Unseasonably warm early November 2020
The daytime temps for where I live in northern Utah have been unseasonably warm for early November plus one morning last week the low of the day was as warm as what our average day time temps should be. It has felt odd to be so warm in early November but recently the winds brought about a drastic change.
By “winds” I mean the howling, window-pane rattling, semi truck tipping over kind of winds. I could hear the wind all day yesterday. If I could see the Wasatch Mountains to the east right now I know that they would have fresh snow on the peaks but it is still too dark to see them. I expected to see snow on the ground when I woke up but so far that hasn’t happened. The wind, well, the wind is still howling.
Weather for the week of November 8 thru 15, 2020
The forecast for this week looks a little dismal as far as me getting out into the field to photograph birds because it appears that there will be plenty of clouds that will block the sunlight from getting through. There is snow in the forecast for the Salt Lake Valley and the mountain ranges that are nearby will get more than we do down at lower elevations.
What that means for me is that the forest service and UDOT will start closing some of the roads over high mountain passes and access to some of the gravel and dirt roads that I use during the warmer months to access mountain canyons and the birds that I find to observe and photograph there.
Upside down Red-breasted Nuthatch clinging to a fir cone – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1/3200, ISO 500, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I always feel a sense of sadness when I can’t get to those mountain canyons and the birds that live there all year long when they close those gates for the winter. It is almost as if I am saying goodbye to dear friends when they turn the keys on those locks.
The forest service will need to notify a few campers that they will have to leave soon. There has been one couple camping in the same disperse camping spot since mid-September that I’ve wanted to explore but haven’t been able to.
I did observe that this year the chickadees and nuthatches began caching Douglas Fir seeds for the winter about two weeks earlier than they have in previous years. I am not sure what to make of that actually since it has been warmer in October and early November than it usually is. It could mean that the drought we had this summer combined with the unusually warm temps forced the seeds to ripen earlier than they usually do or perhaps it means that even though it has been warmer than normal we are heading for a rougher than normal winter. I honestly don’t know at this point in time.
What I do know is that the winds of last few days have brought about a change in the weather that will affect my access to a few places I love for the winter.
Life is good.
Mia
Beautiful! Nuthatches are some of my favorite backyard friends, and this one is sooo fun!
We’re getting those window-rattling winds today. I think the max windspeed in my area has been 27 mph. I’m hoping the house doesn’t end up in Oz.
I love this photo! A bit of whimsy on an otherwise sad day.
Beautiful. I love these funny upside down birds.
I am happy to know I am not the only one who thinks it has been incredibly windy this year in Salt Lake. I had to laugh last week because all my neighbors have lawn service, except us and one other neighbor, the workers blew many of the leaves with leaf blowers into an adjacent neighbors yard or the street rather than rake or suck them up. Well after 2 days of heavy winds the leaves are now down from the trees and the yards the lawn service cleaned have more leaves than my yard and the other neighbor who still rakes his own lawn.
Yea! it is snowing.
Sigh.
I do hope that the birds are not predicting a long, hard winter – but sadly I trust their judgement much better than many of ‘our’ forecasters.
Good luck. I hope you can get out and see some more avian wonders this week.
Bummer!!