rainy weather for quite some time now in northern Utah with storms rolling in one after the other and it does prevent me from getting out into the field with the birds. Most places I go out to when I am looking for birds to photograph are on dirt roads and some of them have been too muddy to travel on this spring, some have been closed longer than they normally are because of being so muddy.
Some of the passes I take which are usually open by this time of the year are still closed too due to so much snow in the high country. I can handle some of the roads being closed to traffic because of the weather but what is hard for me to handle is what I am missing.
Because of gray skies, sunless days, high winds, and rainy weather I’m missing some of the best times for breeding behaviors, courtship displays, nest building, and newly hatched chicks running around. I’ve already seen young Canada Goose goslings in the water with their parents and fluffy Killdeer chicks in the marshes at Bear River MBR but I know I am missing so much more.
Most places I travel to when I am looking for birds are miles away and it doesn’t seem logical to head to them when the chances for any decent light are slim to nil but I keep an eye out for sucker holes in the clouds and then calculate whether it is worth going or not. Why? Because I want to see and photograph the birds I find.
Up in the high country I’d bet that the sapsuckers and flickers have begun to drill new nests in aspens to raise their young in while Tree Swallows and House Wrens compete to have control of their old nests to raise their own broods in this year and I can’t get there to see them. I know I am missing a lot.
Yes, I know we need the moisture. I just miss being in the field with the birds and my camera. I miss the moments of awe and wonder I find when I am out in nature. Even three days at home is trying for me because I’d rather be out with the birds.
Hi, I am Mia and I am addicted to bird photography.
I wonder whether there is a Bird Photographers Anonymous.
I hope not.
And would welcome the rain which is blighting your days.
Yep, I have a 4-day weekend and after 2 GSL Bird Festival field trips last weekend that were fairly productive, this weekend is going to be a bummer, and I am going to go stir-crazy! I guess I will have to find a photography project to try indoors.
Ugh!
Hi Mia, from a like-spirited person. I really feel your frustration and hope it gets better. For me, of all things, it is construction in the city and I can’t get to my favourite pond via bus where the same thing is happening with the birds and I am missing it. Finding alternative spots and hope there is a break in the clouds for you. We are dry, dry, dry and already having serious forest fires in the north, bad enough to evacuate people, not to mention what it is doing to the animal and bird population.. Counting my blessings and still itching to get out there. Wish you luck.
Definitely a ME2. We have been having the same weather situation here in Colorado. I assume that they are this same systems you get in Utah. The weekend forecast is for warmer and drier. There will be sun and it will be shining. Patience – the good thing is that I have been doing needed Spring Cleaning.
Mia, also being a birdaholic, I feel your pain. Knowing that all this water we’re getting will greatly benefit the birds at Bear River and other sanctuarys puts a smile on my face. A month ago it was predicted the Great Salt Lake will rise two to three feet. With all this rain Im thinking the plus side of three feet could be reached. And they call this a desert state.
Sterling, the thought of an extra two to three feet of water in the Great Salt Lake makes me smile too. I feel bad for grumbling about the weather but I sure wish it could rain in the afternoons and be sunny in the morning!
Not more than two days ago the weatherman said we were getting more rain than this time last year but about average overall. And after reading an on-line article in the Salt Lake Tribune, I am skeptical of a 2-3 foot rise. The excellent article can be found at the link below:
https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2017/12/16/scientists-say-the-great-salt-lake-is-disappearing-but-could-utah-residents-save-it/